Now the EV3 has settled into play, can we count on also seeing its little brother here?

CHANCE of Kia’s electric passenger car aspiration here getting any smaller than the just launched EV3 compact has been nixed for now.

A more compact subordinate to the EV3 that has just released here, the EV2 has a key role in Kia’s electric car strategy.

As the smallest and most affordable battery-reliant product out of South Korea’s electric car kingpin for the immediate future, EV2 is expected to attract what Kia calls the “early majority” - budget-minded first timers, not just to electrics but also potentially to any kind of car.

Previewed by the EV2 concept Kia recently unveiled, the small crossover shares the same new 'simplified' 400V version of the brand's E-GMP platform as EV3 and EV4.

Intention is to price and position it as a rival to the likes of the MG 4 EV from next year. Conceivably, it would also give Kia a rival to the Inster from sister make Hyundai.

But that will only occur in Europe. At least in the immediate future.

Kia’s international strategies and the logistics and cost related to EV2 being solely set to come from a plant in Slovenia - whereas Ev3 s out of South Korea and EV4 is our first Kia from China - means the smallest EV in the make’s family won’t be availed for this part of the world.

Comment from Kia New Zealand also suggests the margin between EV2 and EV3 would not necessarily be as wide as is planned in Europe.

Here the EV3 starts at $55,520 plus on-road costs which, going by what’s been said to media in the United Kingdom, is not that much more expensive than where EV2 was expected to go.

As is, the Auckland-domiciled distributor reminds, the EV3 still stands as Kia’s most affordable new zero-emissions vehicle available in the local line up.

Whether it might ever pitch for EV2 should head office’s regional strategy ever alter is unknown, but in the here and now, a spokesman said: “The Kia EV2 is a model created specifically for the European market, so there are no plans to introduce it in New Zealand.”

Kia has yet to reveal any technical details about the EV2 although reports suggest it will measure around 4000mm long – making it appropriately shorter than the 4300mm EV3 - and a touch shorter than the petrol-powered Kia Stonic.

For battery and driving range, the EV2 is expected to feature a 42kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery in base models and a 62kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery in higher-spec variants. Driving ranges of 300 to 400 kilometres have been expressed. A single-motor, front-wheel-drive configuration is expected across the range.

Aesthetically, the EV2 represents the next step in Kia’s ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy, according to a report from Britain’s Autocar magazine, which attended the preview event.

“The most obvious developments are its smooth exterior surfaces and front lighting treatment, with an extra set of clawlike running lights mounted inboard of those that bracket the faces of the EV2’s bigger siblings.

“At the rear end, the lights are mounted especially low and have a more rounded design than we are used to.”

The interior takes the same combined instrument and infotainment display as the EV3, spanning roughly half the width of the dashboard.

The concept’s flip-up front seat bases, removable speakers and digital message boards on the side windows, are set to remain conceptual.

In its announcement, Kia said the EV2 marks completion of the next phase in its electrification plan. It has turned its attention away from premium models aimed at early adopters (the EV6 and EV9) to launch an assault on what Kia president Ho Sung Song called the “early majority … who are ready to embrace the future.”

Could Kia downscale even further? Ultimately yes, according to an interviw with its boss.

Brand president Ho Sung Song recently told Britain’s Autocar magazine Kia “definitely needs” an even more budget entry-level electric model to broaden the appeal of its EV range and is “internally studying” the prospect.

Song said that the prospective ‘EV1’ could take the form of a city car that sits below the EV2, a more affordable version of an existing model or something else entirely.

He is quoted as saying: “If we want to move to the late majority customer target group, definitely we need a lower size of model, or a lowerpriced model, and we’re internally studying what our entry EV model will be apart from our EV2.

“Maybe next EV Day (in 2026) we will show you what we’re planning.”

Song suggested such a car would initially coexist with the make’s smallest internal combustion passenger product, the Picanto, which starts at $24,490 here.

Meantime, the EV3 has been named as a ‘Top Three’ vehicle in multiple categories in this year’s World Car Awards.