John and Marianne are a retired couple living in Nanaimo. They were looking for a car to replace their 10 year old SUV and decided, after some vigorous researching, that it was time to go electric. Their biggest concern was the range, generally averaging 200km or so, which seemed very limiting. When the Chevrolet Bolt (with over 350km of range!) came on the market, they became considerably more interested and less anxious about the range short-comings. Several family members were updating their vehicles to a Volt, an Outlander and an all-electric Bolt.
Electrified Soul
They soon realized the Kia Soul was a better choice for them. The compact electric crossover seemed more robust than the Bolt and more suitable for their needs. Several days were devoted to YouTube, viewing reports for some genuine and accurate reviews. Most were positive, some thought the car’s style was “funky” and it had some compelling tech features. In September 2019, they bought a 2020 Soul EV and John was particularly impressed with all the technology built in.
After a day of learning about the car, they took a drive through their community. John had seen a couple of Level 2 chargers and wondered how they worked. They had not installed a Level 2 at home yet so decided to try one out. They plugged into the charger and noticed the car was getting power. “Great!” thought John, “This is amazing, and it’s free!” A few minutes later, test completed, they decided to head home. Time to unplug. “Well, do you think we could figure out how to unplug?…” Nope, the plug seemed stuck and panic set in. No amount of pulling released the plug! They frantically searched through the manual to see how to release the nozzle when they realized it was linked to the car’s fob to unlock. They have a good chuckle now when they think about the incident and pleasantly satisfied with their choice.