Despite Kia already revealed apparently its second dedicated EV, the EV9, the real thing is Kia is already working on its second dedicated electric vehicle, the EV5 or EV7 (to be confirmed) while the EV9 is still far from production. The so called “MV” is the vehicle above, a new mid-sized All-Electric SUV that will be built at Kia’s Sohari plant from April 2023.
What we know so far?
Despite at first it was unclear to know which brand this car belongs to, we finally discovered it was a Kia model. This will be brand’s second dedicated EV. With a sized compared to an Sportage long wheelbase model, it will have an interior space similar to a Sorento.
This SUV is in an early stage of development as it doesn’t have even taillights. The mysterious vehicle will be manufactured at Kia’s Sohari Plant from April 2023. So expect a reveal of first official images sometime during first quarter of 2023.
As you may known, the picture above generated some controversy, as we have been contacted by a company related to Hyundai Motor Group forcing to remove the picture. If you take a look to the trunk lid, you will easily recognized the EV6 design cues.
So now and thanks to the information we received, we can confirm Kia has already has two SUVs under development, the first, with the size of the Sportage, but with improved interior modularity and space. This first model is codenamed as MV, the EV6 is CV (C means Compact, M means mid-size) and Kia already had a meeting with the labor union.
Kia plans to transform the Sohari plant into an electric hub. Currently at Sohari plan Kia built Carnival, Stinger, K9 or Stonic. As we already have advanced, K9 is already discontinued and only available in South Korea, Stinger will be discontinued from the end of 2022 while the Carnival will get a facelift coinciding with the discontinuation of Stinger, including Hybrid and All-electric versions for the first time.
Currently Sohari plant has an output of 320,000 units per year while Kia plans to become a leader in the global electric vehicle industry by selling more than 880,000 units annually by 2030.
Pictures: Cochespias
