The model will go on sale in Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in June through authorised Kia dealership locations, which are still to be announced.

Kia added that additional markets are set to come online in 2016.

“From the inception of the Soul EV program, Kia’s sales strategy has been progressive and pragmatic,” said Orth Hedrick, vice president of product planning, KMA. “With the level of demand and supporting infrastructure in the state, California was a natural place to start, but we’ve been carefully studying other markets. Between consumer reaction to the Soul EV and growinginfrastructure programs in these five states, this is a logical – and exciting – next step in our rollout plan.”

Offered in two trims, Base and + (Plus), the 2015 Soul EV MSRP5 is priced at $33,700 (not including federal tax rebate of $7,500) for the Base and $35,700 (not including federal tax rebate of $7,500) for the Plus. A lease price of $249/month for the Soul EV Base6 is also available.