Kia Debuts All-New EV5 Electric SUV With a Maximum 302 HP, Possible $50,000 MSRP

As everyone might remember, although Kia has other battery-powered vehicles like the Soul or Niro EV, their first dedicated electric vehicle was introduced in 2021 – the EV6 compact crossover SUV developed and produced on the Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). It's similar to the dedicated Hyundai Ioniq models, and it quickly became the 2022 European Car of the Year and 2023 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year.

Then, in 2023, Kia accelerated the EV series by introducing the EV9 mid-size EV crossover SUV in March, followed by the reveal of the China-spec EV5 compact EV crossover SUV at the Chengdu Motor Show in August. Well, it's time to meet the production electric compact SUV in KDM flavor, and I hope it will soon be revealed as the one with global ambitions. Oh, and Kia also graced its EV Day with the Concept EV3 and Concept EV4 previews of the upcoming EV3 and EV4 models – but we'll treat them separately so we don't miss any juicy bits.

Kia's main plan is an interesting one. The company aims to "establish a reliable system for EV production and battery supply, (…) and charging infrastructure to make EVs more accessible to customers." Additionally, their goal is to have a wide-ranging EV family priced from $30k to $80k. As such, alongside the EV6 and EV9, they will also feature smaller models like the EV5, EV4, and EV3 with MSRPs from $35k to $50k. From that, we can extract two exciting bits of information.

While the talk of USD rather than Euro or GBP helps them establish a lower pricing point, we might take this as a hint that Kia will eventually roll out all models – EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6, and EV9, in North America, too. Secondly, the EV3, EV4, and EV5 are pegged between $35k and $50k, leaving room for something even smaller and cheaper around the $30k price point! Now, let's get back to the KDM-spec Kia EV5.

The third dedicated BEV in Kia's family, the model built on Kia's bespoke E-GMP architecture, will be produced not just in China (by joint venture Dongfeng Yueda Kia) but also at home in South Korea. For now, the latter models are still in development, but Kia plans to introduce standard, long-range, and long-range AWD versions.

The initial technical specifications include a 58-kWh battery and 160-kW (215 hp) front motor for the base variant, an 81-kWh battery for the long-range version, and a dual-motor configuration for the long-range AWD model with a combined output of 225 kW (302 hp). Last but not least, Kia also promises there will be an EV5 GT trim, but that one will be revealed at a later date.