[m4rcus]

I was all set to buying a Leaf, but then came across a Soul in my price range and it got me thinking. I'd concidered an ICE Soul before deciding on an EV and now I'm interested in what made people choose a Soul over the Leaf?

 

[dk6780]

Normally the Soul is more than the LEAF, but it is probably a better car (I've not owned one but I have two LEAF24s). I believe that it has slightly more capacity than the LEAF24 in the early cars and similar to the LEAF30 in the later cars, and more space in the rear. Itcertainly fast charges faster, but suffers from an air cooled battery like the LEAF. What size battery is the Soul?
Oh, and purely personal, I couldn't live with a Smurf.

 

[Mark Cornwall]

We have had 2 Soul EVs, the 27kw and a 30kw. They are well worth considering offering a 7 year warranty and a lot of internal space in a short wheelbase. You will have to decide if the boot is big enough for you however. Its smaller than the Leafs boot but a good boxy tall one thats suited us. It has active cooling and a taller driving position with good visability. You really need to compare both cars to see which you prefer. The Soul does seem to prompt comments that its fugly but as your considering a Leaf as well its a non issue. LOL

 

[IanL]

I sat in both, and I thought the view out of the Leaf was markedly inferior. As I live on a small island with narrow roads lined with stone walls, that is an important issue. The Leaf I was considering has a smaller battery, so lower range (mine is the 30 kWh version 2018 & 2019 model years) , and I agree with Mark about the taller driving position. The longer warranty sealed the deal.

 

[m4rcus]

I get the fuglyness of these cars, other won't, but who cares! (maybe me a little)
The one I'm looking at is a 2016, so will be less range than the 2017 30kWh Tekna I was looking to get in a Leaf.
As the Souls are few and far between I was thinking of test driving an ICE version so I can get a feel for it, would this be a sensible thing to do?

 

[IanL]

As the Souls are few and far between I was thinking of test driving an ICE version so I can get a feel for it, would this be a sensible thing to do?

Not if you compare it with driving a Leaf.

 

[m4rcus]

Feel for the size, shape and outlook from it. I know the electric feel will be different on the EV, but is there that much difference between the Leaf and Soul?

 

[donald]

I was all set to buying a Leaf, but then came across a Soul in my price range and it got me thinking. I'd concidered an ICE Soul before deciding on an EV and now I'm interested in what made people choose a Soul over the Leaf?

The Soul looks alright to me .... It's the Leaf with the odd looks, IMHO.

Anyhow, why go for a Soul? My answer is simply; seat comfort.

The comment on the viewpoint might also come to play, perhaps in the Leaf, which I found very poor for seating, I was over-compensating for not having a good view.

Whether the Leaf seating works for you or not is, obviously, going to depend on whether your particular shape fits one or the other better, and evidently the Leaf is fine for some. For me, I am afraid I just didn't get on with it. TBH it was the singular show-stopper for me. No other reason to to go for a Leaf, if only they made that seating posture better.

I am only leasing. If I was really planning to buy then, pfffttt.. a 7 year warranty! 'n'uf said ... It's an EV, I recommend never to drive an EV out of warranty.

 

[srichards]

The mirrors on the Soul are large. You can find they obscure your view at times if you're sat a bit too low

It's a well put together car and it's more efficient than the Leaf. Main downside is no remote heating. You can only pre heat the Soul when it's plugged in and with the in car schedule. Boot is small but square.

The active cooling in the Soul is basically a fan that pulls cabin air over the battery pack. It does seem to work though as it can be rapid charged endlessly and driven hard without complaint.

 

[m4rcus]

Looking at the SoH of batteries, what I've seen is that Soul cars have better health after 3 years over the Leaf, is this correct?

 

[m4rcus]

Seat comfort is an interesting one for me too, our other car is a Kia Sportage, which has an extremely uncomforatble driving seat for me. I'd better go sit in some seats!

 

[srichards]

There's nothing worse than a bad seat that you can't get comfortable in. Soul EV seats are very squishy.

 

[Mark Cornwall]

The inside of the Soul EV is much better than the inside of the ICE versions if your going to sit in one. We had a short test drive of an ICE one and hated it. Very poor ride and acceleration compared to the EV. It actually put us off until we sat in an EV version. The only real things they had in common was the shape and size. The 27kw we had was good for 90 miles in winter and 100-105 in summer in the west country driven sensibly.

