Only 500 Kia EV6s for Oz in 2022, GT delayed until 2023

The Kia EV6 is shaping up to be hot property when it goes on sale in Australia early in 2022 – and it looks set to become the most expensive Kia ever sold here.

Kia has confirmed to EV Central that just 500 of the all-new electric crossovers will be delivered in Australia in 2022 – and none will be the much-hyped GT model that blasts to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds.

With almost 14,000 expressions of interest logged on the Kia Australia website – about four times more than the Kia Stinger performance car when it went on sale in 2017 – there’s likely to be many who miss out, as they did with the first batch of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 sister car.

Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith says the company will push for more EV6s to come to Australia, although the chances appear slim.

“We’ve got a presentation [to head office] in the second week of December where I’ll be pushing the case very, very hard for more stock, not just for EV6 but of everything,” says Meredith, referencing the global supply challenges as a result of a shortage of semiconductors.

READ MORE: New Kia EV6 to overtake the Stinger as a performance hero
READ MORE: Kia EV4 and EV7 to launch in 2022 as EV6 all-electric family grows
SPECS COMPARISON: Hyundai Ioniq 5 v Tesla Model 3 v Kia EV6 v Polestar 2 v Volvo XC40 EV
READ MORE: Genesis GV60 promises to put the excitement into EV with drift mode and boost mode

None of the first 500 EV6s coming here in 2022 will be the flagship GT, which gets two electric motors making a combined 430kW and 740Nm.

“The GT is delayed, that’s not coming out first,” Kia Australia product planning chief Roland Rivero told us. “The GT is 12 months away but [potential buyers are] putting deposits on that one – and even if the dealer tells them it could be 100 grand they’re still putting their money down.”

Speaking of pricing, the EV6 is shaping up to be the most expensive Kia sold here – and it looks like it will be more expensive than the Hyundai Ioniq 5 with which it shares it E-GMP electrical architecture; the upcoming Genesis GV60 also uses the same platform.

“Ioniq I thought was pretty sharp,” says Meredith ominously about the $71,900 plus on-roads starting point for the Ioniq 5 (the dual-motor version is another $4000).

Rivero furthered that hint by suggesting the EV6 was likely to be more expensive than the Ioniq 5.

“Globally if you look at all the markets that are selling both … EV6 is priced above. There’s a premium on EV6 so don’t be surprised if we follow the same.”

Rather than selling online as Hyundai did with the Ioniq 5, Kia says it will sell the EV6 in the traditional manner through its 138-strong dealer network.

“We will go through the dealer network and we’ll work out a fair and reasonable allocation between metro and rural,” says Meredith. “We will give every dealer the opportunity to have an EV6.”

Part of the reason for the higher cost is batteries: the EV6’s largest battery pack is 77.4kWh versus 72.6kWh for the battery in the Ioniq 5.

While Kia is launching only with that larger battery pack, the company says it plans to eventually sell a more affordable EV6 with the smaller battery pack in Australia.

Kia Australia marketing chief Dean Norbiato said it would “definitely” happen.

“There’s an appetite for us to get it as soon as possible … when is yet to be determined.”

However, those more affordable EV6s won’t be any earlier than 2023.

Despite the supply shortages and GT delays, Kia is expecting big things of the EV6.

Norbiato describes the EV6 as “a true halo” and one that will help reposition the brand.

“As Stinger played a key role as being a halo, this will play an even bigger role to halo the entire badge,” he says.