Karim Habib, head of Kia global design, stands with his hand on the Concept EV3 during the 2023 Kia EV Day in Seoul.Michael Bettencourt/The Globe and Mail
Amid record new vehicle prices in Canada, Kia recently debuted three vehicles that will sell for lower prices and are aimed at a wider market than those currently offered by the company – at least if they arrive in Canada.
The production EV5 SUV seems certain to come to North America, while the smaller Concept EV3 crossover and Concept EV4 four-door sedan, which were also unveiled at Kia’s global EV Day event in South Korea, are destined for production, Kia officials confirmed. They provided hints along the way that all three are planned for outside Asia and Europe, where they will arrive in the next two years.
During a wide-ranging deep dive into the future of Kia’s global business, Kia officials noted that North America is well behind both Europe and China in the adoption of EVs, and these three vehicles are expected to tackle a common issue: affordability.
“Early adopters are still the majority of EV buyers,” said Kia Motors Corp. chief executive officer Ho Sung Song. “It’s clear there are two main challenges: high prices and charging convenience.”
The average new vehicle price in Canada is at a record of $67,817, according to AutoTrader.ca’s Price Index released this week, which tracks new vehicle prices as advertised in its online vehicle marketplace. The findings reflect a substantial 19.6 per cent year-over-year increase, even with new vehicle supply at its highest level since the middle of 2021. For fully electric vehicles, which most Canadians will be buying in a decade (or possibly two), the current average price is around $73,000, according to Canadian Black Book data.
Kia unveiled its concept EV3 (left), production EV5 and concept EV4 during the Kia EV Day in Seoul. The vehicles will sell for lower prices and are aimed at a wider market than those currently offered by the company.Shingiru/Courtesy of manufacturer
The smaller EV3, EV4 and EV5 are all part of this plan. Kia said it is aiming for a US$35,000-$50,000 price range for these vehicles. It’s normally unheard of for prices to be mentioned when unveiling “concept” cars, and the fact that these planned prices were revealed in U.S. dollars instead of Euros is telling.
Kia also has an even smaller EV2 crossover is in the works, which will be closer to US$30,000. Plus Kia is studying their cost structure on how to reach a US$25,000 price point, which the CEO said will likely require joint ventures with battery makers.
Charging speed will come down more than range to help reduce prices
For potential buyers of the EV5, the lower price doesn’t appear to affect range. The stated driving ranges in China’s lenient CLTC standards translated to about 470 kilometres for its all-wheel-drive version with a larger battery. The EV5 will be produced in Korea in standard and larger battery sizes, which is where North America’s models will likely come from, with rear-drive standard and all-wheel drive optional.
The interior of the production EV5. To help bring the price down, the EV5 will have a 400-volt charging architecture, versus the 800-volt system in the EV6 and upcoming EV9 three-row SUV. Based on charge time estimates provided, the EV5 will be able to charge at a public DC station from 30 to 80 per cent in 27 minutes, versus 18 minutes for a 10-80-per-cent charge for an EV6.Courtesy of manufacturer
To bring the price down, the EV5 will have a 400-volt charging architecture, versus the 800-volt system in the EV6 and upcoming EV9 three-row SUV, so it will DC charge much slower.
Based on charge time estimates provided, the EV5 will be able to charge at a public DC station from 30 to 80 per cent in 27 minutes, versus 18 minutes for a 10-80-per-cent charge for an EV6.
But there will be innovations coming even on these less-expensive models as well, suggests Kia. The production EV3 crossover will be the model that debuts the firm’s new artificial intelligence technology, which allows drivers to have conversations with the AI assistant to, for example, ask the vehicle to plan charging stops with restaurants along a route, or near a movie theatre. This tech will then come to the EV4 and EV5, Kia said, and enhanced using over-the-air updates, as pioneered in Tesla vehicles.
Kia concepts close to production looks, says Kia’s design boss
The production versions of the concept EV3 and EV4 will look similar to the ones unveiled in South Korea, said Karim Habib, head of Kia global design, who was born in Lebanon, raised in Montreal and is now based in Germany.
Kia's Concept EV4 has the clamshell 'coach doors' Kia always uses on its concept vehicles.Shingiru/Courtesy of manufacturer
“It’s the same relationship from the EV5 concept,” he said at the event, which unveiled the production EV5 mere months after the concept EV5 was shown in China in June. He said the exterior is likely closer to the final product than the interior, and that the outward folding clamshell “coach doors” Kia always uses on its concepts are more to be able to better show off the interior, though the company is working on a production version of these doors.
The Concept EV3 will be the tech leader of the group and looks like a smaller EV9, with a boxier design than the more svelte EV6. The Concept EV4 is more of a higher-riding four-door hatchback, even though Kia calls it a sedan.
“The long and sloping roof and extended windshield [of the EV4] is very elegant,” said Habib, when asked if the EV4 was meant to rival the Tesla Model 3. “Kia has a recent history of driver’s cars and we don’t want to lose this.”
To that end, Kia also confirmed that the EV5 will have a hot GT model version coming later, which on the EV6 GT brought on a whopping 576 horsepower and a tail-out drift mode.
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