Electric 'Kia Picanto' city car to launch next year
Electric Picanto will arrive in 2027 alongside a new family SUV, and it could be badged the EV1...
Kia has confirmed it will launch two new electric cars in the next three years – one of which will be a small hatchback to act as an electric counterpart to the Picanto.
The new model is described as a 'B-segment hatchback', an industry term used to define smaller vehicles like the Kia EV2 and petrol-powered Stonic. The Korean brand confirmed it aims to generally have an combustion-engined vehicle to match every EV in its segment – so it’s highly likely the new model will complement the Picanto, acting as an entry point into Kia’s electric range.
Given the current naming strategy, the new EV could take the ‘EV1’ badge, and it’ll serve as a rival to the likes of the Mini Cooper Electric, Renault 5 and upcoming Volkswagen ID Polo.
It’s expected to be based on the same underpinnings as the EV2, using that car’s 42.2kWh (total capacity) and 61kWh batteries. The hatchback should be smaller and less boxy, meaning it should be more efficient and yield longer ranges of between 200 and 300 miles.
Pricing is a long way from being revealed just yet, but the EV2 starts at around £24,000, and rivals like the Renault 5 start at around £21,000.
Confirmed at the brand’s annual CEO investor day, Kia plans to launch another three EVs by 2030, bringing its total to 14, which will be made up of two ‘passenger vehicles’, nine SUVs and three commercial vehicles. In 2029, it will launch another all-electric family SUV, which could plug the gap left behind by the Niro EV, which has recently been taken off sale.
Two new vans, the PV7 and PV9, will join the PV5 (which comes in Passenger and PV5 Cargo forms) in Kia's commercial vehicle lineup.
In the coming years, Kia will also introduce new electric car technology, which is said to improve battery performance with increased capacity and density – in other words, better efficiency and longer range – as well as cut costs by 30%. It’s unclear which models this tech will appear on first, but it likely won’t make it to production of the electric Picanto as early as 2027.
Its upcoming models will be what Kia calls ‘software-defined vehicles’, featuring over-the-air updates and enhanced ‘level two plus-plus’ autonomous driving functions, which will effectively allow the car to drive itself, but the driver must remain ready to intervene.
Kia also confirmed it remains committed to producing combustion-powered vehicles, including ICE and hybrid options, into the future, “aligning with the pace of electrification in each market”.
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