Kia’s EV6 Teaser Reveals a Futuristic e-vehicle
On Tuesday, Kia revealed the EV6, the first electric car that will sit on the new platform underpinning the recently unveiled Hyundai Ioniq 5. The EV6 is thus the second model to be built on the shared platform with Hyundai.
The brand teased the fully electric EV6 through multiple silhouetted pictures and a couple of videos that revealed just enough for us to know how it will look design-wise.
The teaser showcases a five-seater, four-door crossover SUV. The vehicle’s overall sleek design is futuristic, with prominent creases on the front bonnet flowing through a sharp roofline to blend with a ducktail-shaped spoiler. The brand’s signature tiger-nose grille featured on their internal combustion engine is missing in the new EV6, which features a rather sleeker unit upfront. The teasers offer a glimpse of the LED headlamp and tail lamps along with the brand’s slogan ‘Movement that Inspires’. The angular LED headlamps, set in the curved bonnet, and the slim tail lamp that probably runs through the entire rear to meet the orange L-shaped lights on both sides express a dynamic appearance while conforming to the SUV’s sleek design.
“The EV6 is the embodiment of both our brand purpose, ‘Movement that inspires’, and our new design philosophy. It has been designed to inspire every journey by offering an instinctive and natural experience that improves the daily lives of our customers, and provides user ownership that is simple, intuitive, and integrated,” said Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of the Kia Global Design Center.
“Our aim is to design the physical experience of our brand and to create bold, original and inventive electric vehicles,” he said.
As we mentioned earlier, the EV6 will be the first SUV by Kia to be built on the new E-GMP (electric global modular) platform. Kia has already announced that they will unveil 11 new EVs by 2026; among them, seven of the EVs, including the EV6, will be built on Hyundai’s E-GMP (electric vehicle platform) architecture. The EV6, the first among them, is likely to be completely revealed by the end of this month, joining the Soul EV and Niro EV among the company’s electric lineup.
Kia’s nomenclature system for the vehicles goes like this: every model name has the prefix ‘EV’, to denote that it’s electric; and a suffix comprising a number will represent the car’s position in the lineup. The EV6 is the first vehicle in that lineup so the next one will probably be called EV7.
A similar approach was used by Hyundai to name their electric vehicles: in their case, the ‘Ioniq’ tag is also followed by a number. The Ioniq 5 by Hyundai was unveiled on 23 February 2021, while the Ioniq 6 (Sedan) and Ioniq 7 (an SUV) are slated to be revealed in 2022 and 2024, respectively.
In terms of the specification of the EV6, Kia has not revealed any information yet. However, we expect the futuristic EV6 to feature a high-capacity battery pack that would possibly offer a range of around 500 km on a single charge and is likely to come with a 20-minute fast-charging option. As it will sit on the same platform as the Ioniq 5, the EV6 might share the same 77.4-kWh battery with an operating voltage of 800 volts with the Hyundai EV. More updates are probably on the way as the firm is set to make a global premiere during the end of the month along with the official sales to start by the end of the year.
Kia started the year 2021 with the announcement of its new corporate logo and global brand slogan ‘Movement that inspires’, which captures the company’s bold transformation and its new brand purpose.
“Kia’s new logo represents the company’s commitment to becoming an icon for change and innovation”, said Ho Sung Song, Kia’s President and CEO.
“The automotive industry is experiencing a period of rapid transformation, and Kia is proactively shaping and adapting to these changes. Our new logo represents our desire to inspire customers as their mobility needs evolve, and for our employees to rise to the challenges we face in a fast-changing industry,” he said.
The automaker giant stated that the new logo and brand purpose symbolizes Kia’s aim to become a leading player in the future mobility industry. The unbroken lines in the logo represent the brand’s commitment to bring moments of inspiration and the symmetry represents confidence.
The new logo was unveiled by a record-breaking event of pyrotechnic display that included 303 pyrodrones flying above the sky of Incheon, Korea. The grand event of Kia’s new beginning was enhanced by hundreds of fireworks launched, which set a new Guinness World Record for ‘Most unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) launching fireworks simultaneously’.
The event also saw the announcement of the brand’s long-term business strategy ‘Plan S’, which aims to acquire a leadership position in the automotive industry by holding on to mobility services and electrifying vehicles, connectivity, and autonomy. The firm’s ‘Plan S’ represents the transition of the business model from a focus on internal combustion engines to a sole focus on electric vehicles and customized mobility solutions.
Further, Kia’s plans include producing 11 dedicated fully electric vehicles by 2025, among which the EV6 is the first. Kia hopes its EV line-up will acquire a 6.6% share of the global EV market along with acquiring a 25% share of the market for eco-friendly models. The EV-based mobility service to be offered by the firm relates to investing in a global urban issue such as environmental pollution.
The brand is already popular among millennials, and by adopting such a strong approach for their future products, Kia can expect its brand value to get significantly strengthened in the upcoming future.
Also read: KIA’s All-new Compact MPV; First Model to Get the New Logo
