- The 2026 Kia EV4 debuts for the United States.
- The Korean-built electric sedan will be available with two battery choices.
- Kia estimates between 235 and 330 miles of range on a full charge.
America, this is the all-new Kia EV4. It’s an all-electric four-door sedan that’s slightly smaller and more affordable than the Hyundai Ioniq 6. It debuted today at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) with a Tesla-designed NACS charging port, a choice of two battery sizes and generous range estimates.
Set to arrive at dealerships in the United States early next year, Kia’s entry-level EV will be available with two battery packs, both rated at roughly 400 volts. There’s a 58.3-kilowatt-hour version that will only be fitted to the base Light trim. It offers a manufacturer-estimated range of 235 miles and can be DC fast-charged from 10% to 80% state of charge in 29 minutes.
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Source: Patrick George
A larger 81.4-kWh pack is fitted to Wind and GT-Line trims. This bigger battery enables a Kia-estimated maximum range of 330 miles on a full charge, while a 10%-to-80% top-up at a DC fast charger should be done in 31 minutes, according to the automaker.
On the charging front, these are significantly worse numbers than the 800V-based Hyundai Ioniq 5 that charges to 80% in less than 20 minutes, but that’s what you get when you slash the voltage in half. That said, Kia didn’t mention how many kilowatts the EV4 can accept from a fast charger.
The EV4 will come with an NACS charging port from the factory, making the use of an NACS to CCS adapter redundant at compatible Tesla Supercharger stations in the U.S. and Canada. That said, using anything other than Superchargers will create the need for a CCS to NACS adapter because the majority of non-Tesla DC fast chargers have CCS cables. Things are improving, though, as many operators are retrofitting NACS cables to their stalls.
Photo by: Suvrat Kothari
Irrespective of the battery size, Kia will only offer the electric sedan with a single, front-mounted motor that makes 201 horsepower (150 kW). In other words, this is not a Hyundai Ioniq 6 in a different frock.
All these changes should lead to a more affordable price tag for the EV4 here in the United States. We’ll have to wait a little longer for the MSRP, but it will likely be less than the $38,000 sticker of the Ioniq 6 in the U.S.
Inside, the Kia EV4 gets Hyundai Motor Group’s new Connected Car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) infotainment system that offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as over-the-air software updates. A pair of 12.3-inch displays dominate the upper part of the dashboard, with one screen acting as a digital instrument panel and the other as the gateway to all the car’s features. There’s a physical scroll wheel for the volume, a couple of toggle switches and some capacitive buttons, too, so the driver won’t have to rely solely on the central touchscreen.
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Source: Kia
Vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality is included as standard (an adapter is needed, though), meaning power can be exported from the high-voltage battery to power things like appliances and tools.
The Kia EV4 will be built in South Korea at the Autoaland Gwangmyeong EVO plant, which is an interesting choice given the recent tariff turmoil and the fact that Kia has a factory in the United States. Maybe the automaker will shift production stateside if the levies become unbearable and demand is high enough, but it really a guessing game at this point. The Hyundai Ioniq 6 has had disappointing sales, but at the same time, the gas-powered Kia K4 is a hit among buyers.
