KIA held a special press conference yesterday, during which it presented its "Plan S" - the mid- and long-term strategies of the company to establish a leadership position in the fields such as electrification, mobility services, connectivity and autonomy.In 2021, KIA will launch a dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV) and by the end of 2025, it plans to launch a total of 11 BEVs. It expects this to secure a 6.6% market share for the brand in the global EV market (excluding China). It also expects to attain a 25% share of its sales from its eco-friendly cars. In terms of specific numbers, Kia aims to achieve 500,000 annual EV sales and global sales of 1 million eco-friendly vehicles (excluding China). These goals are complemented by plans to offer EV-based mobility services and entering the Purpose Built Vehicle (PBV) market for corporate customers, offering customized PBVs.These actually comprise the two strategic objectives of Plan S and if we have to sum them up, they will sound like this: 1) KIA will focus on leading the popularization of electric vehicles; (2) KIA will expand mobility services for electric and autonomous vehicles in addition to entering the PBV business. The company will invest 29 trillion won (US $25bn) by 2025 and targets 6% operating margin and 10.6% ROE in 2025. In H2 2020, KIA will also introduce its new brand. CEO Hanwoo Park said: "Kia Motors will transform itself into a ceaselessly innovative brand by accelerating its bold and preemptive transition to future businesses."

Kia teases several of its future BEVs as part of its future EV strategy "Plan S" As part of Kia's future EV product strategy event earlier today, Kia's President and CEO Ho Sung Song showed off a sketch of several of the brand's future battery-electric vehicles. It plans on launching a diverse range of dedicated BEVs and partner with EV charging companies worldwide to become one of the market leaders. Kia's "Plan S" strategy includes BEV portfolio expansion to 11 models by 2025. During the same...

Hyundai Motor and SK Innovation chiefs meet to discuss cooperation in the EV market Yonhap and other South Korean news outlets report that the chiefs of Hyundai and SK Innovation have met to discuss future cooperation in the EV market. The Executive Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group - Chung Euisun, and the Chairman of SK Group - Chey Tae-won have met to discuss cooperation on next-generation EV battery technologies, power management chips, and the battery-as-a-service (Baas) platform. The...

Hyundai and Kia improve the thermal management of the EV batteries they use Hyundai and Kia have announced that their heat pump technology for EV batteries has been improved. This technology was introduced in 2014 for the Kia Soul EV and this its first major improvement. The main change is that the system now gathers excess heat not only from power electrics (PE) modules (such as drive motors, on-board chargers, and inverters), but also from the battery pack and slow charger. The system...

LG Chem expands its EV batteries reach, adds Hyundai and Kia to Ford Reuters cited a Hyundai and Kia spokesperson who said that LG Chem was chosen by the group as one of its battery suppliers for its future EVs. Meanwhile, Korean media reported the LG Chem will supply batteries to Ford for the Mustang Mach-E. The cells for the Mustang will be produced at the LG Chem Wroclaw plant in Poland and Ford will do its own pack assembly. LG Chem is also cooperating with GM for its future...

The first of Kia's next-gen EVs will be introduced to Europe in 2021, will offer 500 km of range Following record sales its EVs in Europe in the first quarter of 2020, Kia shared its plans for future growth. Earlier this year, Kia announced its Plan S - a mix of long-term and mid-term strategy steps that will establish the brand's leading position in electrification and mobility systems, automotive connectivity and autonomy. During this first quarter, 6% of Kia's total European sales were BEVs. What does the...

Hyundai and Kia resume production in most of their overseas factories Yonhap reports that Hyundai and Kia have opened most of their plants outside South Korea. Kia has 7 overseas plants - three in China, one in the US, Slovakia, Mexico and India. Hyundai has 10 overseas plants - four in China, one in the US, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Russia, India and Brazil. The resumption of activities is at a reduced level. The US plants of the brands resumed production last week. The ones in...

Electrify America will offer Kia Select for all 2019 and 2020 Kia Niro EVs in the US Electrify America will offer Kia Select for all 2019 and 2020 model year Kia Niro EV owners and lessees. on its DC fast-charging network. The Kia Select is a new charging program with optimized pricing - it offers a flat rate of 35 cents per-minute charging for current Kia Niro EV drivers, designed specifically for the unique DC charging characteristics of the model. The program also waives session fees and has no...

Kia has record hybrid, PHEV and BEV sales in Europe despite a challenging Q1 Kia Motors reported record European sales for new PHEVs and BEVs in the first quarter of 2020. This increase also marks Kia's highest European market share in the first quarter. Despite the drop in total sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Kia sold 21,340 electrified vehicles which marks a 20.8% growth and accounts for almost 1/5 of all new Kia sales in Europe - 18.9%, up from 13.4% for Q1 of 2019. Of the...

Hyundai and Canoo will jointly develop a platform for upcoming Hyundai and Kia EVs Hyundai and Canoo announced their plans to jointly develop an electric vehicle (EV) platform based on Canoos proprietary skateboard design for future Hyundai and Kia EVs. Canoo is an LA-based company and its skateboard platform integrates a strong emphasis on functional integration, meaning all components fulfil as many functions as possible. This feat of engineering reduces the skateboard size, weight and a total...

Hyundai and Kia EV exports increase by more than 100% YoY in 2019 Hyundai and Kia report that their combined EV exports more than doubled last year. More specifically, the accumulative exports of both brands amount to 63,414 units in 2019 and 27,798 in 2018. The PHEVs and fuel-cell EVs exports increase by 16% in 2019 to a total of 226,581 units. The two companies expect to achieve another double increase in battery-electric and eco-friendly vehicles in 2020. The all-electric...

2020 KIA e-Niro 4 offers several upgrades over the 2019 KIA e-Niro 64 kWh KIA UK has announced that for MY2020 it will launch an upgraded version of the e-Niro 64 kWh. The 2020 KIA e-Niro 4 has almost the same specifications as the model from the previous year but it is the features that have received a boost. The list with standard features is quite overwhelming, indeed. For £34,495 after the government Plug-in Car Grant, you get the 64 kWh version of the e-Niro with a WLTP range of up...

Kia promises stable supply of the 2020 Kia Soul EV and the 2030 Kia Niro EV Kia Motors UK launches its all-electric vehicles for the model year 2020 with the promises that battery shortage issues have been solved and that the company is ready to ensure stable supply for its customers. Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia Motors (UK) Limited commented: "Since launching e-Niro at the beginning of the year, we have received unprecedented demand which has been a challenge to fulfil. As we...

Hyundai Lafesta EV and Kia K3 EV will launch in China next year Hyundai and Kia will aim to strengthen their positions in the EV market in China next year with the launch of two battery-electric vehicles - the Hyundai Lafesta EV and the Kia K3 EV. Both vehicles have been showcased at the 17th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition in China. The Hyundai Lafesta EV packs a 56.5 kWh battery from CATL for 490 km of range (NEDC). It can be DC charged from 0 to 80% in 40...