Hyundai just announced that it’s expanding its future lineup of electric vehicles and now Kia has made a similar announcement. In 2020 Kia revealed its “Plan S” strategy, which would see the brand introduce 11 electric vehicles by 2026. Now it’s decided to make even more EVs, since Kia now plans to launch 14 new battery electric vehicles by 2027.
The new plan also includes introducing two electric pickup trucks, one which will be a dedicated electric pickup truck and the second a model for emerging markets. An entry-level BEV is also planned. Kia will release at least two electric vehicles per year starting in 2023.
The first one is the EV9 large electric SUV, which was previewed as a concept late last year. Kia says that the EV9 has a driving range around 335 miles and can accelerate from 0-62 mph in only five seconds. The EV9 will also feature OTA (Over the Air) and FoD (Feature on Demand) services and lastly it will be the first vehicle to get Ki’s autonomous driving tech, called “AutoMode”.
Kia hopes to sell 160,000 BEVs this year, but by 2026 it plans to increase that number to 807,000 units and 1.2 million in 2030. It expects that eventually electric vehicles will account for 45 percent of its sales in Korea, North America, Europe and China.
