It first appeared as a concept last spring, and six months later it debuted in production guise at the motor show in Chengdu, China. The car is already on sale in China, where it is also produced at Hyundai/Kia’s own factory.
Normally, European markets are prioritized when electric cars are to be exported from China, but here it seems that Australia is ahead of us in the queue, because now sales start there.
Kia Australia also clarifies that they are normally behind Europe when it comes to new car launches, but since this model is built in China, Australia has secured enough cars for the launch in June.
Options
Two equipment variants, Air and Earth, are offered from the start and towards the end of the year the top model GT-Line follows. The cars will be offered with Standard and Long Range battery packs, as well as with one (front) or two engines (four-wheel drive).
According to Kia Australia, this is the first Kia model built in China with the steering wheel on the right side and it is also the first to be released on a new electric car platform with the designation N3 eK and equipped with Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries (LFP) for high efficiency.
The Kia EV5 comes with active and passive safety systems enough to achieve five stars in ANCAP, and the chassis and steering are adapted to Australian tastes.
We do not get more details at this time, but there is no shortage of pictures.
