Kia Trail'ster Takes The Road Less Traveled With Electric-AWD
Electric cars may more commonly be found prowling the city streets than out in the wild, but Kia thinks its Trail'ster electric all-wheel-drive concept is just the thing to get millennials muddy. Shown off at the Chicago Auto Show this week, the chunky car takes not one but two powertrains into the wilderness. Dubbed e-AWD by Kia, a 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine is joined by electric engines at the rear for extra traction in the mud and snow, while inside the materials have gotten more rugged to match the new body kit.
Despite original predictions that Kia would follow Tesla in offering an AWD all-electric car, the Trail'ster is in fact a hybrid that combines elements of the regular Soul and its Soul EV sibling.
The gas engine delivers 185 HP and 185 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed automatic transmission, with a turbocharger and front wheel drive. At the back, the electric motor adds a further 35 HP and 100 lb-ft of torque. At low speeds, and for short distances – we're talking just 2-3 miles – the Trail'ster can run on electric power alone, though any faster and the gas engine wakes up and the EV powertrain is used instead as an assist system, or to bridge turbocharger lag.
Finally, during deceleration, the electric motor turns into a generator to recharge 1.2 kWh li-ion battery pack, stored under the cargo floor.
Combining a gas engine and an electric system into one car is traditionally tough to do: it demands a common driveline connection inside the transmission. Kia's answer is a far simpler one – though fundamentally difficult to organize – as the two powertrains effectively do their own thing, with no mechanical link between them.
In fact, by coordinating what all four wheels are doing, Kia claims a significant bump in potential economy. Versus a regular 2.0-liter, non-turbocharged Soul, for instance, a production version of the Trail'ster could be expected to see a 25- to 30-percent improvement in city economy, and a 5- to 10-percent improvement in highway economy.
The key there is "if" Kia gives the concept the green light to go ahead, something that's far from certain at this stage. Even if it does, there's no telling whether things like the full-length canvas roof, LED lighting, and two-tone body kit would make it to the showroom.
Inside, there's more rugged leather for the seats, a thicker gear shifter for easier gripping while wearing gloves, and aluminum inlays in the floor mats.
One of the reasons we were so impressed by the Soul EV last year was how affordable it made electric driving. Kia's arguments for its e-AWD system, not least how much cheaper it is to produce than a complex traditional hybrid transmission, could mean the same thing for electric-assisted CUVs, though we'll have to wait to see if Soul fans are sufficiently vocal to persuade Kia to take it from concept to production.
