It looks like every brand-new EV that debuts nowadays is an SUV– the nature of battery modern technology (and American automobile purchasing choices) virtually requires it. So it’s freshening to see Kia starting the 2025 New York Auto Show today with the launching of the sharp-styled, brand-new 2026 Kia EV4 electrical car and the combustion-powered K4 Hatchback that presses great deals of energy right into smaller sized bundles. Positioned at the access factor of Kia’s schedule, these a little smaller sized vehicles will certainly be pitched as even more budget-friendly choices when they get here following year, which is a large offer thinking about just how costly most points appear to be obtaining
I’m most thinking about and thrilled concerning the EV4, and I assume you will certainly be as well. The EV4 makes its North American launching, playing reckless with what I take a typical “sedan silhouette.” The EV4 leads with information and percentages reduced from Kia’s EV6, among my favored EVs in its course, yet the form shifts quickly at the back doors right into a sweeping fastback– virtually as if Kia copy-pasted the back side of its K4 car onto the EV.
From some angles, the total look is unpleasant and a little disjointed. However, I enjoy it when vehicle developers obtain odd, and the car’s total appearance is beginning to expand on me.
Up to 330 miles of variety
Beneath the sheet steel and shiny black plastic cladding, you’ll locate the Hyundai Motor Group’s Electric Global Modular Platform, which additionally underpins almost all of HMG’s committed EV versions, from the Ioniq 5 to the EV9 The EV4 will certainly get here in very early 2026, powered by a solitary 150-kilowatt (201-horsepower) electrical motor on its front axle and supplied with 2 400-volt battery choices. The base EV4 Light includes a 58.3 kilowatt-hour pack anticipated to provide up to 235 miles per fee. Upgrading to the EV4 Wind or top-spec EV4 GT-Line tips up to an 81.4 kWh system assuring approximately 330 miles of Kia- approximated variety for the (most likely) lighter Wind.
Drivers will certainly have the ability to quickly juice their EV4 from 10% to 80% butted in 29 to 31 mins (depending upon which battery they have actually obtained) through the automobile’s integrated North American Charging System port. The EV4’s billing port has actually been transferred to the front traveler side, which the car manufacturer assumes is an easier positioning for billing when parked nose-in at Tesla Supercharger terminals. Personally, I choose the rear-corner setting of HMG’s various other EVs, yet I’m additionally among those aggravating chauffeurs that back right into every car park area when feasible.
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The common NACS billing port indicates the EV4 will certainly have the ability to natively bill at Tesla Supercharger terminals.
Safety and Convenience Tech
Rounding out the EV4’s function collection is a brand-new variation 3.0 of the car manufacturer’s i-Pedal variable regenerative braking system, which automatically adjusts the level of regen based on speed, distance to a leading vehicle and more. The system now works in reverse and retains the driver’s preferred regeneration level when the EV4 is restarted. Like other E-GMP vehicles, this one is compatible with the automaker’s vehicle-to-load adapter, enabling proprietors to transform the exterior billing port right into an acquainted 120-volt/15-amp power electrical outlet to run home appliances, devices or devices when the EV4 is parked.
Inside, the eye sticks around on the EV4’s now-familiar twin 12.3-inch screen electronic control panel with committed 5-inch environment screen (comparable to the dashboard of the EV9) previously, ideally, picking the roadway in advance. The cabin technology collection consists of the brand-new Kia AI Assistant, which will certainly assist chauffeurs maintain their eyes off those displays while driving with all-natural language voice commands. Also readily available are Digital Key 2.0 technology, which allows chauffeurs ditch the vital fob for their phone, cordless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connection and requirement Highway Driving Assistant security technology. The EV4’s software program will certainly be maintained existing with over-the-air updates and feature-on-demand acquisitions through the Kia Connect information link, which proprietors have to register for keep after the three-year consisted of test.
There are a lot of spaces that will certainly require filling up prior to the 2026 Kia EV4 strikes United States roadways in very early 2026, consisting of EPA variety and last prices for the South Korean- made EV. Expect even more information to be revealed in the coming months.
2026 Kia K4 Hatchback
For budget-minded buyers not all set to make the jump to electrical, the car manufacturer additionally debuted a hatchback version of its combustion-powered 2026 K4. Most of the specifications correspond the car up until you reach the K4 Hatchback’s 22.2 cubic feet of freight capability behind the back seats (up from 14.6 cu-ft), which increases to 59.3 dices when those seats fold up level. Interestingly, the Hatchback is additionally about 11 inches much shorter from bumper to bumper, in spite of preserving the very same back legroom, and flaunts concerning an inch of added back clearance.
The 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback will certainly be supplied with either a common 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 147 hp and 132 pound-feet of torque or a turbocharged 1.6-liter that improves to 190 hp and 195 lb-ft. Expect the very first instances to get to dealers in late 2025 and prices, gas economic situation and various other information to arise prior to after that.
