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Exclusive: Kia designer promises the brand’s smallest new model will “get noticed”
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Kia is set to take on Volkswagen’s planned new small car with an EV1 model that’s going to “get noticed” according to one of the brand’s senior designers – and it could be seen later this year.
At Kia’s EV Day last year, president and CEO Ho Sung Song not only confirmed his brand’s “unwavering commitment to EVs while competitors are revising their EV plans,” but also spoke about the potential of an EV1, saying, “internally we are studying what our entry EV model will be.”
At the same event, Kia’s vice-president of business planning Spencer Cho said: “We are vigorously working on ways to deliver EV1 as quickly as possible.”
Now, speaking at the Brussels Motor Show, Jochen Paesan, vice-president of the Kia future design group, has revealed a little more about the thinking behind the EV1.
When asked about the EV1, Paesan said: “We are very conscious that a small car, the small EV market, is really important. I think we need to keep working on that. I cannot say too much more, but of course in what we’re looking at and what the possibilities are, there’s room for that thought process.
“We’ll do it our Kia way, let’s put it that way. I think we want to make sure that we are noticed.
“There’s a lot happening in that space. There are some brands that are, let’s say, naturally in that space, especially for Europe. So, it’s important for us is to make sure that we, whatever we do, we are noticed, but we are also noticed with substance and not just with, “Oh wow,” and then it doesn’t do what it needs to deliver. And I think that’s the key of it.
“It’s a proper car. I won’t say more than that.”
The new Kia EV2 was one of the stars of this month’s Brussels Motor Show, with the Standard Range EV2 Air model likely to go on sale in the spring with prices starting at around £26,000 for the 42kWh battery version that promises 197 miles of range.
The EV1 would naturally sit below the EV2 with it likely to try and match the proposed €20,000 (£17,400) starting price that Volkswagen is looking to achieve with its new small car. Citroen has also hinted at a new model inspired by the 2CV to attack that sector.
If the new baby Kia is built in Europe, there’s also the possibility that it could benefit from the proposed incentives available from the European Union for the new class of M1E small electric cars, making them cheaper and more affordable in Europe.
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