New Kia EV6 to overtake the Stinger as a performance hero
The Kia Stinger might not be long for this world, according to international reports, but there’s a new go-fast option waiting in the wings, with the Kia EV6 to overtake the Stinger as a performance hero.
While it’s easy to think of electric vehicles as efficient or eco-friendly, Kia says it has added a performance edge to its new EV that will deliver “the next step up” from the Stinger in terms of performance.
“The EV6 … will be the next step up in regards to giving us that performance sharpness with the brand,” Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith told EV Central.
READ MORE: $65K start price firming for Kia EV6 electric crossover
“We’ve focused really heavily on developing the brand.”
Kia has launched a Register Your Interest page that contains plenty of need-to-knows about the brand’s new EV, including range expectations, specification guides and the ability to stay in the loop on new developments.
And the timing doesn’t seem like an accident, given reports in South Korea suggest a definite end-date has been put on Stinger production, with the rear-drive performance car slated to finish up in 2022.
Kia hasn’t officially confirmed or denied the claims, but the timing of the arrival of the revolutionary EV6 couldn’t be better.
The EV6 shares its E-GMP architecture and much of its electrical components with the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 5, although Kia will have a higher performing version in the EV6 GT.
The sleek and stylish EV crossover is a definite wolf in sheep’s clothing, and in GT guise, will deliver 430kW and 740Nm – unlocking the ability to hit 100km/h in a supercar-worrying 3.6-seconds. Kia even cheekily showcased the EV6 GT’s performance in a drag race against Porsche, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG, McLaren and Ferrari.
It will also be set-up for “ultra-fast charging” and should deliver more than 500km in driving range on the WLTP cycle. And it’s all of this tha will see the Kia EV6 to overtake the Stinger as a performance hero
“GT is an important element of our strategy moving forward,” says Kia head of global brand Artur Martins.
“We had it already in the internal combustion engines … in Stinger … and other models. It’s part of our strategy today and it will be an important part of our strategy moving forward.”
“If you look at the (EV6) and the proportions and the performance, definitely it will be like kind of the Stinger of the EV for us.
“We expect the EV6 to have this role of being the ambassador of the future brand and also the representative of how we want to position ourselves and how we want to move towards becoming an EV brand.”
Australia is likely to only take the bigger 77.4kWh battery pack that will provide 510km of driving range, with Kia here unlikely to adopt the 58kWh battery that would make the car cheaper, but also reduce its range.
Part of a broader family of Kia EV models built on a bespoke E-GMP electric car architecture developed in conjunction with parent company Hyundai, the EV6 will be available in rear- and all-wheel drive variants covering a broad spectrum of equipment levels and performance.
