Kia Australia exec reveals EV5 availability date and hints price starts with 5

Roland Rivero, Kia Australia's General Manager of Product Planning recently revealed some interesting information about the Kia EV5 as well as V2G, public charging, battery chemistry and more during a Leaseplan/SGFleet online panel discussion.

UPDATE JUNE 19 2024. Official KIA Australia statement below:

Due to unexpected wheel and software updates, we are unfortunately delaying the media launch of the EV5. We are working closely with the factory to remedy these challenges to ensure we have sufficient supply and variants across the Dealer Network for the rescheduled launch, the date for which will be announced as soon as possible.

The following quotes were transcribed by listening to a recording of the panel discussion so bear in mind the quotes have been edited to remove um ah, repeated phrases etc and not all the conversation was transcribed.

Kia EV5 Australian Pricing and Launch Date

"We've already got Niro EV, EV6 and EV9 and launching next month is EV5 which is more of RAV4 sized very mainstream in its approach, with an LFP battery being sourced out of our factory in China".

"After that it'll be EV3 early next year. That'll be more of a Seltos or similar to Niro size product."

"EV5 which launches next month, our aim was to undercut model Y, but model Y has gone through a lot of adjustments over the the space of the last month. So pricing will be sharp. We're hoping to start with a 5 and availability ideally is gonna be plenty of stock for the customer."

"The beauty of EV5, it's sourced outta two factories. Korea production is actually later in the piece. We couldn't continue to rely on our Korean factories if we wanted to get mass volume we we'll be sourcing out of our China factory."

"China's very happy to find an export partner because there's plenty of capacity out of our Chinese factory and the Chinese domestic market demand is very challenging at the moment. There's so many competitors in that China space."

"Just in time for end of financial year we'll start wholesaling June 17th EV5. Wholesaling and retailing from our dealer network on the 17th of June."

Sourcing the EV5 from China means Kia can import it into Australia without any import tariffs.

The hint of EV5 pricing possibly starting with a "5" means the base model could be priced as high as $59,999 before on road costs but it may be lower.

To be competitive with the Tesla Model Y driveaway price in NSW, the Kia EV5 has to be at most slightly over 60K in price including on roads.

▶️MORE: Tesla Model Y and Model 3 Receive Further Discounts

Redefining the Kia brand

"From our end EVs are a very important pillar. We've gone through the steps of redefining the Kia brand over the last 10 years."

"We were always seen as a cheap and cheerful brand very much driven by the Rio light car category which is starting to diminish as we speak".

"That wasn't a sustainable way to approach moving forward. We've taken numerous steps with a really good warranty that we brought in 2014 and then Halo products like Stinger".

"Without those steps in the interim, we really couldn't bring in an EV product as expensive as EV6 or EV9".

"Phase one at the moment is trying to play amongst the heavy hitters when it comes to the EV space".

"We've brought in Halo products like EV6 and EV9. So we've tried to tap into the early adopters and now it's moving towards the mainstream buyers."

"We're hoping that the next two products, which are more in the mainstream space, in EV5 and EV3, that we can actually grow that volume and actually appeal to the masses."

"With the the recent legislation being signed the NVES (New Vehicle Efficiency Standard), EV's are a massive part of our growth and our future moving forward. We've gotta build up the credits in our EV space to be able to sell across the range".

"We still sell internal combustion, hybrid and plug-in hybrid. The key is to offer a diversified range to the Australian market. We recognise that parts of Australia aren't ready for electrification, particularly rural Australia."

"We want to be able to offer products in the $2X,XXX range all the way up to $140,000 moving forward and as much as possible look after our customers."

"From Kia's perspective, I think we're behind the eight ball when it comes to our European compatriots to our right [Polestar and BMW]."

"I think what we need to do is try harder, essentially offer as much as what the likes of BMW, the likes of Polestar offer in their respective products, but at a fraction of the price."

"I know that that's also very much a strategy of the Chinese, in the marketplace at the moment but we've gotta do it better than they do."

"We're gonna continue with a multi franchise dealer network environment as our channel to the customer."

"We've always partnered up with our dealer network as our channel to the customer and we're confident that to cater for the mass volumes required for the greater Australian market, that you can buy a Kia EV product, whether you're in metropolitan or in rural Australia as well.

"There's a lot of fleets, big fleets that are looking at zero emissions and it's organically coming through."

"In the retail space, it's a bit more of a challenge with the disruptors that are lowering prices as we go. We've gotta really look at that resale value element."

