Kia electric SUV for India will reportedly be pitched against Tata Nexon EV in the sub Rs. 15 lakh price range
Hyundai Motor Group will reportedly expand its electric vehicle portfolio in the Indian market aggressively over the next three years. Hyundai and Kia will bring in the Ioniq 5 and EV6 respectively to the domestic scenes sometime next year along with the facelifted Hyundai Kona and they will be followed by a host of new zero-emission vehicles.
The next generation Kona Electric could be part of the Ioniq family according to reports and it could be dubbed the Ioniq 2, Ioniq 3 or Ioniq 4. Both the Ioniq 5 and EV6 are based on the South Korean auto major’s first dedicated EV architecture, the E-GMP. The skateboard is modular and flexible and will give rise to EVs of different body types in the future globally.
Hyundai, the second-largest car producer in India, has long been reported to be working on a mass-market EV for India and it looks like Kia has joined the party. The report further detailed on what the duo will target and their body style. It looks like they will be electric SUVs and they could be positioned in the sub Rs. 15 lakh price bracket against Tata Nexon EV.
In a similar fashion to the Tata Nexon EV, the Hyundai and Kia electrified SUVs will have a driving range of around 200 to 220 km in a single charge in real-world conditions. Compared to the dedicated EVs, they will have small battery packs to be positioned competitively against the Nexon EV and to benefit from the FAME scheme.
No other details of them are divulged yet except that they will have high ground clearance for greater practicality. Since the Nexon EV, the country’s top-selling passenger EV with more than 10,000 unit sales, is based on the regular ICE powered Nexon, it will be interesting to see if the Hyundai and Kia EVs will have any commonalities with the Venue and Sonet in terms of design and features.
The developmental duties on them have begun and they are only expected to launch in 2024 based on a low-cost skateboard platform.