Kia has priced the newly revealed EV5 aggressively in China. The brand is reportedly taking the fight to its rivals in the Chinese market, with its electric SUV undercutting the Tesla Model Y substantially.
The Korean Car Blog reported that prices for the Kia EV5 will range between $22,000 (159,800 yuan) to $31,500 (229,800 yuan). The Tesla Model Y, among the top-selling EVs in China, starts at around $36,000 (263,900 yuan).
Kia debuted the model at the Chengdu Motor Show last week but only revealed a few details. It will be available in China from November 2023, as per KCB. The company is targeting the electric SUV towards “millennial families,” it wrote in its press release.
The SUV is slightly shorter in length than the Model Y but is over three inches taller, as per dimensions published by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Powertrain details are scarce for now, but KCB expects the EV to get an 82-kilowatt-hour battery capacity, good for 372 miles of range.
Gallery: 2025 Kia EV5
Flaunting Kia's latest Opposites United design language, it wears what the brand calls a “tiger mask” which sits below a polarizing full-width LED daytime running light bar. With the electric powertrain eliminating the need for a traditional radiator grille, the nose appears clean and closed off.
The brand focused a lot on the 64-color ambient lighting, which apparently synchronizes with drive modes, lowers brightness in low light, and “subtly alerts if the vehicle strays over the speed limits.” We suspect the lights would flash or blink to alert the driver if it senses speed violations or other dangers.
That said the vehicle has a four spoke steering, two screens like most other Hyundai Motor Group cars, and a panoramic sunroof. It also appears to have a modular second row with flat-folding seats, storage spaces under the luggage floor, and an adjustable parcel tray among other features.
Kia operates in the world’s largest car market under a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corporation, and Jiangsu Yueda Group. The joint venture is called Dongfeng Yueda Kia, based in Yancheng city in the northeastern Jiangsu province.
For now Kia has only confirmed the compact electric SUV for the Chinese market. Some reports suggest that it might head to the US in 2024, but that’s just speculation as there are no official indications yet.
The US will soon get its bigger sibling, the three-row EV9 SUV by Q4 2023. It will be available in four trims, and become the first electric Kia to be assembled stateside, at the brand's West Point, Georgia plant in 2024.