In my opinion in an ideal world Kia would transition out of selling internal combustion and hybrid vehicles in the next few years and concentrate on just designing and selling EVs.

Hopefully the NVES incentivises Kia to mostly sell EVs in Australia by 2030.

Public Fast Charging

"In terms of the tech perspective we're very similar to everyone else. I know we talk about 800V architecture for quicker charging but that's becoming more and more common but it is also higher cost."

"So the newer products coming through the mainstream products that we've mentioned we're targeting [EV5 and EV3] will go down to a 400 volt architecture."

"Really I think for Metropolitan Metro Australia, that's gonna be okay. Trying to find a 350 kilowatt ultra rapid fast charge is not really that simple. Not too many of them around. So, I think, we we've just gotta really look at the market situation and cater to our customers accordingly."

"Infrastructure is something that we'd love to see a little bit more. We've never been an advocate of handouts. I think our CEO's always said he'd rather that the government invested the money in infrastructure and not just rely on private enterprise to do so."

"That's definitely something that we know is a challenge for us moving forward. We can bring all this product but if it's a challenge and if it's a barrier for our customers particularly out there in rural Australia, then it's gonna be a difficult path moving forward."

It is true that 350kW chargers are rare even on highways but fast chargers around 150-200kW rate are becoming more common (especially in SA and WA) so hopefully Kia's next few EV's can still charge reasonably quickly even if they can't reach 200kW+ rate.

Battery chemistry trade offs & Addressing range anxiety

"In the short term, I think what we're all looking at every team is looking at is improving energy density and trying to get as much as you can out of the respective batteries"

"We're hedging our bets at the moment. We've got lithium ion and lithium ion phosphate technology being applied in our cars spread across. There are pros and cons in each of the approaches."

"We spoke about nickel manganese and cobalt mining and I know that that's something that's less available to us."

"Hence why lithium-ion phosphate is becoming more and more popular but there are also cons in LFP's because on the one hand they've got better thermal thermal properties.

They also have an issue with holding as much energy as your typical lithium ion."

"So if range anxiety is one of the struggles, lithium ion might be the better way to go in this current term that's gonna be applied in our EV3 product, which will be the first Kia product we'll get to 600km of range. So we're pretty happy about that."

"We were in the mid five fifties on the EV9 and the EV5 and a nice six is where we're heading towards to get that range anxiety aspect out of the way."

"I don't think there's an R&D centre that's not investigating solid state as the next generation. They're talking something in the vicinity of a thousand km which is like a dual tank land cruiser. So it starts to normalize the experience."

"From a sustainability perspective Kia Australia's partnered up with Infinitev to look at battery recycling and repurposing."

"As much as possible we wanna be able to repair individual cells and that obviously helps with the the whole of life and the cost and maintenance aspect."

"With infinitiv, we can effectively repurpose these batteries so that they don't end up in landfill. So there's a lot going on in that battery space."

"Whilst our R&D team has studied hydrogen fuel cell it's probably more appropriate for the bigger trucks. From a passenger SUV and even a in future maybe secret light commercial space EV is the way that Kia is going. We want to bring it to the masses."

It's good to see that Kia is selling EVs that are all highway range capable and future battery recycling/repair needs are prepared for.

Kia EV future models & V2G

"Long before NVES was even announced, that was already the global direction, our president announced a shift to electrification. Very much a vision from our top management in our headquarters in Korea."

"Under that banner there were 14 EVs that were being looked at. Rest assured from Australia's side of things, we've got our hand up for every single one of them.

Some may be difficult to bring over but as much as possible we wanna bring across multiple categories, multiple segments and multiple price points to cater to a wide variety of Australians customers. Not just in the retail space but also in the fleet space.

"Probably one of the innovations that we are also looking at is vehicle to grid. Yep. Maybe ideally down the track not just fleets but even retail customers that they can give back to the grid and actually get to a point where they're paying off or actually not feeling the effects of that initial outlay for an EV product."

"It's been trialed in Europe at the moment by our R&D center and we're hoping to bring it across our products."

"A couple of our products are already vehicle to grid ready. We just haven't switched it on yet because we still need to work on the legalities. We're not ready. Australia's not ready. If we can give back to the grid and be credited for it that could be a way to make that whole ownership experience a little bit more appealing."

Readers will be pleased to hear that Kia is researching Vehicle to Grid (V2G) in depth and will enable it in select Australian models once Australian regulations and laws are ready.

▶️MORE: Watt is Bidirectional Charging, V2G, V2H, V2L?