Kia Ev3 News

Australia electric car owners are about to realise the full potential of their vehicles.Power giant AGL has announced a new Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) trial to allow EV owners to power their homes and be paid to send power back to the grid.V2G technology allows electric vehicle owners to use the energy stored in their vehicles to power their home or send power back to the grid to earn credits during periods of peak demand.Electric car batteries are typically about five times the size of conventional home batteries, which could deliver huge potential for Australians.When paired with roof-top solar, V2G technology could allow some to effectively live off the grid.AGL Head of Innovation and Strategy Renae Gasmier said: “To unlock the full potential of their electric vehicles, owners need to think about them as more than cars, but rather as home batteries on wheels. The typical electric car battery can store enough energy to power the average home for around three days.”The new technology was green lit last year when Federal Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced Standards Australia has signed off on a new protocol allowing the technology to be approved for use in Australia.This streamlined the process for car and charging device manufacturers to get their vehicles approved for V2G use.“Vehicle to grid charging is now ticked, enabled under the law of the land and will become a reality before Christmas, in the real world,” said Bowen at the time. “Possible today, technically possible today, thanks to these changes, but next couple of months, an opportunity for the companies to get their registrations in and get it happening.”Currently V2G is only being trialled in South Australia, but AGL opens it up nationwide by bringing in all major national electricity market Distribution Network Service Providers.AGL has joined forces with BYD, Hyundai, Kia and Zeekr to make the service available to select vehicles.Owners of a Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 9 and the soon to be launched updated Ioniq 6 can take part.Kia’s EV3, EV6 and EV9 can also be part of the trial.Kia Australia boss Damien Meredith said: “Amid cost-of-living pressures, this unlocks the potential for Kia EV owners to transform their cars into mobile energy assets. Bi-directional charging is a game-changer, and we look forward to help introduce V2G to the Australian market on a much larger scale.”Hyundai Australia chief Don Romano said the trial will be able to show Australians its electric cars can do far more than just drive.BYD Atto 3 with some modifications is currently eligible with the plug-in hybrid Shark 6 ute and Sealion 6 a possibility further down the line.Zeekr currently has three electric vehicles on sale, the X small SUV, 7X mid-size SUV and 009 people mover. It is unclear which Zeekr vehicles can take part in the trial.

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Sorry, Swifties. While we appreciate the cultural phenomenon that is singer/songwriter, artist and philanthropist Taylor Swift, this is not a paean to a great pop star, but, rather, a reference to the year that marked Japan’s stellar ascension as the biggest threat to the established carmakers of that time. Their fear was existential as well as actual.

Kia is frantically working on a pair of small electric vehicles (EVs) that could reshape the bottom end of the new-car market by bringing near-price parity with internal combustion engine alternatives. The big news is that both the EV2 small crossover expected to debut sometime next year and its EV1 city-car sibling due a little later on are under serious consideration for Australia. This is despite being readied for production out of Slovakia, due to EV tax concessions as well as vast economies of scale that should help contain prices if or when they land here.

ANCAP, Australia’s crash-testing authority, has awarded five-star safety ratings to the Tesla Model 3 and new Kia EV3 and MG S5 EV.

Kia has announced pricing for its upcoming small electric SUV, the EV3, ahead of its arrival at dealerships by the end of this month.

Kia has revealed its new path to global EV domination.The South Korean brand debuted several new models and hinted at even more at its recent EV Day.It took the covers off its Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal rivalling EV4 sedan, which also has the added bonus of being offered as a hatchback.Kia debuted the PV5 van and people mover alongside its European-focused EV2 small SUV.These cars are all due shortly and will join the EV3 compact SUV, EV5 mid-size SUV, EV6 coupe SUV and the EV9 seven-seat SUV in its global line-up.Kia Australia has committed to the EV4, and would like the PV5 but has not confirmed its availability yet. The EV2 is off the cards as it is built in Slovakia and the business case for an affordable European-sourced EV doesn’t stack up.The company’s president Ho Sung Song, also let slip that a micro EV1 electric car is essential to mass adoption of its EVs.“If we want to move to the late majority customer target group, definitely we need a lower size of model – or a lower-price model – and we are internally studying what will be our entry EV models, apart from our EV2,” said Song.“Maybe next EV Day, we’ll show you what we are planning.”This could mean an electric version of the pint-sized Picanto hatchback, which would be a direct rival to budget EVs such as the BYD Seagull that is sold overseas but not Australia.Kia would be targeting the sub-$30,000 range if it wanted to be competitive at the lower end of the market.This line-up, with the addition of the EV1, puts Kia well ahead of Tesla — currently the world largest EV maker — and would put it on a collision course with the surging BYD.Kia has a distinct advantage, though.Tesla has ruled out smaller and more affordable cars and BYD is locked out of the US market and is hamstrung by tariffs in Europe.

Kia has teased its incoming electric liftback sedan, the EV4, ahead of its official unveiling at Kia EV day in Spain on February 27.

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.

Kia is on a massive electric vehicle offensive. The South Korean brand has just added the Tesla Model Y-rivalling EV5 mid-size SUV to its electric car line-up, joining the bigger EV6 and EV9.