Written by / Ma Xiaolei
Edited / Meng for
Design / Shi Yuchao
Source/electrek, by Scooter Doll
A year ago, Kia Motors cut the word "car" in its name, changed its name to Kia, designed a new logo, shouted out a new slogan of "mobility inspires", and began the transition from a car company to a mobility solutions company.
At Kia's Online Investor Day on March 3, its president and CEO, Ho Sung Song, explained kia's specific plans to become a sustainable mobility solutions company in the next decade.
It mainly includes the following points:
By 2027, 14 pure electric vehicles (BEVs) will be launched, and annual sales of electric vehicles will reach 1.2 million by 2030.
In 2023, the new autonomous driving technology "AutoMode" will be launched, and the EV9 will be the first to be applied; by 2025, 100% of the vehicles will be connected to the Internet.
In 2025, the first special vehicle (Purpose-Built Vehicle, referred to as PBV, such as self-driving delivery vehicles, etc.) will be launched, and by 2030, it will become the world's first global PBV brand.
"Pure electric vehicles are the core of transformation"
"Kia has been undergoing a comprehensive transformation, and pure electric vehicles are the core of the transformation." Song Haocheng said.
Previously, Kia said that it will launch 11 pure electric models by 2026, and this time investors have upgraded their new plans to 14 pure electric models in 2027, delaying for a year and adding 3 models.
At present, Kia's pure electric product lineup is taking shape, the EV6 crossover has just been launched, the EV4, EV8 and other models are being planned, and the larger version of the EV9 will arrive next year.
Kia has high hopes for the electric flagship EV9, hoping to show its electric strength through it.
This large SUV has an acceleration time of 100 kilometers in 5 seconds, a cruising range of about 540 kilometers, and a 6-minute charge to travel 100 kilometers. At the same time, the EV9 will take the lead in carrying Kia's new self-driving brand "AutoMode".
The system supports Highway Driving Pilot without driver intervention and supports OTA updates, with the ultimate goal of fully autonomous driving. From the EV9 onwards, by 2026, kia's new cars launched in several major automotive markets around the world will be equipped with this technology.
In addition, EV9 will also support a pay-as-you-go subscription model, through OTA, different car owners can subscribe to different services to purchase vehicles.
In terms of electric vehicle sales, according to Kia's plan, it is expected to sell 160,000 pure electric vehicles this year, accounting for 5% of its total sales. By 2026, the annual sales target for pure electric vehicles will reach 807,000 units, accounting for 20% of total sales. This was followed by 1.2 million units sold annually in 2030, accounting for 30% of total sales.
Compared to last year's Investor Day, Kia expects its EV sales target to increase by 36 percent in 2030.
Kia expects electric vehicle sales to account for 45% of total sales in major markets such as South Korea, North America, Europe and China. In different markets, Kia will also focus on different models, such as large cars in the United States, medium-sized cars in China, and small cars in India.
Starting with the EV6 GT, Kia will also launch a high-performance version for the electric model, and eventually all pure electric models will have a GT version.
To support this range of pure electric vehicles, Kia is investing heavily in battery technology to support growing demand. The company expects battery demand to climb from the current 13 GWh to 119 GWh by 2030 due to increased sales of electric vehicles.
Currently, in addition to a joint venture in Indonesia to produce batteries, Kia mainly sources batteries from battery manufacturers around the world. They plan to increase battery energy density by 50 percent and reduce system costs by 40 percent by around 2030.
With Kia's development in electrification, it expects all new energy models (hybrids, PHEV, BEVs) to account for 52% of operating income by 2026.
Over the next five years, Kia will invest a total of 28 trillion won (about $23 billion) in the operation of its pure electric business, an increase of 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) over the previous plan.
"The world's first PBV brand"
Products such as electric pickup trucks and electric vans are more like American automakers such as General Motors and Ford will be interested, and Kia has not shown dew in these areas before.
However, everything will change.
Song Haocheng said at the investment day that Kia plans to launch at least two pure electric models per year from 2023, and strive to form a complete lineup of 14 pure electric vehicles by 2027, including two pickup truck models.
Ford, General Motors, and Tellantis are all developing specialized heavy-duty architectures for all-electric pickups, such as Stellantis' STL framework platform, which will be used for the upcoming Ram 1500 EV.
At the same time, what is even more unexpected is that Kia has called out to become the world's largest PBV supplier by 2030.
Kia's first PBV model, which is beginning to test the waters, is scheduled to be developed and launched on the basis of the Niro Plus this year, focusing on the pure electric taxi market. In the medium to long term, Kia plans to develop a dedicated PBV on a skateboard EV platform.
Hyundai Motor Company showed off a PBV concept car at CES 2020. The concept car can extend the body length from 4 meters to 6 meters depending on the application. The motor is built into the wheels, which greatly improves the utilization of space. In specific sections, the concept car will support formations between vehicles of the same vehicle, supporting the use of multi-purpose spaces from residences and medical services to pop-up shops, demonstrating versatility appropriate to time and use.
By 2025, Kia's PBV products will be equipped with OTA updates as well as autonomous driving capabilities, reducing operating costs for future fleet customers.
As demand for PBV grows, Kia expects the PBV's model lineup to expand, from mini-cars to large vehicles, and possibly even for public transportation and mobile office.