13 May 2020

Kia details electric expansion plans

Kia in Europe will be offering 11 fully electric cars by 2025, under a plan detailed today in Frankfurt, writes Brian Byrne.

They will include passenger vehicles, SUVs and MPVs. A new dedicated electric car will be introduced in 2021, on a specially-developed platform for electric vehicles.

The new car will be crossover in format, merging traditional and SUV styles, with a 500kms driving range on a full charge. High speed recharging will take less than 20 minutes at a suitable charging station.

In addition, every new Kia model to be launched in future will offer and electrified powertrain.

In the first quarter of this year, Kia's proportion of EVs sold in its product mix more than doubled to 6pc. By 2025, the company expects the penetration to be 20pc.