 

[JohnMars]

The comment on the viewpoint might also come to play, perhaps in the Leaf, which I found very poor for seating, I was over-compensating for not having a good view.

This! Although I love my Leaf each morning I do find ”something” about how I‘m sat like I just cannot get comfortable and get the right back support angle.

Glad it’s not just me!

 

[James Watson]

The higher driving position and 7 year warranty sealed it for me, I also quite like the looks of the car, although I appreciate I’m in the minority there.

We have a Leaf 24 and a Soul 30. Both have covered about 23,000 miles (not all by us as both bought second hand). The Soul battery is 100% still, the Leaf has lost it’s 12th bar so must be below 85%. The Leaf is 3 years older however. We drive the same commute as each other as we work at the same office (child care means we can’t travel together). The range of the Soul is double that of the Leaf. This time of year 60-70 vs 130ish.

The Leaf definitely feels quicker off the line than the Soul (in eco mode for both) not compared in sport mode. General feeling is the Leaf feels more sprightly at low speeds.

Heated cloth seats in the Soul are great.

Servicing on the Soul is a lot cheaper than the Leaf, about half the price in fact.

 

[shikoku14]

Having owned both a 24 kWH Leaf and leased a 30 Soul the Soul wins hands down. It’s a much better view out, the steering wheel adjusts for rake and reach, the infotainment is much better and as mentioned the seats are more comfortable on a long journey. Having looked at Autotrader you can pick 30kWh Souls up for about the same price as a 30 Leaf and they will have minimal degradation and 4-5 years left on the warranty. Mine goes back in June and I hope someone contacts Eco-Cars and picks it up cheap from the auction house.

 

[Keith Alexander]

If you asked this same question in the Leaf forum I suspect everyone would tell you their Leaf is better than the Soul........
Only you can decided by inspecting and driving both.

I tested several Leafs over a period of days and had one for a weekend but just one test drive in the Soul clinched it
The car just seemed better plus it did not have the stupid foot operated handbrake which Karen hated!

But it satisfied other criteria
Number one was I did not want a black interior
No other EV had any other colour except the I3 which did not have enough doors or some of the early G1 24KW Leafs but who wants one of those with all the related battery degradation problems and the inefficient energy sapping hvac system!

I wanted Carplay and Android Auto, the dealer lied, it was not available at the time on the 2016 car I bought but I have it working now after downloading and installing the latest MAp and system updates.

I wanted good visibility the mini SUV styling gives a reasonable seating height I found the blind spots of the leaf irritating.
I wanted a nice colour, my V8 Supercharged MG was a similar colour blue as well.
I wanted a bit of future proofing, the Soul can (allegedly) charge at up to 150KW
I wanted longevity and to date after nearly four years it's only needed a wiper blade and a set of tyres!
The seats are very very comfortable
The heated steering wheel is really useful

There are some minor niggles:
The Led light rings in the speakers are a complete waste of time it would have been far better to have fitted automatic wipers instead!
The cluster dimming balance is not perfect the cluster remains too bright whist the switch gear backlighting is almost complete off.
I find I regularly miss read the range indicator as the speedo!
Halogen headlights in this day and age...................
The three settings for the steering seem completely pointless!
The wheel trims are ugly!

Finally I prefer driving it to my when it was new £45,000 BMW 5 series which pretty much sums it up nicely!

 

[m4rcus]

I think I'm going to go Leaf this time. There's more arround and they are cheaper too compared to the Soul. Thanks for all your comments though it was nearly enough to get me to travel 50 miles to the only Soul in my price range!

 

[m4rcus]

I have driven a Soul over the weekend and I'm going to stick to the Leaf. The negatives for the Soul for me were the interior, it looked horendous, my wife laughed. The boot is also much smaller, so for our needs is no good even though it's a second car. Lots of good points though, push button brake vs foot brake. Standard gear lever vs the Leaf's knob. Slightly smaller in length than the Leaf.
If the interior wasn't quite to terrible to look at (in my eyes) and the boot was bigger I'd have bought it!

 

[Mark Cornwall]

Well thats a first. Its usually the outside of the Soul. Lol