Kia held its 2021 CEO Investor Day during an online-only event in Seoul and outlined its Plan S strategy about embracing electrification. It aims to have a total of 11 electric vehicles on sale by 2026, seven of which will ride on a platform dedicated to EVs. The first new zero-emissions vehicle to be launched will celebrate its world premiere at the end of March.
Currently known by its “CV” codename, the new crossover will join the electric Niro and Soul in Kia’s growing zero-emissions portfolio. Much like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, it will ride on the E-GMP platform developed from the ground up exclusively for EVs. It will be able to offer more than 500 kilometers (311 miles) of range and fast-charging capabilities with 100 km (62 miles) of range for every 4 minutes of charging.
The Kia CV promises to deliver supercar-like performance by completing the 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) run in as little as three seconds. Its final name is not known for the time being, but the South Korean brand says its future electric vehicles will carry the “EV1” through “EV9” names. We will find out the vehicle’s real name late next week, ahead of a market launch set for July.
Kia’s eco-friendly push is part of a major company overhaul that also includes a new logo and switch to the “Movement that inspires” slogan. In the long run, the automaker hopes hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles to account for 40% of its global sales by 2030 when Kia estimates annual sales of these green cars will reach 1.6 million units. Roughly half of these (880,000) will be fully electric vehicles.
All seven dedicated electric cars will be built on the aforementioned E-GMP platform while the other four are going to be EV adaptations of existing platforms originally developed for cars with combustion engines. The new CV crossover will lead the way, complete with support for HDA2 (Highway Driving Assist Level 2) technology. Come 2023, Kia’s EVs will be upgraded to Highway Driving Pilot (HDP) to get closer to the Level 3 autonomous driving system standards.
As a final note, all E-GMP products will come with support for over-the-air updates (OTA) and Feature on Demand (FoD) services, which are subscriptions to access in-car functions.
Source: Kia
