In an effort to expedite the country’s transition toward electric vehicles, the South Korean government is lowering the prices of electric vehicles by 2025. This strategy includes implementing electric battery leases for Korean customers. This would cut their initial purchase costs by nearly half.
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Korean automaker Kia announced an acceleration of its electric transition plan with “11 model EV lineup with 7 dedicated EVs by 2026.”
Is it enough?
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Internal-combustion vehicles made by Hyundai-Kia represented 8.9% of the global market in the first quarter of 2020. But the EVs it sells were 9.9% of the global electric-vehicle market. In other words, Hyundai could be the first legacy automaker that is now more competitive on EVs than with its gas- and diesel-powered cars.
Kia’s first dedicated EV model, to be launched in 2021, will be a high-riding, crossover-like sedan. That’s old news from January. But now there are reports that it will use an ultra-fast 800-volt battery system that could bring 15-minute EV pit stops to the masses.
It’s been a couple of months since Kia’s South Korean headquarters released “Plan S,” the brand’s EV and mobility plan. That plan set a target of a half-million annual global EV sales by 2026 with a worldwide lineup of at least 11 all-electric models. Electrek checked in with Steve Kosowski, manager of long-range planning and strategy at Kia Motors America, to see where things stand for North America.
Two weeks ago, the Hyundai Motor Group said it would invest $87 billion to produce 23 EVs by 2025, with about half of them as new, dedicated electric models. Kia filled in some of the details yesterday when CEO Han-woo Park presented the brand’s EV plans for the next five years or so. Kia says it will offer 11 EVs by 2025.
Hyundai executive vice chairman Euisun Chung today kicked off 2020 by announcing an expanded output of electric vehicles and other advanced technologies. He said the group — which includes the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands — will invest more than $87 billion to produce 23 EVs by 2025. However, details about a possible 11 new, dedicated electric vehicles remain murky.
Kia Europe will meet the challenge of new EU emissions limits by doubling its EV sales next year, according to Emilio Herrera, COO for Kia Europe. He confirmed that the Imagine high-riding electric sedan will go into production in 2021. But the biggest obstacle for EVs is still affordability and profitability, especially for an all-electric version of the subcompacts popular in Europe.
Kia has unveiled a new sleek-looking electric SUV concept, but it’s unfortunately not something you are likely ever going to see on the road.
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As a number of carmakers swap partners and make moves in the self-driving space, Hyundai Motor Group is strengthening its partnership with self-driving startup Aurora through a new investment that will be used to build a platform for the carmaker’s autonomous vehicles.
Hyundai and Kia have been getting more serious about electric cars lately, with the new Kona, Niro and Soul EVs coming out all as good packages at reasonable prices. But none of these are performance monsters, moreso regular, everyday, utility cars.
That all seems to change starting today, as the two companies announced an 80 million Euro ($90m) investment into Rimac Automobili, the Croatian supercar maker behind the Rimac Concept_One and upcoming Concept_Two. The intent is to collaborate on the production of two high-performance electric sportscars, one of which will debut under Hyundai’s “N” brand and the other which will use fuel cell technology.
Hyundai and Kia have invested $300 million in Ola, Uber’s main rival in India. The companies plan on building electric cars specifically for the Indian market.
Kia announced that it is partnering with Amazon to sell and install electric car charging stations — becoming the second automaker to get onboard with the online retail giant becoming a charging station hub.
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Kia’s new 2020 Soul EV has been introduced in Europe with a new name: the e-Soul. The Soul will only be sold in Europe as an all-electric model. Kia announced the e-Soul today, and it will make its European debut at the Geneva Motor Show.
Kia will unveil a new all-electric concept car at next month’s Geneva Motor Show, and the company has released a teaser image of the vehicle.
For a whole day this week, I had the chance to test drive the Niro EV, Kia’s next-generation electric vehicle after the Soul EV. I came out of that day thinking that it is one of the most important EVs to hit the market.
Here’s why in my first drive review of the Kia Niro EV:
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Some automakers believe that there’s a convenience problem with charging electric vehicles and they think wireless charging might be the solution.
In that trend, Hyundai and Kia are unveiling today a new electric vehicle wireless charging system with autonomous parking.
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Kia is skipping a year and unveiling its 2020 Soul EV at the 2018 LA Auto Show. It is a stunner.
The automaker’s flagship electric vehicle is adding the same 64 kWh battery pack found in the Niro EV and Hyundai Kona to push the range of the Soul EV to over ~200 miles.
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Electric vehicles enable owners to have more choices for the sources of energy to power their vehicles. EV owners have been known to adopt solar power at a higher rate than the rest of the popular.
Some of them even want solar directly on their vehicles – even though it’s not the most efficient place for it.
Hyundai and Kia have now unveiled a new solar roof for vehicles to launch next year.
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After revealing the all-electric Niro concept earlier this year, Kia is now unveiling the production version of their new all-electric vehicle at the 2018 Busan International Motor Show today in Korea.
The vehicle appears to feature the same powertrain as the electric version of the Hyundai Kona.
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After the Kia Soul EV, the Korean automaker is expected to launch a second all-electric vehicle this year, an all-electric version of the Niro.
Ahead of this launch, Kia unveiled a ‘Niro EV concept’ at CES in Las Vegas this week.
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Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia want to step up their EV game with new vehicles next year, but they are being very careful about their production capacity, according to a new report.
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Kia is still working on its all-electric vehicle strategy and all they have to show for the meantime is a compliance car: the Kia Soul EV. We reviewed the 2017 version of the vehicle last year and we were pleasantly surprised for what is basically a gas-powered vehicle modified to fit an electric motor and battery pack in order to comply with zero-emission mandates.
We now learn that the Korean automaker is planning an incremental upgrade to the 2018 version of the Kia Soul EV for a slightly longer range.
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Kia announced today that it will introduce the Soul EV in 4 more US states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. 19 new Kia dealers will be certified to sell and service the Soul EV, which will now be available in 10 states. The car was already available in California since late last year and in Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii since earlier this year.
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