Remember the Kia Stinger? It was a rear-wheel drive, four-door liftback that captured driving enthusiasts’ hearts thanks to its great handling and good looks. The fact that former BMW M Vice President of Engineering Albert Biermann signed off on it made the car even more attractive for those in the know. But even with all these great attributes, the Stinger lived a very short life and was axed after less than six years in production.
Now though, Kia is said to be preparing the Stinger’s spiritual successor, and it's all-electric this time. According to new documents from inside the automaker, Kia is working on a high-performance electric sedan that will likely bear the EV8 name.
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Kia's working on a big EV expansion
While other automakers are slowing down their EV plans, Korea's Hyundai Motor Group is full speed ahead on theirs. Kia in particular has a global plan to make "EVs for all," including an upcoming $30,000 car called the EV2.
According to leaked documents published by The Korean Car Blog, the upcoming four-door will go into production sometime at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026 riding on Hyundai Motor Group’s new Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA). That platform is the replacement for the E-GMP architecture that underpins most of Hyundai, Kia and Genesis' EVs, and is one of the most high-tech electric setups in the business right now.
Codenamed GT1—which seems to be a nod to the GT concept from 2011 that previewed the Stinger—the zero-emissions high-performance sedan will get a 113.2-kilowatt-hour battery pack, making it the biggest ever fitted to a Kia EV. For reference, the EV9 has a 99.8-kWh pack.
With so much energy under its belt, the EV8 is expected to have a driving range of around 435 to 497 miles (700 to 800 kilometers), according to the leaked documents. We assume these figures are to be achieved on the WLTP cycle, so expect the EPA range to be about 370 miles on a full charge, which is roughly 20% less.
Interestingly, this car is also said to be a separate model from the upcoming Kia EV4 sedan, which the automaker also said took inspiration from the Stinger in some ways.
On the power side of things, the leaked production schedule says the Kia EV8 will have a dual-motor setup good for 450 kilowatts or 603 horsepower, in the top trim, at least. Lesser models are said to come with either a single, rear-mounted 218 hp motor or with a 435 hp dual-motor, all-wheel drive powertrain.
By comparison, the Kia EV6 GT, which is the Korean manufacturer’s current sporty electric flagship, puts down 577 hp, so the upcoming EV8 looks much more promising in the performance.
The all-electric Stinger successor is just one of Hyundai Motor Group’s future offerings. The Genesis GV90 SUV is also slated to go into production in 2026 based on the same IMA platform, while the smaller EV4 sedan will reportedly hit the assembly lines early next year.
