The Kia EV5 has been noticed in Australia for the primary time, with the South Korean model’s Chinese language-made electrical car (EV) nearing its native launch in mid-2024.

CarExpert reader Jono submitted these pictures of an Kia EV5 driving round Kensington in Sydney’s jap suburbs, completed in a blue hue which is totally different to the lighter hero color beforehand seen in press photographs.

A verify of the New South Wales registration database reveals that is an analysis car, with Jono reporting it was enterprise U-turns, three-point turns and a number of rotations round a roundabout within the time he noticed it.

Regardless of being only a handful of months away from its official mid-year launch, Kia is but to element how a lot the mid-sized EV5 will value.

Earlier reviews have urged a worth near the Kia Niro EV, which is smaller however made in South Korea, and begins from $66,590 earlier than on-road prices in its most elementary guise.

If it wears a price ticket of round $55,000-$60,000 in entry-level guise and round $75,000-$80,000 in flagship grade, it is going to be proper within the combine with the best-selling Tesla Mannequin Y.

Abroad, the Kia EV5 is bought in three grades, providing two 160kW front-wheel drive variants with both a 64kWh or 88kWh battery, plus a flagship 200kW all-wheel drive model with a 70kWh battery pack.

A flagship EV5 GT is due at a later date.

All Kia EV5 fashions use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery packs sourced from Chinese language EV specialist BYD, able to charging from 30 to 80 per cent in a claimed 27 minutes.

Whereas the Kia EV5 is underpinned by a by-product of the Hyundai Group’s E-GMP platform, it’s on a extra fundamental 400V model of the structure, slightly than the 800V system within the Kia EV9 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6.

Official pricing and specs might be revealed nearer to the Kia EV5’s Australian launch.

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