Kia Trail’ster Concept – AWD Soul with turbo + e-motor

Kia Trailster Concept-05

Kia has took the wraps off the Kia Trail’ster e-AWD Concept at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show. Penned by Kia’s California design studio, the Trail’ster is an adventurous Soul for those who look to venture beyond the city. Kia’s American studio has previously come up with the cool Track’ster and GT4 Stinger concepts.

“The Trail’ster is a near-future look at how the production Kia Soul would logically evolve into an AWD-capable version that’s built to escape the city streets and roam into the mountain wilderness. It takes the go-anywhere capability of an SUV and reimagines it within a compact and sporty package with an expressive design to match,” said Tom Kearns, chief designer at Kia Design Center of America.

The Trail’ster is powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine with 185 hp and 250 Nm paired to a six-speed automatic transmission. An electric AWD system on the rear axle provides low-speed assist, enhanced launch acceleration and improved traction when needed. In addition, this approach helps mitigate turbo lag by providing instant torque. Combined, the Kia has 220 hp and 386 Nm.

Kia Trailster Concept-02

Kia calls this hybrid system “Through-the-Road” – both the ICE and e-motor meet “through the road,” as opposed to inside the transmission with a common driveline connection. It requires all four wheels being driven in careful coordination, but there’s no mechanical link between both propulsion sources.

Despite having AWD capability, Kia says that should the Trail’ster find its way to production, fuel economy would be 25-30% better in the city and 5-10% improved on the highway over the normally-aspirated 2.0 litre petrol Soul.

The 27 kW, 270 volt AC synchronous permanent magnet electric motor draws power from a 1.2 kWh lithium ion polymer battery stored under the cargo floor. The system also utilises a Hybrid Starter Generator to start/stop the engine as needed (and to feed energy to the high voltage battery), and an electrically driven A/C compressor, which can run when the engine is shut off. The electric motor can power the car solely for a range of up to five km on a gentle throttle.

Kia Trailster Concept-18

The cool-looking Trail’ster features a full-length, weatherproof rollback canvas roof, an arrangement also seen on the Fiat 500C and Citroen DS3 Cabrio. Integrated roof rack fittings with aluminium cross rails allow adventurers to tote mountain bikes or snowboards with ease.

Speaking of adventure, the Trail’ster sports aluminium skidplates around the entire vehicle. It has been raised more than 64 mm over a regular Soul and sits on Pirelli Winter Carving 245/45 R19 snow tyres. KSport coilover shocks help absorb the impact of rough ground and rocky surfaces.

Inside, the Soul’s cabin gets plenty of brown leather and aluminium accents. “We drew from high-quality active lifestyle accessories like snowboarding gloves, boots and helmets to bring a premium level of craftsmanship and character to the interior space,” Kearns said. Looks good, doesn’t it?

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.

Certified Pre-Owned - 1 Year Warranty

10% discount when you renew your car insurance

Compare prices between different insurer providers and use the promo code 'PAULTAN10' when you make your payment to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services.

Car Insurance

Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • spongewai on Feb 13, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    Kia Malaysia or Naza promised us to bring this cutie B-segment boxy SUV Soul to here til now no news yet

    adui

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • Chyan on Feb 13, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    I’d buy this. Too bad they’re (Kia Soul) not sold here. I guess it’s too quirky for Malaysian’s taste? But then again, it’s a huge hit in America so why not in parts of Asia?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
    • Nissan Amisai on Feb 13, 2015 at 7:14 pm

      Coz Malaysian will only like Toyota Vios as God car and Nissan Amisai as disease car.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Albert on Feb 13, 2015 at 8:27 pm

    Kia Korea,listen …listen…listen.
    It is time to change your current distributor.After 15 years,it is still lagging behind.Even resurgent Mazda is going to overtake Naza in sales this 2015.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • karipap basah on Feb 14, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    Kia…please, please, please use back steel rims..
    The rims shown in the picture looks so fugly…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • ss427 on Feb 16, 2015 at 9:29 am

    Well Sam all these techwiz still means nothing to bolehland customers right? Still no RV right? We buy cars to please used car dealers, not to please yourself… LOL

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

Add a comment

required

required