What Can Be For The Future Of Automobiles

A peek into what can be for the future of automobiles

- Raunak Ajinkya

Wait, what’s a tiny Discovery doing down here?’ were my first words as I stepped down to the parking lot that had our test cars housed. A bit premature, sure, but the thing does bear a passing resemblance from the front, you have to admit. Anyway, what you see on these pages, and the cover for that matter is the new Kia Soul EV. What it’s meant to do is be an alternative to your daily drive, and it wants to do that running purely on electricity.

Now, the backdrop for this drive was Seoul in South Korea, a place that’s vastly more developed than India, so there’s no paucity of charging stations, really. You’ll find them at parking lots, malls, gas stations, pretty much littered across the length and breadth of the country, honestly. In that sense, there’s no real range anxiety, as it were. But I’m jumping ahead. What struck me the moment I got into the Soul EV was the sheer space on offer. It’s not immense by any means, but it sure as heck doesn’t feel as cramped as a car that’s just a touch more than four meters in length should. Six-footers can easily fit in the front and the back and the seats are really quite comfortable. Boot space? Kia’s got you there, too, with a very respectable 315 liters on offer. The main dashboard is made up of a giant 10.2-inch infotainment touchscreen, and crisp, clear dials for all your vitals. Everything feels rather upmarket in the Soul EV, and the point was driven home harder the more time I spent in it.