Kia has firmly established itself as a leader in the highly competitive electric vehicle market, with impressive offerings like the EV6 and Niro EV. However, the company’s ambitions go beyond these initial successes. Kia, in collaboration with Hyundai, has committed a staggering $18 billion investment towards a complete transformation into an electric vehicle brand by the end of the current decade. While Kia also offers commendable plug-in hybrids , it is evident that the company’s true belief and focus lie in the realm of fully electric vehicles.
In a recent interview with CarExpert, Dean Norbiato, Kia Australia’s marketing general manager, made an interesting admission about plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). He acknowledged the difficulty in selling PHEVs due to a lack of customer understanding about their nature. Norbiato further stated that PHEVs are a dead-end technology. Despite sounding contradictory, these remarks shed light on the challenges faced by manufacturers in promoting and selling PHEVs.
According to Norbiato, it is his personal belief that selling the concept of plug-in hybrid vehicles is challenging. He stated that consumers have difficulty understanding it, and no original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has the necessary critical mass to educate them. With a fragmented product lineup and limited supply, the task of educating consumers falls on the industry as a whole.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Kia will be discontinuing its plug-in hybrid models. In Australia, the Sorento PHEV is the only Kia vehicle with a plug, but in the United States, there are also the Niro PHEV and Sportage PHEV. The 2023 model year pricing starts at $35,035 for the Niro PHEV and at least $39,785 for the Sportage PHEV. As for the Sorento PHEV, it has a starting price of over $51,000.
What’s the latest update on Kia’s electric vehicle lineup? The EV9 was unveiled in the United States in early April this year and is set to begin production in Georgia next year. Before its production in the United States, the model is anticipated to be available for sale in the final quarter of this year, with initial units likely imported from South Korea.
