Why the Kia EV2 won’t be coming to Australia to fight the MG4, BYD Dolphin, GWM Ora and Tesla Model 2

The Kia electric car countdown in Australia will not include the cheapest model it has yet previewed, the entry-level EV2.

Kia already has the EV6 and EV9 on-sale in Australia – as well as the Niro – and will follow up with the EV5 medium SUV mid-year and the EV3 compact SUV as soon as 2024 and the EV4 sedan in 2025.

But the EV2, the electric car that could have put Kia in competition with the forthcoming Tesla Model 2 and the Aussie market’s Chinese price leaders – the BYD Dolphin, GWM Ora and MG4 – has been ruled out.

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That’s because it’s only going to be built in Europe in land-locked Slovakia and that creates shipping logistical and cost issues.

On top of that vehicles that are built in Europe are still slugged a five per cent import tariff by the Australia government.

“Logistics and free trade agreements don’t agree with us when we source from Slovakia,” explained Kia Australia product planning chief Roland Rivero.

“As much as a product like EV2 would be great, it’s going to be too difficult for us and we won’t be taking that product.”

While it has confirmed its existence, Kia hasn’t actually released any images of the EV2, so we’ve illustarted this story with the tiny PV1 electric commercial vehicle. At least one thing they have in common is neither will be coming to Australia.

However, Rivero teased a silver lining – a yet-to-be announced EV that could fit the bill as a price leader for Kia Australia.

“There could be other products in the pipeline that are being development globally that can still fulfill a similar role of an EV product that’s a smaller size,” he said.

The EV3 and EV4 have none of the sourcing or tariff issues the EV2 faces.

They will initially be built in South Korea, but a manufacturing shift is tipped to China that will potentially make pricing all the more attractive in Australia.

How attractive? Well the EV4 is a Tesla Model 3 fighter so that suggests a $60,000 starting price.

The EV3 is a compact SUV that could settle in the low $50,000 bracket, setting it up as a rival for the forthcoming Chery Omoda 5 EV as well as the popular BYD Atto 3.

The Kia EV5 is likely to kick off at or just below $60,000 before on-road costs.

“We think EV3 and EV4 have an opportunity in our marketplace,” said Rivero

“We’ve got our hand up… and we think that there’s a great opportunity in our marketplace to sit below EV5.”