• Simple dashboard
• Good build quality
• Colours are drab

How is the quality and layout?

The Kia Soul EV’s cabin is a sharp piece of design. The wraparound dashboard looks great, the centre console is free from clutter and the infotainment system is mounted high, which makes it easy to operate while you’re on the move.

So, it’s a real shame that most of the materials are black plastic. Given that this was a car designed to sell on its quirkiness, Kia could have given it an outlandish interior colour scheme. But it didn’t – and the lashings of dark materials undo all the space-creating work of the large windows.

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The car feels much smaller inside than it is – and this is especially frustrating because other markets get funky ambient lighting and two-tone dashboards to help lift the ambience. Kia’s marketeers obviously thought that was a little too racy for UK buyers.

At least the cabin has been well-screwed together. The dashboard and centre console are solidly mounted (which is more than can be said for some of Volkswagen’s electric cars) and the switchgear is pleasingly heavy. We also like that Kia hasn’t fallen into the trap of pushing all the Soul’s controls onto the infotainment screen.

Infotainment and tech

The Soul can be specified with two infotainment systems. The most basic Urban model has an 8.0-inch touchscreen while the range-topping Explore model gets a 10.25-inch unit. The latter system features an ultra-wide aspect screen that responds well to touch commands – and it also has a 3D navigation function with live traffic updates. That should make it more accurate than non-connected factory sat-nav fitted to the entry-level version of the MG 4.

If you don’t like the design of Kia’s factory infotainment software, both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality are standard, which allows you to plug your phone into the dashboard and use the navigation app of your choice. However, when using one of these functions, they don’t fill the entire screen. They operate in a small window with a section of Kia’s interface still visible. It’s lazy and ugly.

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All cars come with a 7.0-inch digital gauge cluster, too. It’s a slick unit with a range of dial displays that change depending on which drive mode you’re running on. Crucially, it makes it very easy to check your speed and see how many miles of range you have left at a glance.

Comfort

• Plenty of adjustment in the seats…
• … but not enough for the steering wheel
• Comfortable overall

The Kia Soul EV isolates you well from the outside world. Road noise is well suppressed and, because it’s electric, its powertrain is almost silent. The silence is only broken by the wind noise whipping past the doors. You can thank its boxy styling for that.

Its seats are comfortable. The front seats are wide and offer a broad range of adjustment, which means they can suit drivers of all shapes and sizes. However, the driving position isn’t ideal because there isn’t enough reach adjustment in the steering wheel.

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That means you need to choose between over-extending your arms for the wheel (which allows your legs to be comfortable) or scrunching your knees up under the dashboard (to set your shoulders in their correct orientation). The problem’s worse if you’re tall.