Back in June we have informed that KIA was already working on the GT1 project, an all-electric Stinger sedan replacement to be called EV8. We also have seen it at Kia’s Union New Car Production Schedule in December, but looks like the strategy was modified. We heard some news regarding this cancellation and before publishing it, we have asked our sources within the industry that confirmed the GT1 project was scratched.
The GT1 was expected to be Kia’s first electric vehicle to be equipped with next-generation electric vehicle-only platform (known as “eM”) developed by HMG following the E-GMP (used for the KIA EV6, EV9, Hyundai IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 and Genesis GV60) and to be premiered by Genesis GV90 in 2025. Apparently, now the eM platform will be reserved for Genesis models, with Kia and Hyundai settling with the eS.
Several specifications were released like the battery capacity and electric motors total output. The GT1 was set to have brand’s largest ever battery used with 113.2 kWh (compared to the EV9’s 99.8kWh battery pack). Kia is not the first automaker that started to reconsider its electric vehicle offensive and already said it will launch up to 23 new Hybrid model by 2028. This could be caused by the slowdown in demand for electric vehicles.
Detail of KIA’s New Car Plan from the Union
The GT1 Stinger was expected to achieve a range of 700 to 800 km on a single full charge. For the current largest battery, the Mercedes-Benz EQS (107.8kWh) can run up to 750 km according to the European World Standard Automotive Test Method (WLTP).
The KIA GT1 was expected to have a maximum output of 450 kW (612 hp) thanks to the combination of a 200 kW front engine and a 250 kW rear engine, so this sure make it more powerful than the EV6 GT (that has a total output of 430 kW). KIA will also use another configurations for entry and medium model. The entry-level model was expected to have a single rear electric motor with 160 kW (218 hp) while the AWD model adds another 160 kW motor in the front to reach 320 kW or 435 hp.
Hyundai Motor Group will not share this new platform and engines with any of their upcoming models despite Genesis brand (Genesis GV90 large SUV and second generation Genesis GV80 we already talked about) while Hyundai and KIA models will benefit with the eS platform, that is based on the Integrated Modular Architecture or IMA.
