Kia has revealed plans to launch seven battery electric vehicles (BEVs ) over the next seven years.
Under the Korean brand’s ‘Plan S’ strategy, it will have expanded its BEV line-up to 11 models by 2025. Over the same period, Kia says it is aiming for BEVs to account for 20 per cent of the brand’s total vehicle sales in advanced markets, including Europe, Korea and North America.
Kia has vowed to respond to demand for a diversified range of EV product types, with a range of models suitable for urban centres, long-range journeys and performance driving.
Kia CEO Ho Sung Song says Kia has sold more than 100,000 BEVs worldwide since the introduction of its first mass-produced BEV in 2011, the Kia Ray EV.
“Since then, we have started to introduce a range of new BEVs for global markets and announced plans to accelerate this process in the years ahead," he says. "By refocusing our business on electrification, we are aiming for BEVs to account for 25 per cent of our total worldwide sales by 2029.”
The first of the future BEVs, code-named CV, is due to launch globally in 2021 as the brand’s first dedicated BEV. Kia says it will “encapsulate the brand’s attitude towards innovation and change, presenting a new design direction that signifies Kia’s transition to an EV-focused business strategy”.
The brand says it is planning to offer diversified product types, with a range of models suitable for urban centres, long-range journeys, and performance driving. Furthermore, by adapting its new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP ), Kia claims it will be able to offer vehicles with best-in-class interior spaciousness.
Kia is also exploring the possibility of subscription services to offer a diversified buying option for customers, as well as EV battery leasing and rental programmes, and other ‘second-life’ battery-related businesses.
The carmaker says it will increase its number of EV work bays in global markets to 600 by the end of this year, and to more than 2,000 by 2023. Kia plans to add more than 2,400 EV chargers in Europe over the next number of years.
In September 2019, Kia invested in Ionity, a European company specialising in high-speed EV charging. Kia is also seeking charging infrastructure partners for the US and China to provide an optimised infrastructure tailored to conditions in each market.
