Plain-English vehicle guide

Kia Soul EV charging

The Kia Soul EV is an electric suv. You fill it from a J1772 plug at home and from a CHADEMO plug on a long drive, and its longest 2020 version is rated at 243 miles on a full battery. Every number below says which version of the car it belongs to, and the two sliders below turn a charge into a time and a price.

Find a CHADEMO charger Plan a charge All Kia models

Official range (EPA)

243 mi

2020 Soul Electric

How far a full battery is rated to go on the US test.

Battery size

39.2 kWh

Kia e-Soul 39 kWh

The size of the tank. Bigger means more miles between stops.

Fastest charge

44 kW

10–80% in 47 min

How wide the hose is at a fast charger.

Plugs it uses

CHAdeMO

J1772 at home and slow posts

The shape that has to fit the socket.

The range and battery cards name different versions on purpose. One is the longest 2020 row the EPA tested, the other is the catalogue's charging record — because the EPA lists a range per trim and the catalogue lists one battery per trim. Nothing below quietly mixes them.

SUV · 2015–2020 · FWD

5 seats. 315 L of boot space. The photo is the model the catalogue lists, not a photo of a particular car for sale.

Start here

Six terms, in plain words

None of this needs a physics degree. Each term on a window sticker is one idea, and here they are in the order they turn up.

EPA range

A score from one official test.

The car runs on a rolling road until the battery is empty. Every car sits the same test, so the numbers compare fairly. It is a lab score, not a promise: a cold morning or a steady 75 mph uses more energy than the test did.

US trim

A version of the same car.

The body is the same; the wheels, motors or battery are not. A model is usually sold in several versions — Pure, Touring and Grand Touring on this car — and the EPA publishes a range for each one it tested, which is why one model carries several numbers for one year.

kWh

The size of the tank.

A kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy. A bigger battery holds more of it and goes further. This page shows the usable figure where the data says so, because a pack never gives up every last bit.

kW

How wide the hose is.

A kilowatt is a rate: energy per second. The same battery fills from a 1.4 kW wall socket or a 200 kW-plus fast charger. Wide hose, quicker fill — as long as the car and the station both agree.

AC and DC

Two kinds of electricity.

Home wiring supplies AC, and the car's own charger turns it into DC. A fast charger does that conversion in the station and feeds the battery directly, which is why it is many times quicker.

10–80%

The happy middle of a battery.

Packs accept full power in the middle and slow right down past 80% to protect the cells. That is why a road-trip stop is usually 10% to 80%: the last fifth can take as long as the first half.

Range

How far can it go on one charge?

The Kia Soul EV is rated between 243 and 243 miles on a full battery, depending on the version; the highest belongs to the 2020 Soul Electric.

The official figure comes from the EPA, the US agency that scores every car the same way: a full battery, a rolling road, and a number of miles at the end. It is the fair way to compare two cars, and still only a lab score — wind, hills, heaters and speed all take a bite out of it.

Check any car on fueleconomy.gov

Model year

In 2020, the Kia Soul EV was rated between 243 mi and 243 mi on a full battery, depending on the version.

Soul Electric
243 mi

Trim names are the EPA's own labels, unedited, so “G Touring” is short for Grand Touring. Each row is a version the EPA tested; a version it did not test has no row. Figures are miles on the EPA's lab test, not a prediction of your commute.

Charging time

How long does a charge take?

A 10–80% fast stop takes about 47 minutes at a charger that can deliver the car's peak, and a full charge on a 7.2 kW home charger takes about 6 hours.

Three things decide it, and the slowest one wins: what the station can supply, what the car will accept, and how much the battery wants at that moment. Move the sliders and the answer changes with you.

Step 1 — where are you plugging in?

The usual highway stop. The Kia Soul EV tops out at 44 kW on DC, so a bigger station will not go faster.

Step 2 — how full is the battery, and how full do you want it?

0%80% — most cars slow down here100%

Start at20%Stop at80%

60% of the battery, from 20% to 80%.

