Kia Corporation has started production of its first battery electric vehicle (BEV) in China, the EV5 compact SUV, according to local reports citing industry sources.
A joint venture plant in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, was understood to have begun production of the EV5 for sale locally and for export initially to south east Asia countries such as Thailand, as well as Australia and New Zealand.
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Shipments to Latin America and the Middle East, including Mexico and Saudi Arabia, will follow.
The EV5 is Kia’s third BEV model based on parent Hyundai Motor Group’s dedicated E-GMP platform, following the EV6 sedan and EV9 SUV which are produced in South Korea. The new model is expected to significantly strengthen Kia’s global BEV sales from this year with the Yancheng plant scheduled to produce 300,000 units in 2024.
The China made EV5 is said to be very price competitive, helped by the use of lower-cost lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries supplied by BYD’s FinDreams Battery Company and high levels of automation at Yancheng plant which has capacity for 900,000 vehicles per year.
The automaker hopes the EV5, which has a range of 700km and is priced from CNY150,000 (US$21,000), will also help revive its sales in China which amounted to just 144,000 units last year.
Kia also hopes to double exports from China this year to 172,000 units from 80,000 last year.
