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It looks like an all-electric ute from Kia won’t happen.
It was just earlier this year the brand confirmed its plans to introduce an all-electric ute by 2030 to partner its Tasman diesel sibling.
The Tasman joined the Australian market in April 2025 as a 2.2-litre diesel and is approaching 3000 sales for the year. Kia is now probing a hybrid version of the ute to take on the strong-selling BYD Shark 6.
The EV pick-up was planned to be built for North America, which lends to the prospect of it being a similar size to the big pick-ups such as Ford’s F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado.
The ute was expected to sell 90,000 units annually “mid-to-long-term”, following a full launch. This exceeds expectations for the Tasman, which is targeted for a 80,000-unit annual global sales target.
Now tariffs appear to be stunting any progress on an EV pick-up truck from Kia, according to Car and Driver.
Heavy tariffs remain on Korean steel, aluminium and derivative products. The consequence of these tariffs has caused the brand to indefinitely delay the launch of its EV4 sedan in the US.
The same tariff-related trouble is forcing the South Korean company to backtrack on its EV ute aspirations, with the project regressing back into the ‘evaluation stage’.
With Kia’s plans for a big EV ute fading away in the US, it seems unlikely that Australia will see something similar from Kia in the market for some time.
Kia already sell several EVs in Australia and will bring across its EV4 sedan in January 2026, followed by a hatch variant later next year.
The Kia EV pick-up's apparent demise continues a growing trend of big EV utes struggling to get off the ground, particularly in the US.
Earlier this year, RAM put its 1500 all-electric full-size pick-up on ice, citing slowing demand for the decision, while Tesla was also forced to cull its cheapest Cybertruck variant.
Ford’s F-150 Lightning has been an exception, with its sales recovering confidently after the brand temporarily halted production late last year.
