Let’s face it — with the possible exception of the Stinger, Kia’s vehicle lineup is hardly the automotive equivalent of Britt Ekland, circa 1971. Few are. Still, the automaker has made great strides in terms of design, as well as quality. Also on the march is the brand’s technological prowess, and it’s this knowledge that underpins a new concept vehicle coming to the Geneva Motor Show next month.
It’s turning out to be a year of electrics for Kia, but the vehicle the brand plans to reveal in Geneva differs from the Niro EV and Soul EV in a key area: sex appeal, which is sorely — yet understandably — lacking in its brace of sort-of crossovers.
Kia doesn’t have a name for its concept, nor is there a promise of production. Given that the automaker doesn’t expect its existing EV models to become profitable for some time (the automaker’s estimate, last November, puts profitability two to three years away), it’s safe to say a stylish EV sports car from Kia is a back-burner idea for now.
And this concept does appear to be a car, which would seem to limit its sales potential, though perhaps not its price. But sales are not what this is about. For now, Kia sees the concept as the embodiment of its electric ambitions. A promise that future products might not be so tame and sensible.
“We imagined designing an all-electric car that not only answered consumer concerns around range, performance, recharging networks and driving dynamism, but one that also gave you goose bumps when you looked at it, and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when you drove it,” said Guillaume Gregory Guillaume, vice-president of design for Kia Motors Europe, in a statement. “That’s why our all-electric concept is designed to not only get your pulse racing, but to also signpost our holistic and emotional approach to electrification.”
There’s your daily fix of the word “dynamism.”
Until Kia builds just such a long-range performance/luxury electric car, environmentally conscious brand loyalists will have to settle for family-friendly transport. The Niro EV lands in 12 ZEV states this month, with the revamped 2020 Soul EV arriving by mid-year.
Neither vehicle wants for range or power. The electric Niro and Soul source their grunt from a 201 horsepower, 291 lb-ft electric motor juiced by a 64 kWh battery pack. Range for the Niro is 239 miles; the Soul, 243.
[Image: Kia Motors]
The issue for most consumers is how will the line-up age? Not so well, like Britt Ekland or magnificently like Helen Mirren?
“We imagined designing an all-electric car that not only answered consumer concerns around range, performance, recharging networks and driving dynamism, but one that also gave you goose bumps when you looked at it, and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when you drove it,”
Kia gets it. They need to apply this energy to the rest of their lineup.
“They need to apply this energy to the rest of their lineup.” They just might, now that these discussions have ended.
https://apnews.com/29f85d8b80eb4cf49231de9565b287b8
Sorry, auto industry, but there will never again be the goosebumps and hair-standing of pre-oil embargo cars.
And you’ll soon be running out of buying customers who remember the phenomenon of launching, say, the ’63 XKE or Stingray, ’68 Charger… (insert fave here).
I’ll go visit my 67 Mustang tonight (in winter storage) and tell her you say “Hi.’
I remember the Extra Curvy treatment of the ’67s first hitting my eyeballs. Pre-teen meltdown.
Thank God. My freaking Fiesta will out run/accelerate/handle most of those old cars. Agree on the looks department though (though I am of the opinion the 90s were the high water mark design wise) but modern cars that aren’t Alfa Romeos are ugly.
jatz: “never again”? So, we know that nobody in the future will crave, for example, a high-powered Porsche EV, over a Nissan Leaf or Kia Soul? Maybe.
You will never grasp the scope or impact of cultural phenomena that occurred in a wealthy, powerful and united America.
Not your fault.
This may be yet another candidate to replace my Ioniq EV in late 2021.
As for Britt Ekland… aging isn’t the problem; it’s the terrible bodywork she must have paid for.
There should be breathalyzers that can flag enthusiasts and greens thus preventing their assuming leadership roles for automakers.
I don’t know, looks like a crossover to me.
For those who will actually buy/lease an EV, there’s no reason to punish them with goofball designs such as Chevy Bolt. Hooray for a “sexy” alternative. Though, maybe this Kia concept would be more of a Tesla competitor.
Kia stopped being sexy when Hyundai brought out the g70 and everyone realized that the Stinger looked like someone went crazy in the Pep Boys accessory aisle.
Agreed on the Stinger. The Kia styling that looked so good a few years ago was overdone on the Stinger.
And I say this as a Kia partisan with two ofttheir products in my driveway.
Not only that, but the Stinger’s quality is turning out to be not so great.
This looks like the Olds Toronado Roadster that George Barris developed for the 1st season of “Mannix.” I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not. https://www.postwarclassic.com/282881-george-barris-1967-oldsmobile-toronado-mannix-roadster
But at least that Toronado could be salvaged by simply replacing the hideous VW Type 4 front clip with factory stock.
Whatever this thing from Kia is will be a fully laden PC projectile carrying all possible pathogens of progress.