Kia, never one to stay politely in the background, has now confirmed what many had quietly suspected: a proper electric city car is in the works. Not a crossover in disguise or a repurposed supermini wearing an EV badge like a cheap watch - but something truly compact, wholly electric, and priced to ruffle a few feathers.
Company boss Ho-Sung Song recently revealed that Kia is deep into development on what could be one of the most affordable EVs on the market. Their target is a price well below €25,000, which translates roughly to just over £21,000 - a figure that could undercut many rivals while still delivering something genuinely usable for modern urban life.
Now, Kia has already been laying the groundwork. There's the EV2, EV3, EV4 and EV5 in the pipeline - each aimed at different slices of the market. But this as-yet-unnamed city car is intended to slip beneath even the EV2, both in size and cost. And in a world where small cars are slowly disappearing under the weight of regulation and electrification costs, that's no small ambition.
Not just a paper sketch
It's tempting to roll your eyes when a carmaker announces "plans" for something compact and electric. Often it's nothing more than a nicely-lit rendering and a promise to "rethink urban mobility". But this time feels different. Song was clear that the project is "in progress" - not merely under discussion.
And there's good reason to take it seriously. Kia's existing Picanto has long been a favourite in the small-car space. It received a facelift just last year, and will continue for a little while yet, but the writing's on the wall: petrol-powered city cars are living on borrowed time. An electric follow-up isn't just likely - it's necessary.
Kia is under pressure, like everyone else, to hit fleet-average CO2 targets in Europe. That means offering a full spread of zero-emissions models, not just big-ticket SUVs and headline-grabbing flagships. An affordable city EV is as much about compliance as it is about customer demand.
What it might look like
No sketches have been shown yet, but expect something honest and upright. Kia's newer models favour strong lines and simple shapes - form following function, but with a degree of flair. A tall roofline, short overhangs, and a clever use of space are all but guaranteed. Battery tech will likely come from Kia's smaller EVs, possibly even a version of the modular platform already used by the EV3 and EV5, but with the fat trimmed and the costs reined in.
Range? Not likely to set the world on fire, but that's not the point. This car is for the school run, the big shop, and the sort of town driving where 200 miles of range is more than enough and anything more becomes academic.
Who should be worried
There are already a few players in this space, but none with quite the same balance of brand trust and engineering clout. The Fiat 500e is stylish but pricey. The Dacia Spring is cheap but spartan. BYD's Seagull could cause a stir if priced right in Europe, but has yet to land.
Kia, then, has a real chance here. If it can get the pricing right - and if the product doesn't feel like a compromise - it could offer a kind of electric car that's quietly vanishing: small, simple, well-made, and without a whiff of smugness.
Where it could land in the pack
If Kia's upcoming baby EV is to succeed, it needs to be clever about where it positions itself in a field that's becoming quietly competitive. There are already several contenders hoping to capture the same slice of the market - drivers who want something sensible, compact, electric, and not financially ruinous.
The Renault 5 is the most high-profile rival. It's got a hefty dose of retro charm and the marketing muscle of a national treasure behind it. But charm comes at a cost. Even in its most affordable guise (with a smaller battery), the 5 will still start around £25,000. The longer-range versions push it closer to £30,000. In that sense, it might end up more "premium small EV" than true mass-market runabout.
Then there's the Citroën ë-C3, which is closer to Kia's likely target. It's boxier, less glamorous, but deliberately no-nonsense. Citroën has done the maths and realised that most people shopping for a compact EV are more interested in price than in posh trim materials. That's why the ë-C3 will launch around £21,000 - with a 44kWh battery and roughly 200 miles of WLTP range. It's arguably the benchmark for no-frills electric motoring at the moment.
There's also BYD's Seagull, currently sold in China and tipped to come to Europe. It's impressively priced - starting at well under £10,000 in its home market - but if and when it reaches our shores, that figure will climb significantly. Still, its ultra-aggressive pricing strategy has given everyone from Volkswagen to Stellantis a mild headache.
The Dacia Spring, meanwhile, holds the cheapest-EV crown in several European countries, but it's built to a price. Thin materials, modest performance, and a slightly crashy ride don't do it many favours. It's basic transport, nothing more.
What might be under the skin
Kia hasn't released any technical details, but we can take a reasoned guess. Their larger EVs use the E-GMP platform - shared with Hyundai and Genesis - but it's expensive, overbuilt for a city car, and likely too big. Instead, this new EV could sit on a slimmed-down version of the "Kia Platform Beyond" architecture used for the EV2 and EV3, or even a hybrid of existing internal combustion underpinnings converted for electric duty.
Battery-wise, expect a pack in the 35 to 45kWh range - enough for somewhere between 180 and 220 miles of range in official tests, with real-world use slightly under that. Kia has proven itself competent at squeezing range out of even modestly-sized batteries, so this car might surprise a few people in that regard.
Charging speeds are likely to be modest - no 800V wizardry here - but Kia tends to offer relatively fast DC charging even on its budget offerings. A 10–80% top-up in under 40 minutes would not be unrealistic.
Performance will be more "cheerful" than "spirited". Expect a single front-mounted motor with around 100bhp - more than enough for town work, and enough poke to hold its own on the motorway.
Where it might be built
There's every chance the new city EV will be built in Slovakia, alongside the EV2. Kia has already committed investment to its European manufacturing base, and building small EVs close to where they'll be sold makes obvious financial and logistical sense - especially with EU tariffs tightening and battery material sourcing rules becoming stricter.
Production in Europe also means it can hit key fleet CO2 targets and qualify for certain subsidies in various markets. With delivery timelines tightening across the board, Kia will want to build these things fast, close, and in volume.
The verdict so far
If Kia delivers on this, it could be a turning point - not just for the brand, but for the electric car market as a whole. A well-built, usable, attractive little EV at £20,000 to £22,000 would be a rare thing indeed. It would undercut most of the competition, feel more grown-up than the Dacia Spring, and offer a brand reputation more reassuring than some of the newer names entering the fray.
It will not be glamorous. It may not be exciting. But if Kia gets the balance right - usable range, low price, no obvious cut corners - it could become one of the most important electric cars of the decade.
Final thoughts
This isn't some shouty halo car. It's the kind of vehicle people might actually buy in large numbers - because it makes sense. Because it fits. And because it doesn't ask you to change your life to own it. A small electric car, done properly, could be the most radical thing Kia does this decade.
And if they get it right, it will not need gimmicks or slogans to make its point. It'll just work. Which, come to think of it, might be the most exciting thing of all. If you'd like to try reducing the carbon footprint as well, why not purchase an Electric Driving Experience.
