New details emerged about Kia’s next EV family member, the mid size SUV EV5. Initially scheduled to be released in China by the end of the year, new information directly from KIA Corporation president confirms that it will be released in South Korea and overseas.
According to the industry on the 5th, Kia recently confirmed the vehicle price range, as well as the battery capacity of the EV5 to be sold to the domestic market and in China. The EV5 for sale in South Korea will be set within the standard 50 million won (US $38,000/35.000€) range and the long range within 57 million won (US $43,800/40.000€).
The EV5 battery capacity to be on sale in South Korea and other overseas markets will be larger than current EV6 (which battery capacity is 77.4kWh) and will reach 82kWh, reaching more than 600km in the case of the long range model. The overseas market will use a NCM battery while the Chinese version will use LPF only.
Another information revealed regards the charging system that this time will be based on a 400V system instead of an 800V high voltage system used on the rest of dedicated EVs from HMG. With an 800V system, you can use an ultra-fast electric vehicle charger with an output of up to 350kW, but Kia has decided to go with a 400V system in order to make it cheaper to buy.
Despite Kia initially make it clear that the EV5 will be Chinese-only model with options to be sold in additional countries in the future, Kia’s CEO Song Ho-seong turned around and said, “We will also sell EV5 in South Korea and overseas.” and also pointed out that “The EV5 is struggling with a variety of marketing measures to dissage the image of the EV5 as an SUV for China,” he added.
