Kia EV5 to undercut Tesla Model Y

Kia has confirmed the 2024 Kia EV5 will undercut the top-selling Tesla Model Y as it looks to forge some clear air in the fast-growing mid-size electric SUV market.

To that end the all-new Kia EV5 will be offered in three model variants Down Under, where the battery-electric medium SUV is due on sale around the middle of 2024.

And Kia executives have confirmed the all-new five-seat SUV will be priced below the starting price of the Model Y, which is by far the most popular electric car in the country.

Kia Australia CEO Damien Meredith says the newcomer will be priced from about $60,000 plus on-road costs, which would make it’s starting priced $5400 less than the Tesla’s.

It also makes the Kia more affordable than other mid-size electric SUVs such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E (from $72,990) and Subaru Solterra ($77,990). The delayed Toyota bZ4X, which arrives in March, is also expected to be significantly more expensive than the EV5.

All of which has Meredith predicting the EV5 will make a decent impact on the Aussie market, with planned sales of between 5000 and 6000 annually – and more if the demand is there.

“Whether it’s $59,990 or $61,950 doesn’t really matter greatly to the customer,” said Meredith of the EV5.

“People accept what our pricing is and they believe we’re still great product.”

Helping the pricing equation for the EV5 is its sourcing from a factory in China rather than Kia’s Korean home base.

The EV5 also has lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP) batteries as used in top-selling EVs such as Tesla Rear-Wheel Drive models and BYDs.

LFP batteries don’t match the energy density of the more common nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries, but they are cheaper to manufacture, generally making them more appealing to buyers.

“We hope that the sourcing from China is going to help position that product,” said Kia Australia product planning general manager Roland Rivero. “It is globally planned to make EV5 a more attainable product.”

The EV5 also does without the 800-volt architecture of the EV6 and EV9, instead utilising a 400V system in line with most EVs currently on the market. Again, it’s all about keeping costs down.

As with other Kia EVs, the EV5 will be offered in Air, Earth and GT-Line grades – and it will initially come with more equipment than the EV6 because it will have over-the-air software functionality.

“It won’t be stripped,” said Rivero. “It’ll be well equipped for a base, for an Air.”

The price-leading Kia EV5 Air has a single motor driving the front wheels and will offer about 400km of WLTP range.

Despite its entry-level status, Rivero says the Air will be generously appointed and fitted with over-the-air software functionality and a full suite of driver assistance systems aimed at achieving a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

The Earth sticks with a single motor set-up but also gets a larger battery that will take the range to about 550km. And, of course, the Earth will come with more equipment.

The top-shelf GT-Line adds a rear motor for all-wheel drive, which will reduce its range slightly.

Kia started local chassis tuning of the EV5 earlier this week in NSW. While some of the initial suspension tuning was conducted in China – where the EV5 will be produced – Rivero says the bulk of it will happen on Australian roads to suit local tastes.

“It’s a unique [to Australia] tune,” he said, adding that the three variants will get subtly different chassis settings to account for different weights and wheel/tyre combinations, with “the aim to make them all feel relatively the same”.

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