Step 3 — what do you pay per kWh?

Your charge

Time at this charger: 40 min
Cost: $8.23
Energy: 23.5 kWh

About a lunch stop. The session draws about 35 kW on average — a peak figure would be a promise the last part of the charge does not keep.

Times use the 39.2 kWh battery and 44 kW DC peak from the Kia e-Soul 39 kWh record, and scale from its 47-minute 10–80% figure. Above 80% the estimate assumes a much slower rate; cold batteries and shared stations can be slower still.

The station

1.4–350 kW

A wall socket gives about 1.4 kW; a highway post 150–350 kW. The site's rating is a ceiling, not a promise.

The car

7.2 kW AC

The car takes no more than its own limit — 44 kW on DC, 7.2 kW on AC. A bigger charger cannot change that.

The battery

slower past 80%

Above 80% the pack asks for far less power to protect the cells, which is why trips stop at 80%.

The reasoning behind those numbers is on how long EV charging takes and Level 2 vs DC fast.

Plugs

Which plug fits this car?

Only two shapes matter: the one on the car and the one on the charger. The AC plug covers home charging and slow public posts; the DC plug covers fast stops on a trip.

J1772

AC charging

SAE J1772 · Typically 3.3–19.2 kW

J1772 is the AC connector on almost every non-Tesla EV and plug-in hybrid sold in North America. At public stations it is usually a Level 2 charger.

Where you meet it: destination charging while parked.

More about J1772 Stations with this plug

Photo: Michael Hicks (mulad) · CC BY 2.0

CHAdeMO

DC charging

CHAdeMO · Typically 50–100 kW

CHAdeMO is an older DC fast standard, common on the first generation of Japanese EVs. It remains in the directory because those cars are still on the road.

Where you meet it: legacy evs that still use the standard.

More about CHAdeMO Stations with this plug

Photo: Danilo Bargen · CC BY-SA 4.0

An adapter changes the shape of the plug, not what the car can accept or what the station can supply. It can bridge a standard; it cannot create power, access or a faster session.

This page lists the connectors the model reports. The directory records the connector a station reports, so a station that carries both a J1772 post and a CCS1 fast charger appears under each — and a car is not guaranteed a free one.

Cost

What does a charge cost?

Charging is priced by the kilowatt-hour, like electricity at home. The directory's median tariff is $0.35 per kWh — the middle of the prices networks actually list, not a quote for any one station.

At that median, filling the 39.2 kWh battery from empty at a DC post bills about $14.44. A 10–80% stop, the usual road-trip habit, moves about 70% of it and bills about $10.11. Type your own price into the calculator above to see your number instead.

Both figures are metered energy, not battery energy: a DC post puts roughly 95% of what it draws into the pack, so the bill sits slightly above battery × price. At home the conversion is closer to 90%. What is not in either figure: session fees, idle fees, parking and taxes. The state cost table has the local medians, and cost per mile turns this into a comparison with petrol.

Sources

US figures from the October 2026 data build. How these sources are chosen, and what a figure here never claims, is on the methodology page.

Full charge

$14.44

At $0.35 per kWh at a DC post, charging losses included.

10–80% stop

$10.11

About 70% of the battery, which is what most trips use.

Cheapest state median

$0.28

Iowa, per kWh — the lowest state median with a comparable sample.

Priced stations

3,805

Stations in the directory that publish a per-kWh tariff.

CalculatorPrice a charge for your state and your tariff

US trims

Every version, year by year

This is the list the chart above is drawn from. The names are the EPA's own labels, kept exactly as published — spelling, abbreviations and all — because rewriting a source label is how a table stops matching its source.

