The edgy Kia Trail’ster concept made its debut last week at the 2015 Chicago Auto Show. With a turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to the front wheels and an electric motor at the rear, this innovative e-AWD hatch looks ready to take on high altitudes and snowy ski resorts.
Tom Kearns, chief Kia designer in America, got together with TFLcar’s Nathan Adlen to delve a bit deeper into the Kia Trail’ster concept, finding out what you need to know.
The Trail’ster also features a fully-retractable canvas roof up top, while a longer-travel suspension, aluminum skid plates, and knobbier tires are also standard down below. Kia’s signature quad-LED lamp cluster provides illumination for the low beams.
The ultimate question is, even if the Kia Trail’ster never makes it into production, will its technology hint at a forthcoming Soul variant? I think a Kia Soul with e-AWD and a turbocharged engine, even with slightly less than the Trail’ster’s 220 HP and 285 lb-ft, would be a winner – especially in our snowy climate.
Stay tuned to TFLcar.com for more Kia Trail’ster updates as they become available. In the meantime, check out our first-drive review of the latest-generation Kia Soul.
