Kia to launch 6 new EVs by 2027 with EV3 due this year

Kia has confirmed that the EV3 will go on sale later this year as part of its continuing electrification programme.

The compact SUV, likely to replace the Soul EV, will be the first of six new all-electric cars launched by Kia around the world between now and the end of 2026.

Kia said it was targeting 1.6 million EV sales per year by 2030 and hopes for more than three-quarters of its European models to be all-electric by that date.

The Korean firm announced the timescale at its recent investor day summit, at which it also said that the recently previewed EV4 and EV5 will make their way to the road before 2027, along with two models specifically for developing regions.

It also confirmed that the EV2 will go into production in 2026. The compact city car will go on sale in Europe before the end of 2026 and is expected to be Kia’s cheapest all-electric model, with prices from around £25,000. That will put it head-to-head with models including the Citroen e-C3, Renault 5, Volkswagen ID.2 and Skoda Eqip.

At the other end of its offering will be a performance version of the EV9. The 2025 EV9 GT will get uprated suspension and brakes along with a tuned dual-motor setup capable of getting the seven-seat from 0-62mph in just four seconds. Kia also said it was committed to GT variants of other EV models, although there was no indication of when these might arrive.

Alongside its passenger car line-up, Kia is expanding into commercial vehicles, with two electric vans by 2027. The mid-sized PV5 will be launched in 2025 to compete with the Peugeot E-Expert, Renault Trafic and Ford E-Transit Custom, while the E-Transit-rivalling PV7 will follow in 2027.

New models will benefit from Kia’s next generation of batteries, which will include existing nickel manganese cobalt (NCM) technology and cheaper lithium iron phosphate (LFP). Kia says these fifth-generation cells will be 10% cheaper and offer 7% better energy density than its current batteries.

While the investor day announcements focused on its growing electric vehicle line-up, Kia also said it was strengthening its global hybrid product line to combat potentially “uneven” growth in demand for EVs between now and 2030. It said it would offer nine hybrid models by 2028 in a bid to secure flexibility in the face of weaker global economic growth, a reduction in subsidies and slower charging infrastructure rollout.