Kia Shows EV3 and EV4 Concepts in World Premiere
As promised last week, Kia held its first-ever EV Day today in South Korea and unveiled two new concepts that will expand the brand’s global electric vehicle portfolio in the coming years.
The focus of the presentation was styling both inside and out, leaving specs and other technical details to be shared at another time.
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The EV3 is a small crossover with boxy styling, essentially a miniature version of the three-row EV9. The latter, remember, will go on sale in Canada by the end of this year. It’s another interpretation of Kia’s “Opposites United” design language, and probably close to a production model—at least on the outside.
Meanwhile, the EV4 is a compact vehicle that looks more like a conventional car, a sedan we might add, yet its silhouette is relatively similar to that of the current EV6 crossover. One thing’s for sure, styling is even more radical than the EV3 at this stage, particularly in the rear.
Kia’s presentation emphasized the use of sustainable materials and innovative methods to develop them. The seats are one example. The team deployed natural (as opposed to carbon) fibre structures to deliver a lightweight, slimmer seat design. The console table in the EV3 is made of Mycelium, which comes from mushroom roots, combining excellent strength with an extremely soft surface.
In the EV4, Kia applied natural dyes to 100 percent recycled cotton, using madder roots and walnut shells, and wove fabric stripes by hand and applied them to the storage area and dashboard to create a 3D effect. For the console, designers used hemp, which is a rapidly growing plant that requires minimal resources to cultivate and is highly moldable, too.
So, when will the Kia EV3 and EV4 reach production? The answer isn’t clear yet. Same thing for their availability in Canada. The Car Guide is still waiting for a confirmation from the company. According to some reports, the EV3 could eventually replace the Soul. In case you forgot, the Soul EV won’t be back for the 2024 model year, making more room for the freshly redesigned Kia Niro EV.