Kia hits 10 year anniversary of its first electric car

Electric Vehicles  General Guides 

Kia has been at the forefront of the electric car revolution in the UK, which Gateway2Lease, as one of Kia’s preferred partners, has helped to promote.

It all started with the Kia Soul. Remember that one? It was at the same time that Frozen was trending at the box-office, Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ was blitzing the radio waves radios, and social media was awash with the crazy ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’.

The Soul was a slightly odd and boxy-looking thing, but a range of up to 132 miles on a single charge, a 27kWh battery pack, and a front-wheel drive powertrain producing 285Nm of torque and 81kW of power helped it gain plenty of fans. Four years after its introduction, in a market that was just getting to grips with electrification (from charging to servicing), a 1,000 Kia Souls had been sold.

From that moment, Kia honed in on the electric market, offering both business and private drivers cars that were practical and at the forefront of the EV revolution.

Today that range is topped off by the latest electric newcomers: the EV3, which has already been named Car of the Year by Electrifying.com; and the exceptionally well received Kia EV9, targeting the three-row, premium SUV market.

New Sportage replacement and electrified vans to come

But after 10 years of offering electric cars, Kia is broadening its offering to business drivers with the new Kia EV5 - a Sportage sized SUV due to come to the UK in 2025 - plus a range of electric commercial vehicles, which Kia calls PBVs - that’s Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) to you and me.

Recognising the importance of the electric van market, Kia will ramp up to launch the PV5, its first PBV, in 2025. This will be followed by the larger PV7 in 2027, with an annual sales goal of 250,000 e-LCV units worldwide in 2030. It’s all part of an ambitious plan to offer 11 EVs worldwide by 2027, a plan since updated to 15 EVs, nine of which are due on-sale in the UK.

Before then, we mustn’t forget the other key electric cars that helped popularise the electric car in the UK.

The ever popular Kia Niro

There was first the Kia Niro which first was available to lease from the beginning of April 2019. Similar to the Soul EV, the e-Niro was based on the same platform as an existing combustion engine model (in this case, the popular Niro Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid), with a relatively understated, practical and familiar design.

The e-Niro offered a driving range of up to 282 miles on a single charge from its 64kWh battery pack. Its 150kW motor, producing up to 395Nm of torque, allowed for a more enjoyable and memorable driving experience, with fewer charging stops required. The model was praised from the outset as one of the very best electric cars on sale and was also named What Car?’s overall ‘Car of the Year’ for 2019 – the first electric car, and the first Korean car, to ever win the coveted prize. The e-Niro was an instant hit, with demand outstripping initial launch supply in just two weeks of sale, and the model going on to sell more than 7,000 units in 2019 and 2020.

That car has subsequently been superseded by the Kia Niro 2 model, currently available to lease with rentals starting from under £380 +VAT a month.

The brilliant EV6 followed the Niro with a distinct change in strategy. The EV6 was Kia’s first dedicated, ground-up engineered electric car. It was an instant hit.

The EV6 was named What Car?’s overall ‘Car of the Year’ for 2022, and the European Car of the Year 2022 – again, a first for Kia.

The EV6 was also offered in a sporting ‘GT’ spec, along with a commitment by Kia to offer high-powered variants of every one of the brand’s future dedicated EV passenger cars. The EV6 GT certainly did that, with 577bhp and 740Nm of torque, offering fabulous ‘grand tourer’ driving.

Commenting on the landmark 10 years of EVs, Paul Philpott, President & CEO, Kia UK, said:

“To mark a decade of EV sales in the UK is an achievement we’re proud of, and a landmark which very few other brands can celebrate just yet. Over the past 10 years, we haven’t only grown our EV model line-up significantly, but also demonstrated our dedication to innovation, quality and customer satisfaction.”

But it doesn’t stop there. Philpott goes on to say:

“Looking forward to the next decade of our EVs, we are in good stead. We have a clear strategy to maintain our position as a global leader in electrification with a wider variety of EVs on the way to match a range of customer needs and desires. This is backed by a dedicated, well-informed dealer network to support UK buyers, particularly those taking their first steps into the world of electric motoring.”

At Gateway2Lease we’re dedicated to helping customers make those first steps into an electric vehicle - and what better way to start than by leasing an electric Kia?

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