Month: October 2023

Enlarge / There's a very distinct family resemblance between the EV9 and the EV5 (pictured). (credit: Kia)

Following the launch of the new EV9, the next product in Kia's EV onslaught is the smaller EV5. And while the first round of EV5s will go on sale in China and South Korea in the coming months, it will still be some time before the compact SUV is offered globally.

Even worse, we aren't totally sure if the EV5 will come to America; sources within Kia have both confirmed and denied plans to bring this SUV to the US. The company's president and CEO said it would be headed stateside, but then Kia's public relations team denied this statement, with other internal sources saying the EV5 would not be offered in the US. Kia confirms that the EV5 will come to North America, but we're told this just means Canada and possibly Mexico.

Why? It's complicated. The likely culprit is that the EV5 isn't planned to be built in North America, making it ineligible for the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit. That $7,500 credit could drastically reduce the price of a new EV, and Kia not being able to make use of this would reduce the EV5's competitiveness in the US. Just a thought.

Enlarge / There's a very distinct family resemblance between the EV9 and the EV5 (pictured). (credit: Kia)

Following the launch of the new EV9, the next product in Kia's EV onslaught is the smaller EV5. And while the first round of EV5s will go on sale in China and South Korea in the coming months, it will still be some time before the compact SUV is offered globally.

Even worse, we aren't totally sure if the EV5 will come to America; sources within Kia have both confirmed and denied plans to bring this SUV to the US. The company's president and CEO said it would be headed stateside, but then Kia's public relations team denied this statement, with other internal sources saying the EV5 would not be offered in the US. Kia confirms that the EV5 will come to North America, but we're told this just means Canada and possibly Mexico.

Why? It's complicated. The likely culprit is that the EV5 isn't planned to be built in North America, making it ineligible for the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit. That $7,500 credit could drastically reduce the price of a new EV, and Kia not being able to make use of this would reduce the EV5's competitiveness in the US. Just a thought.

Enlarge / Around the world people are asking for smaller electric vehicles. Someone at Kia has been listening and designed this car, the EV3. (credit: Kia)

Kia is staring down an ambitious goal. The company wants to increase its global electric vehicle sales to 1 million units annually by 2026, further ramping up to 1.6 million by 2030. New products like the EV5 crossover and EV9 SUV will certainly help with this push, but smaller, more affordable EVs will be crucial to Kia's success, as well. That's why, despite being called concept cars, the new EV3 and EV4 are thinly veiled glimpses into Kia's next round of production EVs.

Unveiled at Kia's EV Day event in South Korea this week, the EV3 and EV4 will arrive in the next few years. The company also spoke about an even smaller EV2 that will be designed for Europe and emerging markets, with the goal for that car being a super-low starting price—something around the equivalent of $30,000.

There's a strong family resemblance between the EV3, EV5, and EV9. (credit: Kia)

The EV3 and EV4 ride on the same E-GMP electric vehicle architecture that underpins the Kia EV6 and EV9, as well as sister vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Genesis GV60. However, while the current crop of E-GMP vehicles are built with 800 V electrical architecture giving them fast charging speeds, the EV3 and EV4 will use a slightly more cost-effective version of this platform with a 400 V system. That's a bummer; one of the big highlights of cars like the Kia EV6 is its ability to charge at a max rate of 233 kW. With the EV3 and EV4, we could be looking at a maximum rate of 150 kW—or less.

Enlarge / Around the world people are asking for smaller electric vehicles. Someone at Kia has been listening and designed this car, the EV3. (credit: Kia)

Kia is staring down an ambitious goal. The company wants to increase its global electric vehicle sales to 1 million units annually by 2026, further ramping up to 1.6 million by 2030. New products like the EV5 crossover and EV9 SUV will certainly help with this push, but smaller, more affordable EVs will be crucial to Kia's success, as well. That's why, despite being called concept cars, the new EV3 and EV4 are thinly veiled glimpses into Kia's next round of production EVs.

Unveiled at Kia's EV Day event in South Korea this week, the EV3 and EV4 will arrive in the next few years. The company also spoke about an even smaller EV2 that will be designed for Europe and emerging markets, with the goal for that car being a super-low starting price—something around the equivalent of $30,000.

There's a strong family resemblance between the EV3, EV5, and EV9. (credit: Kia)

The EV3 and EV4 ride on the same E-GMP electric vehicle architecture that underpins the Kia EV6 and EV9, as well as sister vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Genesis GV60. However, while the current crop of E-GMP vehicles are built with 800 V electrical architecture giving them fast charging speeds, the EV3 and EV4 will use a slightly more cost-effective version of this platform with a 400 V system. That's a bummer; one of the big highlights of cars like the Kia EV6 is its ability to charge at a max rate of 233 kW. With the EV3 and EV4, we could be looking at a maximum rate of 150 kW—or less.