Kia EV5 is Coming to North America...But There's a Catch

Hey everyone it is Mike here from AutoGuide and today let's talk Kia. So Kia has just

announced the brand's newest compact EV called the EV5 is coming to North America

but there's a little catch it's only coming to Canada. Yeah it's not every day that a manufacturer will release a vehicle just for Canada and not the

United States, but that seems to be the case with the EV5 for now at least. The small electric SUV

is already sold in several markets around the world, but this will be one of the very first

left-hand drive versions of the new EV, as most of the regions it's currently in use right-hand

drive configurations. For Canada, Kia is positioning the EV5 as an affordable small SUV

alternative to current EVs. This may sound strange as Kia already has the Niro EV

but more on that later. The Kia EV5 uses the manufacturer's opposite United design language

and includes the EV tiger face with three-dimensional star map lighting. The brand

uses a bunch of big words and similes and non related inspirations to describe the styling of the EV5 but to us it really just looks like a scaled down version of the three row larger EV9 When the EV5 does arrive in Canada it will be available in three wheel sizes 18

19, and 20 inch, and there will be eight colors available, including two that Kia says are all new

and that includes magma red and frost blue. Kia Canada did confirm that the EV5 will be available

with a choice of batteries the standard unit will be a 60.3 kilowatt hour battery while the larger

one will be an 81.4 kilowatt hour battery the small suv will be available with front or all-wheel

drive which helps differentiate it a bit from its other all-electric siblings as the nero ev is

front-wheel drive only and the current ev6 is rear or all-wheel drive aside from confirming that the

EV5 will have the North American charging standard port. Not many other details are available at this

time on what Canada will receive in the EV5. But through the power of the internet, we can get a

feeling on some of the aspects of the EV5, as I mentioned it's already sold in many other regions

One of those regions is Australia. So down under the EV5 is sold in front and all-wheel drive with

front getting the smaller or larger battery while all-wheel drive only gets the larger battery

On that continent both front drive vehicles make 160 kilowatts of power which is about 215 horsepower and 310 newton meters of torque which is about 229 pound feet For Australians the smaller battery front wheel drive

is estimated to go about 400 kilometers on a single charge which is about 249 miles. The larger battery

front wheel drive can go 555 kilometers which is about 345 miles on a single charge. All wheel drive

models for Australia have two motors for a total of 230 kilowatts of power or about 308 horsepower

and 410 newton meters of torque which translates to about 202 pound-feet. These vehicles can travel

anywhere between 470 to 500 kilometers on a single charge which is about 229 to 311 miles

and that depends on the trim as the GT line gets a little less mileage probably due to larger wheels

and other equipment. Now remember these are Australian figures and it's almost guaranteed things will change

before it arrives in Canada but it does give us sort of a ballpark where we can start to

figure out where the range and power should fall for the EV5

So moving inside the EV5 has strong family resemblance to Kia's other electric vehicles

Kia states the interior features soft touch materials and a minimalistic aesthetic

There a nearly 30 inch panoramic screen in front of the driver that houses both the the driver information center and the infotainment system One other little tidbit that Kia did give us about the interior is it will be available with mood lamp that can be adjusted at leisure

to match a passenger occupants or driver style. The cool back seat does include three seat belts so

the EV5 will be a five passenger vehicle and besides the cargo area behind the rear seat

there is a little frunk up front that in Australia provides 67 liters of storage or about 2.4 cubic

feet. So the EV5 will be shown to the public for the first time in Canada in February at the Toronto

International Auto Show. It should arrive in dealers sometime in 2026. Now an interesting

thing to note, although pricing will be revealed at a later date, in Australia and New Zealand

the base front-wheel drive small battery EV5 actually starts at a price lower than the Niro EV

Now I doubt that'll be the case in Canada but here's hoping because that would be a solid offering

although it might make for a little inter-family rivalry. Regardless I can't wait to try this out

and see where it's priced because it could be one of the most affordable all-wheel drive EV SUVs on the market when it shows up next year