Kia has offered the sneakiest of peeks at its forthcoming EV6. The Korean brand’s first next-generation EV will be based on its latest battery electric vehicle platform, bring with it a new design philosophy, be the first car to wear Kia’s new logo and the first to use a new naming strategy.

Believe it or not, the forthcoming Kia EV6 is the brand’s first electric car designed from the ground-up to be as such. It is essentially the sister ship of the IONIQ 5 and will share the same E-GMP platform and powertrain, complete with the innovative switchable 400/800 volt electrical architecture.  

We’ll got into more detail on that shortly, but Kia’s teaser pictures hint at an interesting and exciting new design direction for the brand. Like the IONIQ 5, the EV6 is going to take the form of a crossover and will apparently borrow heavily from the ‘Imagine by Kia’ concept of two years ago, which also influenced the Futuron concept from the same year.   

The limited amount we can see shows a sleek profile with a high waistline, which should help the EV6 look hunkered down. The front end bears a resemblance to the brand’s latest ICE models and is recognisably Kia, albeit with new lighting and bonnet crease lines. At the back, the LED strip lights hint at an interesting new rear end design.  

“EV6 is the embodiment of both our brand purpose, ‘Movement that inspires’, and our new design philosophy. It has been designed to inspire every journey by offering an instinctive and natural experience that improves the daily lives of our customers, and provide user ownership that is simple, intuitive and integrated.” said Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design Centre. 

Also evident is the EV6 badging which heralds the introduction of a new, simplified naming strategy which will see all of the brand’s future battery electric cars having the ‘EV’ prefix, followed by a number which corresponds to the car’s position in the line-up. It’s simple and we like it!  

E-GMP platform 

The E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform) platform which underpins the Kia EV6 and IONIQ 5 alike is one of the more interesting electric platforms from a mainstream manufacturer. It offers flexibility in the size and type of vehicle it can power, offers two and four-wheel drive options and ultra-rapid charging thanks to having both 400-volt and 800-volt capability. We’ve seen pictures of the IONIQ 5 holding extremely high charging speeds even above 80 per cent charge, which is when most cars drop off.  

We suspect that like the IONIQ 5, the Kia EV6 will have a maximum range of around 310 miles, a range of powertrain options and Level 2 autonomy.  

The official launch is due “during the first quarter of 2021” – in other words, in the next three weeks. We’ll bring you all the details as they happen.