- Kia is reportedly working on an even smaller electric model than the upcoming EV2.
- It will likely be called the EV and it is expected to be the electric equivalent of the Kia Picanto city car.
- It is expected to be priced €5,000 ($5,200) lower than the EV2.
Earlier this week, Kia unveiled several new electric models that will enter production soon. One of the most exciting is the pint-sized EV2 Concept, which previews a production model by the same name. The EV2 is basically Kia’s electric Europan city car, shrinking down the E-GMP platform for drivers who need something that doesn’t take up lots of space. But that’s not all—Kia is reportedly planning to go even smaller with its electric offerings.
The similar Hyundai Inster and EV2 are the Hyundai-Kia group’s smallest EVs, but according to Autocar, Kia is working on something even smaller, an electric equivalent of the tiny Picanto city car available on the European market. The Inster is already tiny by American standards, which is why neither it nor the EV2 are coming to the States, so the chance that the upcoming smaller model would be sold here is even slimmer.
And we know from past reporting that Kia has a whole family of EVs planned, from the EV9 all the way down to what this car will likely be: the Kia EV1.
For reference, the Hyundai Inster measures 150.6 inches (3.82 meters) in length and is just 63.4 inches (1.61 meters) wide, sitting on a 101.6-inch (2.58-meter) wheelbase. The Kia Picanto is almost 9 inches (22 cm) shorter and even narrower, and it’s likely the future EV1 will be roughly the same size.
The source report also says the EV1 will cost about €25,000 ($26,000) or around €5,000 ($5,200) more than the larger EV2.
Autocar quotes Kia president Ho Sung Song as saying, “If we want to move to the late majority customer target group, definitely we need a lower size of model—or a lower-price model—and we are internally studying what will be our entry EV models, apart from our EV2. Maybe next EV Day, we’ll show you what we are planning.”
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Alex Goy / InsideEVs
There are already EVs in the future EV1’s size bracket available in Europe, including the Dacia Spring, the Leapmotor T03 or the BYD Seagull. Renault is also working on an electric Twingo revival, which will share its underpinnings with an even cheaper future Dacia EV that will replace the current Spring.
The upcoming Dacia EV is expected to start around €18,000 ($18,800), making it considerably more affordable than all vehicles its size, including the EV1.
