Kia has confirmed its most affordable and compact electric car yet, the EV2, is on track for a global launch in January 2026.
The date was confirmed during Kia’s Q4 investors announcement last week in which it also reported an 11.5 per cent rise in year-on-year profit, partly driven by a 10.9 per cent increase in global EV deliveries of its EV3, EV5, EV6 and EV9 models.
But unlike its South Korean and Chinese-made siblings, production of the EV2 will take place in Slovakia, where it has already been spotted testing under heavy camouflage by The Korean Carblog.
Few details of the EV2's design have been given away aside from the fact that it appears to be a boxy, shrunken down version of the Kia EV3.
Like its larger sibling, the EV2 is poised to run on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform using 400-volt architecture. Kia’s EV5 and full-sized EV9 also run on the same platform, albeit with 800-volt architecture.
Despite its shared underpinnings, the EV2 is expected to carry less driving range than the EV3’s maximum of 601km (WLTP-rated), with The Korean Carblog foreshadowing a figure close to 480km, likely thanks to a smaller battery than the EV3’s base 58.3kWh unit.
The EV2 is still poised to be capable of charging from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in just 31 minutes, though, as is the case with the EV3 thanks to DC fast-charging ability.
Kia’s global CEO, Ho-Sung Song, has already confirmed to Autocar UK that the EV2 will have a target price of about £25,000 ($50,140) in the UK, a fellow right-hand-drive market.
Typically, Australian car prices are much cheaper than the UK’s, although the fact that the EV2 will be built in Slovakia rather than South Korea or China doesn’t do any favours for the Australian market.
A lack of a free-trade agreement between Slovakia and Australia as well as longer transport distances could see it land locally at a price comparable to the UK or bypassing Australia altogether.
If it does arrive its price is expected to sit between budget EVs like the GWM Ora, BYD Dolphin and MG4, which hover around the sub-$35,000 mark, and more upmarket models such as the Mini Cooper Electric ($53,990, before on-road costs) with which it is expected to be closer to in size.
CarsGuide has contacted Kia Australia for an update on the brand's local plans for the EV2.