Kia jacks up price of EV6 electric SUV, no longer eligible for rebate

Kia Australia has jacked up the price of its award-winning electric SUV, the EV6, by an average of $4,600 – taking the lowest cost RWD variant out of reach of the rebates on offer in most states.

The price rise was quietly revealed on its “build your car” online calculators, which showed the lowest cost variant, the “Air” RWD up in price from $67,990 to $72,590, before on road costs.

That puts it beyond the threshold of around $68,750 for the EV rebates (of $3,000) that apply in NSW and other states.

The prices of all other variants of the EV6 have also risen, with the GT-Line RWD jumping to $79,590, and the GT-Line AWD to $87,590, both before on road costs.

The price rises for the EV6, which took effect from July 1, follow similar jumps in the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, which has jumped in price by up to $3,800 barely two weeks after orders opened.

Kia sold 61 EV6s in the month of June, and has sold 294 in the year to date, making it the tenth most popular EV on the market in Australia.

The company has said it will be able to offer 500-600 EV6s for sale in 2022, but could sell 10 times that number were it not for supply constraints that limits the offering in Australia.

A spokesperson for Kia blamed the price rise on an increase in costs globally and locally, such as raw materials, production and logistical costs.

That has resulted in an “adjustment” to the local recommended retail price of the EV6 range. “Our objective at Kia Australia is to ensure the pricing is still acceptable to the market place and most importantly the consumer,” they said.

See also: Electric cars of the year compared: Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6