6 rows from fueleconomy.gov

Show every EPA row (6)Year · trim · range

US trims and EPA range for the Kia Soul EV
Year	Trim	EPA range
2020	Soul Electric	243 mi
2019	Soul Electric	111 mi
2018	Soul Electric	111 mi
2017	Soul Electric	93 mi
2016	Soul Electric	93 mi
2015	Soul Electric	93 mi

EPA figures are the US label; they are not converted from WLTP. A trim the EPA does not list has no row, and an all-wheel-drive version of a rear-drive model appears as its own row because the EPA tested it separately.

Catalogue detail

Specifications

From the European catalogue trim Kia e-Soul 39 kWh (2020). US trims, EPA range and connectors are above; equipment and dimensions can differ by market.

Performance

Performance from the European catalogue trim
Power	100 kW (134 hp)
Torque	395 Nm (291 lb-ft)
0–100 km/h	9.6 s
Top speed	156 km/h (97 mph)
Drivetrain	FWD
Platform	No Data

Battery, range and V2X

Battery, range and V2X from the European catalogue trim
Usable battery	39.2 kWh
Nominal battery	42 kWh
Chemistry	Lithium-ion
Nominal voltage	327 V
Cell count	180 cells
Pack configuration	90s2p
Warranty	7 years / 150,000 km
WLTP range (EU)	230 km (143 mi)
Efficiency (WLTP)	14.5 kWh/100 km
Cold highway (catalogue estimate)	150 km (93 mi)
Mild urban (catalogue estimate)	265 km (165 mi)
V2H	Not supported
V2G	Not supported

WLTP and catalogue estimates describe the European trim; EPA range is above. V2X rows are the maker's catalogue equipment.

Dimensions and practicality

Dimensions and practicality from the European catalogue trim
Length	4,195 mm (165.2 in)
Height	1,605 mm (63.2 in)
Wheelbase	2,600 mm (102.4 in)
Curb weight	1,593 kg (3,512 lb)
Turning circle	10.6 m (34.8 ft)
Boot	315 L (11.1 cu ft)
Max cargo	1,339 L (47.3 cu ft)
Towing (unbraked)	0 kg (0 lb)
Seats	5
Segment	JB - Compact
ISOFIX	Yes, 2 seats
Roof rails	Yes
Heat pump	Standard Equipment

Questions

Answers, briefly

Short answers first, the reasoning below each. Every figure here comes from the same data as the rest of the page.

Still unsure about a term? The charging glossary covers the rest of them.

What connector does the Kia Soul EV use?

It lists J1772 for AC charging and CHADEMO for DC fast charging. J1772 is what a home charger and a slow public post use; CHADEMO is the fast plug for a longer trip. An adapter may bridge another standard, but support varies by vehicle and station.

How long does it take to charge a Kia Soul EV?

The catalogue's 39.2 kWh usable battery and 44 kW DC peak give a 10–80% session of about 47 minutes at a station that can deliver the power. AC charging peaks at 7.2 kW, which suits overnight charging rather than a trip stop.

What is the EPA range of the Kia Soul EV?

The 2020 Kia Soul EV is rated between 243 and 243 miles, depending on the trim. The highest figure belongs to the Soul Electric; every model year the EPA tested is listed on the page, and each row is a different version of the same car.

What does "US trim" mean on this page?

A trim is a version of the same car: same body, different wheels, motors or battery. The EPA tests each version separately, so one model can carry several range figures for the same year. Bigger wheels are the usual reason two rows differ, because they add drag and rolling resistance.

How much does it cost to charge a Kia Soul EV?

At the directory's median of $0.35 per kWh, filling the 39.2 kWh battery from empty at a DC post bills about $14.44, and a 10–80% session about $10.11. Both are metered energy, so the charging loss is inside them. The median is the middle of the per-kWh tariffs networks list; session fees, idle fees and parking are excluded, and a home tariff is often cheaper.

Can a Kia Soul EV use a Tesla Supercharger?

The Kia Soul EV's fast-charge plug is CHADEMO. Some Tesla sites in this directory report a CHADEMO plug; whether a particular site accepts an adapter is not recorded, so filter the map for CHADEMO before you rely on one.