Kia EVs ready to lob

Currently struggling to secure supply of Kia’s new generation of electric vehicles, the Korean brand’s local subsidiary is hoping to use the 2020 Australian Open tennis tournament to focus global attention on EVs and leapfrog to the head of list.

Kia has naming rights sponsorship for the opening grand slam of the year and Kia Motors Australia wants to have up to 100 examples of the e-Niro compact SUV and Soul EV small car on-hand next January as courtesy cars for Rafa Nadal and his mates.

Those cars would then be sold as dealer demos ahead of the arrival of new vehicles as soon as the end of the first quarter of 2020 – if KMA’s plan succeeds.

“What we would like to do is go all-electric at the 2020 Australian Open,” confirmed KMA Chief Operating Officer Damien Meredith. “That would be an amazing way to launch your EV range.

“What we are trying to do is announce our EV strategy at the Australian Open. If we can get the cars that’s what you will see there.

“We would hopefully have our fleet that we drive around as all EVs. That’s our plan.”

Meredith forecasts EVs will make up five per cent of the Australian new vehicle market within five years and is obviously keen to get involved as early as possible.

But Australia is currently way down the priority list for EV supply, something he hopes the Australian Open strategy can overcome. After all, it’s a bit of an odd look to be celebrating EVs to a huge global audience and not be able to sell them locally.

“What we have to fix up is supply,” said Meredith. “These cars are being sent to Western Europe and North America and there is a strong limit on supply of EVs,” said Meredith.

“What we are trying to do is create a big song about EVs at next year’s Australian Open and I think it makes sense to globally launch at Kia’s biggest sporting event.

“The last two years I think we did a good job with Stinger and a wonderful job with BD Cerato, now there’s the opportunity to do it with EVs and we have started planning accordingly.”

Kia is in discussion with the Victorian government, Melbourne City Council and Tennis Australia about the logistical challenge of bringing the EV demo strategy to life.

“We need to be able to charge these cars up quickly,” Meredith said. “It’s as simple as this: we have 100 cars and we want to pick up players and VIPs just like we do now. But we need points to recharge these cars overnight so they are ready to go in the morning.”

The front-wheel drive Kia e-Niro is equipped with a high-capacity 64kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack and is claimed to have a 485km range based on WLTP testing.

The Kia Soul EV has a 30kW/h lithium-ion polymer battery and a claimed range of only 180km based on EPA testing in the USA.

As for EV pricing, Meredith hinted it would be attention-getting, and that Kia Australia is targeting a price tag of around $50,000 for the e-Niro.

That would roughly line up with the conceptually similar Kona Electric, which arrives this month from sister brand Hyundai.

We expect the Soul EV to be cheaper, potentially around $45,000 which would see it rival the Hyundai IONIQ Electric.

“We have got some things that haven’t been announced yet that will put a shudder through the school of EVs … I think some of our product will be exceptionally well-priced in regard to EVs,” he said.

While the e-Niro and Soul EV are the first two electric models Kia will bring to Australia, Meredith confirmed there were two more in the pipeline that he refused to name.

One of them, potentially, is a production version of the Imagine concept unveiled at Geneva this week, and there are rumours of a large electric SUV coming from Kia.

“I am a believer in EVs,” said Meredith. “I believe if we want to keep on improving the brand we have to do these sorts of things.

“People have to understand we are at the cutting edge of these types of vehicles.”