Global demand delays Kia Australia's EV plans

European and global demand for the Kia e-Niro and Kia e-Soul electric crossovers has killed off plans to launch the pair Down Under – at least until late 2020 or early 2021.

That’s the news from the local arm of the Korean challenger brand, which has postponed plans to launch the electric pair at the 2020 Australia Open tennis tournament in January.

And there’s little clarity on the revised timeline.

“I couldn’t honestly give you a timing on it [their arrival now],” Kia Australia’s Kevin Hepworth told carsales.

“Initially we thought we’d have e-Niro for the 2020 Australian Open. [Given that] you can draw your own conclusions how far down the line we are with planning."

But Hepworth says the Kia e-Niro and e-Soul remain on Kia Australia’s wishlist and the company has confirmed it is undertaking business planning for both.

“The problem is, to be 100 per cent honest, the supply is so tight and we are so far down the food chain because there’s no punitive government fines for not having electric vehicles [via carbon emission targets].”

Hepworth says the brand is pushing on with preparations for the launch of both EVs.

"We’ve gone as far as we are installing charge points into dealerships and all dealerships are having technicians trained in servicing electric vehicles, so we want it to happen… We’re pushing very hard to make it go ahead,” Hepworth said.

The Kia e-Niro is based on a similar platform to the Hyundai Kona Electric and but is half a class or so larger than its cousin and built in Kia’s own plants.

Although Kia makes both standard and long-range versions of both the e-Niro and e-Soul, Kia Australia sources have suggested only the long-range versions would make it to Australia under the current legislative environment.

Both cars have WLTP ranges in excess of 440km and are powered by the same 150kW motor.

Although e-Niro was the initial target of Kia’s local plans, e-Soul has firmed.

“There’s been talk about the e-Soul. It has just kicked arse in every comparison they’ve put it in in Europe. On that basis I’d suggest if we couldn’t have e-Niro, we’d say thank you very much [to e-Soul],” Hepworth stated.