Kia has just announced an ambitious plan to become carbon neutral by 2045 and confirmed that by 2035 it will abandon combustion engines in Europe to 100% electric.
The South Korean manufacturer also revealed that it plans to review its product range and all production processes in order to become a “sustainable mobility solutions provider”.
But one of Kia's first steps towards sustainability is even the promise of carbon neutrality by 2045, which will require several changes in all operational phases, such as production, supply chain and logistics.
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In 2045, Kia guarantees that carbon emission levels will be 97% lower than those recorded by the company in 2019, a number that clearly shows the impact of this measure.
But the most significant promise that came out of this digital presentation was even the announcement of a strategy to achieve “full electrification in key markets by 2040”, something that will be achieved five years earlier, in 2035, in Europe, where Kia will have a range free of combustion engines.
EV9 is the “sir” that follows
As you'd expect, the EV model family — which currently features the EV6 — will gain more and more prominence and expand with new products, including the EV9, which Kia has already anticipated with teaser images.
Built on the E-GMP modular platform, the same as the basis for the EV6 and the Hyundai IONIQ 5, the EV9 promises to be the biggest 100% electric Kia, a bet for the SUV segment, as we can see in these first images of the prototype.
With a profile that immediately reminds us of the “American” Kia Telluride — the winner of the World Car of the Year 2020 —, like this one, the EV9 will be a full-size SUV with three rows of seats.
Its final revelation will take place next week at the Los Angeles Motor Show, still as a prototype, which may be a sign that, like the Telluride (the biggest SUV of the South Korean brand), it will have as its destination, above all, the North American market, when the production version arrives (scheduled for 2023/24).