Kia EV5 makes debut as affordable family EV

Kia has officially launched the Kia EV5, an electric sport utility vehicle, to offer an alternative for customers looking for a mid-sized electric family vehicle in Korea.

Following the launches of the EV6, EV9, EV3 and EV4, Kia’s latest model EV5 comes with best-in-class safety and features, Kia said Wednesday.

“Based on excellent space utilization from a traditional SUV body type, the Kia EV5 is a representative model that will propose a new standard for the era of EV popularization in Korea,” Jeong Won-jeong, head of Kia’s domestic business division, said in a press conference in Seoul.

“The Kia EV5 will be the most attractive choice for customers thinking about buying an affordable family EV.”

The car has a boxy silhouette with subtle curves, in a similar fashion to the smaller EV3 and larger EV9.

The Kia EV5 has also become the first Hyundai Motor Group vehicle to be equipped with an acceleration control assistance that first warns the driver of sudden extended accelleration. It issues a pop-up message on the display if the vehicle is moving at less than 80 kilometers per hour and the pedal is floored for an extended time. If the driver stops accelerating, the vehicle then would automatically control the acceleration to ensure safety.

Equipped with an 81.4 kilowatt-hour nickel, cobalt and manganese, or NCM, battery pack using cells from Chinese battery maker CATL, the Kia EV5 has secured a driving range of 460 kilometers per charge under the Korean authorities’ certification.

For the reason behind using a Chinese battery maker’s product instead of a Korean battery maker, Kia explained that it has been exploring options to diversify its supply chains and selected CATL as the battery supplier for the Kia EV5 based on its quality.

Kia AutoLand Gwangju will manufacture the new EV for the Korean market, with plans to export the model to Europe in the second half of this year and Canada next year. Kia said the company decided not to launch the vehicle in the United States at the moment due to uncertainty over tariffs and Inflation Reduction Act incentives.

The Kia EV5 was launched in China in November 2023, becoming the brand’s first all-electric vehicle to debut and be made in China. Manufactured at Kia’s Chinese joint plant in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, the Kia EV5 began its exports to emerging markets such as Thailand, Australia and Indonesia in June last year.

The Kia EV5 begins at 48.55 million won ($34,800) in Korea after the central government’s EV tax incentives are applied.