Kia rules out a possible ‘EV1’ electric supermini for the near future
It comes after Kia’s CEO previously hinted that the brand needs a small EV in its lineup...
Some of humanity's most important creations include penicillin, smartphones and vegan sausage rolls. There is also a very real argument that small cars should be in that list too, since they are the most affordable and amongst the popular types of vehicle on the road.
And of the world’s small car cohort, Kia makes one of the most successful and well-received of the lot: the Picanto.
But while the Korean marque is continuing to roll out electric cars at a quite incredible rate – offering an EV in almost every part of the new car market – no plans are currently in place to create anything smaller than the recently-announced EV2, which is compact electric SUV.
Speaking to What Car?, Kia’s Director of European Product, Alex Papapetropolous, said: “Today, we have a very complete electric car lineup with a wide range of products, and we still offer a lot of ICE-based [internal combustion engine] products. In total we have almost 15 nameplates across Europe, so in terms of breadth and depth, we are satisfied.
“Of course, the compact segments are important, and we are always looking at having the best lineup possible. We want to grow further in Europe, too, so we’re going to keep an eye on what the EU is going to announce soon, which should offer us a much more detailed framework to act accordingly. But right now, our focus is only on the EV2.”
Early last year, Kia CEO, Ho Sung Song, revealed to our sister title Autocar that the brand "definitely" needed an entry-level EV in its lineup to broaden the appeal of electric cars. With the EV2 set to join a catalogue that already includes the EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6 and EV9, the glaring hole would seemingly be an ‘EV1’.
The idea has almost certainly been discussed internally, but why a potential rival to the Hyundai Inster has yet to develop into something more substantial could be for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that the small combustion car segment is at a crossroads right now.
Genuinely small petrol-powered options are growing far and few between, but Kia’s own answer, the Picanto, continues to soldier on and sweep up a considerable market share. So introducing an EV1 that would either sit alongside the Picanto, or replace it outright, could disturb the ‘complete’ lineup that Papapetropolous speaks of.
Another reason could be that the small electric car market has no shortage of options right now, and Kia could be holding out to see if interest continues to ascend once the next wave of competitors – like the Renault Twingo or Volkswagen ID 1 — enter the fray. Besides, the company already has its hands pretty full right now, given it also just launched the EV3 GT, EV4 GT and EV5 GT alongside the EV2.
There has been no announcement for a Kia EV Day (the annual event where Kia previews its forthcoming electric models) in 2026 either, which adds further fuel to the idea that an EV1 could be shelved for some time yet.
Read more: Best small electric cars 2026
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