SEOUL — Kia has ambitious goals: Sell 1 million EVs annually by 2026, and increase that number to 1.6 million by 2030. Cool new products like the EV5 and EV9 will definitely help, but so will this tiny-tough little guy. Meet the EV3 concept, which Kia debuted during this week’s EV Day event in South Korea.
While still technically a concept, the EV3 is absolutely going into production. Whether it’ll come to the U.S. is still being decided, but Kia expects the EV3 will make its way to all major global markets, including North America. Even better, the road-going version should look very similar to the concept, with Karim Habib, Kia’s head of global design, telling members of the media the EV3’s appearance is “very close” to production. That’s awesome.
The subcompact SUV has a low, wide stance, and the EV3’s styling is like a scaled-down version of its larger EV5 and EV9 siblings. Pronounced arches house rad-looking four-spoke wheels, and the LED light signatures at the front and rear are made up of small geometric patterns – not unlike what you might find on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, interestingly.
The EV3’s interior is where things get super cool. The back doors are rear hinged, so the front and rear open up like coach doors, giving you a wide view of the cabin. These are purely conceptual for now, unfortunately, with Habib saying he likes putting suicide doors on concepts because it makes the insides much easier to see. Could they come to production someday? “One day you will see it,” Habib said. Fingers crossed.
Up front, the EV3’s climate control panel slides out from underneath the dashboard, and the long rows of air vents actually have little backlit and motorized pieces that direct airflow through the cabin. There’s also a movable center console between the two front seats, which can be locked into different positions to serve as a table.
In back, the EV3’s rear bench can flip upward to allow you to carry tall items on the SUV’s flat load floor – not unlike the Magic Seats from the old Honda Fit. Kia is also working on a way for the EV3’s vehicle-to-load charging system to work inside the car, so you could theoretically load an e-bike into the back of the SUV and charge it on the go. Habib said this is one feature Kia really wants to bring to production.
Specific powertrain details are TBD, but we know the EV3 will be built on Kia’s flexible E-GMP architecture, and unlike the larger EV6 or EV9, it’ll rely on less-powerful 400-volt architecture – just like the EV5. Kia did not say when the EV3 will go on sale, but considering small SUVs are a hugely popular form factor in the U.S. and abroad, if Kia wants to hit that 2026 target, here’s hoping we see this little cutie ASAP.
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