Much as Hyundai did yesterday, Kia has announced an electrification roadmap at its 2022 Investor Day, promising to have 14 totally electrical fashions by 2027 and gross sales of 1.2 million EVs by 2030. It additionally revealed that its EV9 SUV, unveiled in idea kind final November on the LA Auto Show, would be the first to make use of autonomous driving tech it calls “Automode.”
Kia’s roadmap builds on its “Plan S” improvement technique introduced early in 2021 that included new branding and a plan to introduce of seven EVs by 2027. Now, the corporate plans to double that with 14 BEV (battery electrical automobile) fashions accessible by 2027 and complete EV gross sales of 1.2 million by 2030. It additionally initiatives to promote 4 million autos yearly by 2030, so EVs would make up simply over 1 / 4 of that — whereas automakers like Mercedes-Benz plan to solely promote BEVs by 2030.
The technique continues to be formidable, because it’s beginning with 160,000 BEV gross sales this yr and plans to ramp that up by 5 instances to 807,000 items in 2026 and 1.2 million by 2030. To hit these targets, Kia will introduce at the very least two new electrical autos per yr. A few these might be electrical pickup vans, together with a “dedicated electric pickup truck and a strategic model for emerging markets,” the corporate mentioned.
Kia
In the close to time period, Kia plans to launch its flagship electrical automobile, the EV9 SUV, by 2023. The idea model it teased final yr had squared-off Range Rover-ish strains, a large 27-inch show and a Tesla-like yoke as a substitute of a steering wheel. Kia now says that will probably be round 5 meters lengthy, speed up to 100 km/h (62 MPH) in 5 seconds, and journey 540 km (340 miles) on a cost — whereas supplying you with an additional 100 km of vary with simply six minutes of charging.
The EV9 may even supply over the air (OTA) and FoD (characteristic on demand) companies for the primary time, permitting house owners to simply replace their automobile’s software program. “In addition, it will be the first model to be equipped with Kia’s advanced AutoMode autonomous driving technology,” it mentioned. Automode might be “rapidly expanded” all through its lineup after that.
What is Automode, you may ask? All we all know thus far is that it is “a range of autonomous driving technologies” that may embrace a “Highway Driving Pilot” characteristic that works by itself with out driver intervention on freeway sections. It may even be improved because the expertise develops by way of wi-fi updates. It seems like at the very least Level 3 self-driving, one thing nonetheless solely accessible from a number of automakers, so we’ll should see how that goes for Kia.
In its press release, Kia gives extra particulars about how and the place it plans to promote EVs, PHEVs, and hybrid fashions around the globe. However, it has already overhauled its plans considerably simply over the previous yr, and is probably going to take action once more. Given the early success (2,126 units sold in February) and usually glowing opinions of the EV6, Kia has purpose to be assured about future EV plans.
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