Kia Produces Its First Electric Vehicle

Kia has announced its first electric vehicle, and it is based on the Kia Ray. The small car has a range of 139km, or 86 miles, and will exclusively be for the Korean market for now. 

The Ray EV uses a 50kW electric motor powering the front wheels with a 16.4 kWh lithium ion battery mounted under the rear seat and cargo area. Kia is guaranteeing the life of this battery for 10 years. The addition of the motor and battery add 187kg to the Ray's weight, but the electric motor makes 77% more torque than the car's normal engine. The Ray EV takes 15.9 seconds to accelerate to 100km/h, which Kia says is also faster than the standard Ray, and it has a 130km/h top speed. Kia says it will take six hours to charge from a 220v home outlet or just 25 minutes in quick charge mode. 

The car is designed to maximize range by adding an eco mode that changes the motor's torque curve to increase range, and a brake mode to the transmission that boosts regenerative braking. The instrument cluster displays the battery's status and distance to recharge and uses a 7in navigation screen to display charging locations. 

One the car's coolest features is that for safety Kia has the car emit the sounds of a gasoline engine when driving below 20km/h to alert pedestrians. If Kia were clever, it would allow buyers to tune this sound to whatever they want. Imagine hearing a Chevy big block or Ferrari coming down the street and looking up to see a small Kia electric car. 

Kia says that there are already 500 fast charging stations in Korea with plans to increase it to 3,100 stations by the end of 2012. 

Kia plans to produce 2,500 Ray EV models in 2012. These vehicles are going to be given to government agencies and public offices to get long-term research before introducing the car to the public.