Kia to launch e-Niro electric vehicle in the middle of 2021

It’s one of the fastest growing brands in the country and now it plans to expand its line-up with an all-new SUV due next year.

Kia aims to launch its first electric car in Australia by the middle of next year.

The e-Niro electric SUV will join a plug-in hybrid version of the Kia Sorento, which will be introduced earlier in the year. A conventional hybrid Sorento will arrive towards the end of the year as the Korean maker looks to enhance its range of low-emission vehicles.

The move marks a turnaround for the brand, as it was forced to put the introduction of the e-Niro on hold late last year.

Kia hopes to sell the e-Niro electric SUV in Australia from the middle of next year. Picture: Supplied.

Kia Australia slipped down the global pecking order for deliveries of the e-Niro as early stock went to Europe, where subsidies and strict vehicle emissions targets made the car a necessity.

Kia has been installing EV charging points and training staff in maintaining battery-powered vehicles for some time, but has had to wait as stock has gone to more EV-friendly markets.

Kia chief operating officer Damien Meredith says stock shortages due to COVID have also delayed arrivals of new products.

He expects the plug-in Sorento to arrive soon.

“We still have it in our plan for the early part of 2021,” he says.

The plug-in Sorento is likely to be the most expensive version of the SUV, limiting its appeal to buyers, while the e-Niro is expected to cost roughly $20,000 more than a similarly-size conventional petrol SUV.

Electric vehicles are a necessity for car makers in Europe, who are facing strict emissions regulations. Picture: Supplied.

In Germany, the e-Niro sells for 35,290 euros ($56,500) or about 1500 euros ($2400) cheaper than the Leaf — which in Australia is about $54,500 drive-away.

In standard form, the e-Niro will have a 100kW electric motor and a 39.2kWh battery, while the premium model will develop 150kW and have a larger 64kWh battery.

The bigger battery has a claimed range of 455km range on the European standard test.

While many carmakers have been critical of Australia’s lack of support for EV’s, Mr Meredith supported recent moves by governments to introduce road user taxes for EV owners.

Kia supports an EV road user tax but says it needs to be “fair and equitable”. Picture: Supplied.

EV groups say the taxes will discourage the take-up of electric cars in Australia and point out the country is alone globally in looking to tax EV owners.

But Mr Meredith says it would be unfair to ask working class owners of petrol cars to effectively subsidise EV buyers.

“I have a problem with someone who is driving around in an EV that can afford to spend $150,000 that’s not paying anything in regards to road tax,” he says.

He called for a national review of road taxes to work out an equitable system that included both plug-in hybrids — which could end up getting slugged with a road user tax and still have to pay fuel excise — and full EVs.

Most EVs in Australia are garaged in affluent suburbs. Picture: Supplied.

“We need a strategy that’s going to take us over the next ten, 20, 30 years. Let’s get a strategy in place that’s fair and equitable for everyone,” he says.

He says eventually the government will have to act because revenue from fuel excise will “fall off a cliff” when EVs become commonplace.