The EV4 sedan was first introduced as an idea in 2023, however it’s now an actual automobile. It is available in two variations. One has a cool rear that stretches out to appear like a standard 4-door automobile. The different, a “five-door” hot-hatch-looking model will primarily be for the European market, in keeping with Kia. These aren’t going to be Kia’s most-performant EVs although, as they are going to be single-motor front-wheel drive automobiles with simply 150kW of energy and a 0-62 mph acceleration time as fast as 7.4 seconds.
The EV4 will even run on a lesser 400-volt model of the corporate’s E-GMP platform as a substitute of the faster-charging 800-volt variations used within the EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and others. Kia says the system can nonetheless cost 10 to 80 p.c in as little as 31 minutes.
The automobiles may shine in battery vary. Kia says they’ll rise up to 630km (about 391 miles) on a single cost with the bigger 81.4 kWh battery possibility, and 430km (about 267 miles) on the smaller 58.3 kWh battery. However, these estimates are based mostly on Europe’s extra beneficiant WLTP requirements.
The EV4 nonetheless provides a few of Kia’s cooler EV tech. It has a 30-inch widescreen show (actually three side-by-side instrument cluster and infotainment screens) that run Kia’s newest “linked automobile Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) software program. You get leisure choices like YouTube, Netflix, video games, and extra that might be obtainable from an app retailer.. You can even get an AI voice assistant, Apple Watch digital key entry, V2L for powering family units, and a “Smart Cruise Control 2” superior driver-assistance system with lane maintaining.
Kia’s idea EV2, which had purportedly been noticed in camouflage final yr, is meant to be even cheaper than the EV4. The firm says the mini-SUV might be its “smallest EV but” and can have choices to reconfigure seating to maximise entrance row house for lounging or for rear cargo. It will even have perks like detachable moveable audio system for tailgating.
The EV4 sedan will initially be in-built Korea and can first launch there in the course of March. The EV4 hatchback might be produced in Slovakia and can launch in Europe within the second half of 2024. The North American model of the sedan might be produced “later within the yr.” The EV2, in the meantime, is coming in 2026 for Europe and different areas, though its US availability is but to be confirmed.
Kia President Ho Sung Song introduced on the occasion that EV4 pricing will begin at 37,000 euros (about $38,500), Electrek stories. The preliminary run will embody 160,000 models, of which 80,000 are destined to ship to North America.
With the EV4, US automobile patrons may quickly have one other inexpensive mass-market electrical automobile possibility in opposition to the Tesla Model 3. The EV4 may fill some vacancies, too, as automakers like Volkswagen, which is now not bringing the ID.7 stateside, re-tune their EV methods amidst the Trump administration’s pursuits to get rid of electrical car incentives.
