Kia Picanto to be launched as a small and affordable electric vehicle.
This just came in from Automotive News Europe: the Kia Picanto is going electric!
While it’s not confirmed just yet, Kia Motor Europe’s chief oprating officer, Emilio Herrera, says it will have to happen ‘sooner or later’.
This is no suprise when you consider Kia’s goal of having EVs across every segment of the car market.
While the prospect of an all-electric Picanto EV is exciting, Kia has admitted that producing a battery-powered version of its entry-level city car will be a challenging task due to huge development costs.
2 reasons why Kia Picanto EV will be launched sooner or later
Why do it all then, you might ask. Well, there’s a couple of very good reasons.
First off, it’s becoming more and more expensive for carmakers to develop fuel-powered small cars thanks to tougher emission standards.
That means they have no choice but to add pricey fuel-savvy tech in order to comply with the ever-stringent standards. As you can imagine, the costs can start to outweigh the profits.
Secondly, in order to stay relevant within the small car segment, they will need to launch a vehicle to compete with VW, Škoda, Seat and Renault. Those automakers are all on the brink of releasing small electric cars in Europe.
And make no mistake, the small car segment is still flourishing, depsite the increasing presence of SUVs and crossovers on the road. In 2018 in Europe, over 1.2 million small city cars were purchased. And in countries such as Italy and Greece, they currently make up close to half of the car market!
It’s safe to say that small cars aren’t going away anytime soon, but it seems like the petrol-powered versions will gradually be taken over by EVs.
Kia Picanto electric release date & price (rumors)
So how will Kia produce a competitive battery-powered Picanto that will entice enough new-car buyers to make it a profitable endeavour for them?
We expect a low price point to be a major drawcard of the all-electric Kia. In fact, you should be able to pick one up for not too much more than a gasoline-powered Picanto. This would mean a cost of around €20,000.
Needless to say, good range and fast charging capability is also of the utmost importance when it comes to producing any electric vehicle, and the Picanto is no exception. It should be capable of around a 230km range with an ability to recharge to 80% within 45 minutes. These figures are the ideal for daily city commuting.
If Kia are to stay competitive against their main rivals, we can expect release date within the next two years, if not earlier.
Stay tuned for future developments as we eagerly await the official Kia news announcement of the all-electric Kia Picanto!
I can’t find a date on this article – which year was it posted online?