Kia Updates Its Electrification Plans, Pledges 11 EVs by 2026

On Monday, Kia said that they are no longer collaborating with Apple to build a self-driving EV and now they have revealed their updated electrification plan. Kia Motors president and CEO Ho Sung Song said during the investor day event that they would make available 11 electric vehicles by 2026.

Out of eleven, seven will use the Hyundai Motor Group's E-GMP (electric vehicle platform) architecture. Kia announced the same thing earlier, but now they have curtailed their timeline by one year. It shows the race toward electrification is becoming fierce.

Kia presently builds two EV variants of its gas-powered vehicles – the Soul EV and the Niro EV. The goal is to add four more electric versions of the conventional cars, each using E-GMP.

The automaker teased one of these already, codenamed CV, offering about 300 miles of range with part charging time of 20 minutes.

Kia’s objective is to make an array of electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrids. In the next ten years, they want 40% of its sales consisting of these electrified models, intending to sell 1.6 million vehicles. Out of these, they hope to sell 880,000 pure EV models.

The South Korean company plans to grow its purpose-built-vehicle (PBV) business by foraying into self-driving delivery automobiles. The plan is to introduce their first electric PBV next year with a target to ship one million of these vehicles in the next ten years. Kia will work with other firms and create platforms for them.

Another significant announcement is making Kia Flex subscription service global. The service is available in Korea since 2019. For the worldwide markets, it will be called Kia Subscription, and it will run under the supervision of Hyundai Motor Group's Sixt Leasing department.

Source: CarandDriver