South Korea carmaker Kia says it is confident that its two new electric model releases – the EV3 and the already top selling EV5 – will be sufficiently “mass market” to spare it from the risk of fines imposed by the New Vehicle Emissions Standards in Australia.
Kia says it expects the newly released EV3 to sell nearly as well as its elder sibling, the EV5, which has gotten off to a good start with 400 sales in February, which placed it behind the two Tesla models and the MG4 as one of the best selling EV in Australia that month. It was actually the second best selling EV in January.
The EV5 is expected to sell around 5,000 to 6,000 units in the year, with the EV3 – which has only just started deliveries – getting to around 4,000. That will take Kia’s total sales from the EV3 and the EV5, and the earlier launched “halo” models of the EV9 people move and the EV6 performance SUV, to around 11,000 for the year.
Kia Australia, says that – along with work on the rest of its fleet – should be enough to put the company into credit for the year.
“We believe that at least in the earlier part … we should be in the credit,” Roland Rivero, the head of product at Kia Australia tells The Driven podcast, following a series of media test drives for the new EV3 small SUV.
“The dual attack of the EV5 and the EV3 should garner us the credits that we need. The EV5 is going incredibly well. It did 400 last month (February) and it’ll do even more and be another record (in March), and there’s no indication that the EV3 won’t follow in its footsteps.
“The credits that we do get from the two SUVs is quite substantial to be able to offset some of our ice product. But on top of that, the ice product hasn’t been ignored or neglected, so to speak.
“We’re looking at an increased rollout of our hybrid variants also, and we’ve been looking at all the respective power train mixes and optimizing that accordingly to ensure that we’re able to achieve our respective plans for the NVES.”
The decisions by Kia appear to be justification for the NVES, with the company making sure it can get an early start to deliveries to ensure the EV3 can help meet its targets. The EV5, interestingly, remains the most tested model of any drive train in its portfolio.
However, how other car makers, particularly the Japanese brands with no or few EVs on offer, fare with the new NVES remains to be seen. Judging by the pushback from the main car lobby, and the federal Opposition, possibly not so well.
Rivero says the “halo” models of the EV9 and EV6 were deliberately pitched to show how good electric vehicles could be, a strategy that worked with Tesla, which brought out the Model S and Model X before the mass market Model 3 and Model Y.
Kia is hoping that the EV5 and the smaller EV3 will be similarly effective, not just in terms of meeting the NVES and emission standards and rules in other parts of the world, but also because of the intense competition from the Chinese market.
For that reason, the entry-level variant of the EV3, with a 58 kWh battery and lower range, is deliberately pitched at around $49,000 driveway, up to $66,000 for the GT-Line, which has an 81 kWh battery and a range of up to 600 kms.
One of the big questions for EV owners and would-be buyers is the prospect of vehicle to grid technology. The Kia EV range, including the EV3, comes equipped with vehicle to load capabilities, with an interior plug or an external gadget that can power appliances in your home or during your trips.
Kia is coy about the technology for Australia. Kia has partnered with Spanish group Wallbox to offer V2G charging in the US via its EV9, but there is no word on when it will arrive in Australia.
“Headquarters is well aware that we’ve got our hand up for it too,” Rivero says.
“So watch this space. I can tell you now that R and D understand that Australia is very much interested in it and want to roll it out in our market also, but there’s a bit of work to be done in that space, and to be able to execute it we have got to have the blessing of R and D.”
Meanwhile, there is another Kia electric model on the way, the EV3 which will be an electric sedan. “It’s coming our way very soon,” Rivero says.
There is also much talk about the new Tasman ute, Kia’s first, which will be rolled out as a diesel in the first instance. Will it go down the hybrid ute like the BYD Shark 6, or even a full electric?
“We’re entering, you know, the 80 per centre of the market, which is that four cylinder diesel power train, and we need to get the fundamentals right, and make sure that we have three and a half ton towing capacity and over a tonne payload, so it’s both a workhorse and a leisure vehicle for the family,” Rivero says.
“But this platform, this new ladder frame platform that R D has developed, is fairly module modular, and can can underpin numerous powertrains in the future. And we’ve got every intention of seeing Tasman through as a successful product for more generations to come,”
You can listen to the full interview with Kia’s Rivero, and hear the rest of the EV news from the Driven team, in the latest episode of The Driven podcast here.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.