Big EV news: Kia India to make electric vehicles for emerging markets

Kia recently presented its global EV strategy at its own ‘EV Day’ which will be held annually on October 12 in Korea. The carmaker unveiled three new electric cars i.e. EV5, EV3 concept and EV4 concept during the event. What’s more, Kia announced at the event that it will produce ‘strategically designed’ electric vehicles in India, specifically made for emerging markets.
This means that Kia might set up an EV production facility in India, however, the same is yet to be confirmed by Kia India. Kia has also revealed that it plans to open exclusive EV stores in India, along with the United States, Europe, and China. As of now, Kia India only offers one EV in India – the EV6, which is brought to the country as a direct import.

The Kia EV6 is available in India in two variants – GT Line and GT Line AWD, priced at Rs 60.95 lakh and Rs 65.95 lakh (ex-showroom) respectively. The former is offered with a single electric motor mounted at the rear, putting out 226 hp power and 350 Nm torque. The top-end model gets dual electric motors with a power output of 321 hp and a massive 605 Nm peak torque rating. Kia claims that the EV6 GT Line AWD can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds!
Both the RWD and AWD versions of the EV6 are equipped with the same 77.4 kWh battery pack offering an ARAI-certified range of 708 km on a single charge. A 350 kW DC fast charger can juice up the battery from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes, while a 50 kW charger would take about 73 minutes for the same task.