'It's just not practical': Why we won't get Kia's cheapest and cutest electric car in Australia take on its Hyundai Inster cousin and Chinese rivals like the MG4 and BYD Dolphin

The Kia EV3 has only just launched in Australia with its first sales registered in March 2025, but Kia has another, smaller member of its EV family up its sleeve.

The Kia EV2 is a Europe-focused, all-electric light SUV set to share a family resemblance with the EV3, EV5, EV6 and EV9.

Given the popularity of small, affordable electric cars in Australia - and the fact Kia expects to sell the EV3 in its thousands per year - it would make sense that Kia Australia would be interested in a smaller, more affordable city-friendly electric car.

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After all, sibling brand Hyundai offers the Inster light electric SUV in Australia.

At the launch of the Kia EV3 earlier this year, CarsGuide asked Kia Australia General Manager of Product Planning Roland Rivero about the local plan for the EV2.

“We'd love to bring it in. The only issue we have with EV2 - and EV4 hatchback too for that matter as well - is it's produced out of Slovakia,” Rivero said. “Most of that production capacity is slated for Western Europe, for the European market.”

Kia Australia has brought cars in from Slovakia before, most notably the Sportage SUV in 2013 when it aimed to get a more consistent supply than South Korea was able to provide.

Kia EV2 Concept

According to Rivero, the brand learned getting cars from Slovakia brought with it some hurdles. Kia Australia now sources the Sportage from the Gwangju facility in South Korea.

“So one, it would be probably difficult to get some supply, because it's targeting Europe. And two, logistically it'll be difficult as well.

“There's no port in Slovakia, so you've got to actually put them on a train to a port in Germany, and then it's transshipped to the west side via Singapore, for example.