2024 Kia EV3 teased ahead of May 23 reveal
All-new small electric SUV will be Korean brand’s most affordable EVThe 2024 Kia EV3 has been officially teased for the first time ahead of the all-new small electric SUV’s global reveal on May 23 and, as per the bigger upcoming Kia EV5, very little looks to have changed in the transition from concept car to production vehicle.
Kia Motors today released a trio of close-up preview images of the new EV3, shot in a similar fashion to the recent EV6 facelift teaser, albeit taken from the side instead of head-on and behind.
The images give us a half-decent look at the compact battery-electric SUV’s daytime running light and tail-light signatures, as well as its oversized C-pillar and front wing.
Kia designers said the EV3’s aesthetic has been cut from the same cloth as the flagship EV9 large electric SUV in being full of “bold, geometric and robust aspects with “boxy” and “futuristic” undertones.
Set to rub shoulders in the small SUV segment with Kia’s combustion-powered Seltos and likely to replace the Niro EV, the EV3 will become Kia Australia’s most affordable electric vehicle when it arrives here in the first half of 2025, pinching the crown off the imminent new Kia EV5 mid-sizer.
A starting price in the vicinity of $50,000 plus on-road costs is very much on the cards for the EV3, given its larger EV5 sibling – from which it derives its underpinnings and battery tech – is set to start in the low $60,000s.
That relatively low entry price will be key to its success globally and is afforded by a 400V electrical system – like the EV5 but unlike the EV6’s 800V E-GMP architecture – and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology, not to mention lower (but still segment-appropriate) power outputs from both single- and dual-motor drivetrains.
Like the EV5 but not the rear/all-wheel drive EV6 and EV9, single-motor versions of the EV3 will be front-wheel drive in the name of interior space, while the dual-motor versions will naturally bring all-wheel drive, almost certainly reserved for the top-flight GT-Line variant.
The EV3’s global reveal will be livestreamed via the Kia Worldwide YouTube channel at 10:00pm AEST on May 23.
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