Electric Shock! Kia to launch 15 EVs in next three years as it doubles down on electrified vehicles
While the Tasman ute is the focus of Kia’s promotion in Australia, globally the brand has announced it will roll out 15 new EVs from now until 2027 as well as six new hybrids in 2024 alone.
Signalling to its rivals that it is now all-in when it comes to electric cars, Kia revealed at its Investor Day that six of its EVs will arrive by 2026.
The first will be the EV3 later this year (2024) and it will be followed by the EV2 and EV4. Kia is also touting the EV5 in that group, but it’s already been unveiled in Australia and goes on-sale mid-year.
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Out of the cars mentioned for an upcoming launch, the Kia EV2 is the only one that hasn’t been previewed by a concept.
However, it’s almost certain the baby Kia will be a rival to incoming affordable EVs like the Renault 5 And BYD Dolphin. Sadly, as we’ve already reported, don’t expect to see it in Australia,.
As well as the new passenger cars, Kia said it will also launch two of its pioneering PBV vans, confirming the medium-sized PV5 and larger PV7 would be on sale by 2027.
It’s not just new EVs Kia will introduce over the next three years. It will also update its very first electric EV model – the EV6, which is set to be overhauled in Q2 of this year. An even faster EV6 GT will follow in Q4 of 2024.
It’s thought as well as a nip and tuck of the exterior and cabin the EV6 will get some of the updates introduced on the recently updated Hyundai IONIQ 5, including its new 84kWh battery.
Finally, Kia said over the next few years it planned to expand its GT family of high-performance EVs, including launching a fast EV9 GT that will be introduced in January 2025.
There’s no word yet on what powertrain the three-row SUV would get but it’s thought it will share its high-output dual-motors with the incoming Kia EV6, with the seven-seater set to be capable of a sub-4.0sec 0-100km/h sprint.
Despite going all in with EVs, Kia said it would also expand the number of hybrids it offers to respond to the global decline in EVs in major markets like Europe and the US.
In 2024 it said it would launch six models that would be expanded to nine by 2028.
Once all models are in the market, Kia said that come 2030 out of the 4.3 million cars it hopes to make globally, some 1.6 million will be electric vehicles, out of which 250,000 will be its new PBV vans.
