Kia's showing off its Trail'ster at the Chicago Auto Show. The Soul-based hybrid features a unique drivetrain.
Kia plans to blow into the Windy City next week with an intriguing concept vehicle it’s describing as a “rugged runabout.”
A terse release doesn’t reveal much, though it suggests that the Kia Trail’ster concept will attempt to blend the best of the maker’s gas and electric versions of the popular Soul, while adding a little more rugged capabilities.
“Conceived at Kia’s California design studio,” the Korean carmaker says, the Trail’ster “re-imagines one of the brand’s most popular vehicles. Built for city dwellers seeking an adventurous escape and intended to enable a variety outdoor activities, this concept proves that practical urban wheels can also be rugged and capable.”
Set to debut at the Chicago Auto Show on Thursday, Feb. 12, the Trail’ster is referred to by Kia as an “e-AWD” concept. That term is actually a bit misleading, at least at first glance.
Like the battery-powered version of the Soul, the Trail’ster does use an electric-drive system, but here it is linked solely to the rear wheels. The front wheels, in turn, apparently are powered by a turbocharged gasoline engine. Other manufacturers are adopting this approach – which some have dubbed a through-the-road all-wheel-drive system, as there is no driveshaft or other mechanical link between front and rear axles.
Exactly what sort of turbo engine is up front remains to be seen. Kia has been expected to introduce a turbocharged 1.6-liter version of the Soul.
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As for the rear axle, if Kia sticks with the basic drive system of the Soul EV, it would mean a permanent-magnet, synchronous AC motor developing 109 horsepower and 210 pound-feet of torque. The electric model is powered by a 27 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery capable of delivering an EPA-rated 93 miles per charge.
The teaser pic released today shows the Trail’ster traversing a dirt track. And, with the upswept bumper, it might just be tweaked a bit to give the Soul a little bit of off-roadability. An earlier Trail’ster teaser showed the concept vehicle driving in heavy snow, an appropriate image considering the storms that have swept through Chicago and the rest of the Midwest in recent weeks.
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And it would fit the apparent target buyer, a “city-dweller-turned- outdoor-adventurer.”
What we can’t see is the “fully retractable canvas roof” mentioned in the latest release from Kia.
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Among the many questions to be answered is whether the Kia Trail’ster is a pure fantasy or a hint of some new Soul variant to come. Like so many other makers, Kia is quite likely to launch a plug-in hybrid in the next few years, and the quirky crossover would appear to be a perfect platform.
We’ll apparently have to wait to hear more at the maker’s news conference at 9 a.m. next Thursday.