There is a great deal of interest in who will be King Of The Mountain in the world of electric cars. Tesla and BYD are trading the lead back and forth every quarter, and there are at least a dozen Chinese companies which intend to challenge for the lead. US auto manufacturers seem to be backpedaling furiously on their EV goals. Yet despite all the smoke and noise, the Hyundai Motor Group, with its Hyundai and Kia brands, is quietly but deliberately moving forward in a calm, measured fashion.
What’s behind all that flowery language? Kia says by 2030, it plans to have 15 battery-electric models in its lineup with combined annual sales of 1.6 million units. In all, it expects to sell a total of 4.3 million cars, including conventional cars, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery powered models. But the company is also pursuing a somewhat different strategy than other car companies.
Modular design is enhanced by a body structure assembly called “Dynamic Hybrid” that uses no welds. This results in the length of the moving elements to be flexibly adjusted depending on the vehicle’s intended use. “Comprised of high strength tubular steel and engineered polymers, typical parts are reduced by 55 per cent with no loss in rigidity,” Kia says. The Dynamic Hybrid technology is supplied as a standardized kit, enabling a Kia PV5 to be converted quickly and easily in the field.
During the Investors Day event, Kia mentioned an EV2 for the first time. The small electric car is one of the six new electric models that Kia plans by 2026. The others are the EV5, the EV4 and EV3, which have already been presented as studies, and two region-specific electric models, including the Carens EV for the Indian market. The EV2, EV4, and EV5 models will be offered “in major markets, including the US, Europe, and South Korea,” the company said.