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Kia Soul EV will start sales in five more states by June

The Kia Soul EV has proven itself to be enough of a hit that it will be headed to Texas and four other states by this summer. Yee-haw. The Soul EV, which started US sales in California late last year, will go on sale in the Lone Star State, as well as Georgia, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii by June. Kia says residents of those states have "expressed significant interest" in the Soul EV, and notes that those five states have more than 1,800 publicly available charging stations combined. Other states will get the Soul EV next year. The Soul EV just won the first-ever Canadian Green Car of the Year Award from journalists in the Great White North. The Soul EV, notably associated with those grooving hamsters in the TV ads, beat out the Honda Fit, Subaru Legacy and Toyota Camry Hybrid. The Soul EV starts at $33,700 and has a single-charge range of 93 miles and delivers 109 horsepower. We've got Kia's press release on the expanded sales areas below and our Quick Spin of the Kia Soul EV for you right here. Related Videos: KIA MOTORS AMERICA EXPANDS SOUL EV AVAILABILITY TO FIVE ADDITIONAL STATES Hot-Selling Soul Electric Vehicle Will be Available for Sale in Georgia in Q2; Oregon, Washington, Texas and Hawaii Anticipated in June Expansion into five new states underlines Kia's commitment to green mobility and its fun and funky alternative fuel vehicle Solid infrastructure and consumer demand propel Soul EV beyond California IRVINE, Calif., March 25, 2015– Following the successful launch of the Soul EV late last year in California, Kia Motors America (KMA) is proud to announce it is expanding availability of its fullycharged urban runabout into five new states: Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. Electric vehicle demand has been growing in these states, and consumers there have expressed significant interest in Soul EV. And with more than 1,8001 charging stations combined, the robust EV infrastructure within these markets makes battery-powered travel convenient and an increasingly appealing choice for consumers. Within each state, select Kia retailers will be certified to sell and service the Soul EV, and customers will have access to charging stations installed at these facilities. The Soul EV-authorized Kia dealership locations will be announced closer to the Soul EV's on-sale date in the expansion states later this year. Additional markets are set to come online in 2016.

Recharge Wrap-up: Kia Niro caught at Nurburgring, Tesla & Ben & Jerry

The Kia Niro hybrid was spied testing at the Nurburgring. The prototype of the 2016 Niro — which originally appeared as a concept at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show — is heavily camouflaged, so it is hard to tell which exterior features have been carried over. Its plate is registered to a hybrid, but other powertrain details are unavailable (the concept was equipped with a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine and electric drive system good for 158 horsepower). When it goes on sale, positioned below the Soul in Kia's lineup, it will only be available as a hybrid, with a plug-in hybrid version expected in later years. See the video above, and read more at Autoevolution and at Hybrid Cars. A new report from IHS Automotive predicts the EV charger market to surpass 12.7 million units by 2020. In Japan, the number of EV charging stations has surpassed the number of gas stations. The Netherlands, UK and Norway are the leaders in EV chargers in Europe, while Germany and France are slow in their infrastructure growth, relative to their size. CHAdeMO is the more popular charging standard worldwide, but CCS is expected to close the gap. According to the report, PHEVs will become more abundant than BEVs in 2016, and will remain so for a while. Read more at Green Car Congress. Kandi Electric Vehicles has signed a strategic agreement with telecommunications company ZTE Corporation and EV leasing company Zhejiang ZuoZhongYou Electric Vehicle Service (ZZY). The three groups will work together to improve Kandi's "Micro Public Transportation (MPT)" carsharing program. They'll collaborate on promotion, creating a research institute, doing research and development for wireless charging and making their operating system easier to use, among other endeavors. "We are excited to connect Kandi's innovative MPT model with ZTE's cutting-edge technologies," says Kandi Chairman and CEO Hu Xiaoming. "By leveraging ZZY's premium services, our goal is to accelerate MPT's market penetration, maintain our leadership position and achieve greater success in China's booming EV industry." Read more in the press release below. Ben & Jerry's debuted a new ice cream flavor at the Tesla Motors factory in Fremont, CA. Tesla built a special Model S in honor of the event and the new flavor, which is called Save Our Swirled.

Best places to get your car maintained and repaired

In this era of rampant inflation and high interest rates, the challenges of acquiring a car or SUV have been well documented. And so it has never been more important to protect that expensive investment by maintaining it. In recent months, Autoblog has shared Consumer Reports' evaluation of the least and most expensive car brands to keep running, as well as tips to prolong a car’s useful life. Especially since the pandemic, a number of factors have impacted these costs: more complex vehicles, new materials and manufacturing methods, a shortage of qualified technicians and replacement parts. Since 2022, repairs costs have jumped each year by about 10 percent. This month, Consumer Reports is offering a useful primer on keeping your ride in great shape, suggesting what might be the best options for searching out a repair shop, depending, as CR says, “on your car and your situation.” Author Ben Preston identifies three basic types of repair facilities: dealership service departments, independently owned repair shops, and chain repair shops. Building up trust with a specific shop and feeling comfortable going there is important. Preston quotes John Ibbotson, chief mechanic at Consumer ReportsÂ’ Auto Test Center: "You might be able to save a few bucks by going to whichever shop offers the cheapest prices, but if you want consistent, reliable service, itÂ’s best to find a repair shop you trust and stick with it,” Ibbotson says. The story goes on to evaluate each type of service facility. HereÂ’s a breakdown of CRÂ’s findings: Dealerships These work well for owners of newer cars, especially for covered warranty work. But the disadvantage is the high labor rates common to dealer service. Satisfaction ratings for dealer service departments range from very good (Acura, Lexus, Mazda, and Volvo) to not-so-good (Jeep and Kia). Dealers are best for: Fixing infotainment system glitches: "If the screen in the center of your dash has a habit of freezing up, or the touchscreen-activated climate controls arenÂ’t working, the dealership is the most likely place to find someone with the know-how to fix problems that maybe only a factory-authorized technician can access," Ibbotson says. Safety system recalibration: "Anything from a crack in your windshield to a minor fender dent can upset the calibration of the sensors that make features like automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control work," says Ibbotson.