By Muhammed Hashim 
Kia is gearing up to electrify its portfolio for the Indian market and the electric avatar of the compact SUV was seen on Indian roads
In the latest vehicle spotting, a Kia Sonet EV was seen testing. Kia is strengthening its electric lineup in India as it also announced the Carens EV for our market. At present, Kia only sells the flagship Kia EV9 7-seat electric SUV in India. In fact, it was launched just a couple of days ago. However, it bears a price tag of a jaw-dropping Rs 1.30 Crore, ex-showroom. Clearly, it is for celebrities and influential personalities alone. To cater to the mass market, the electric version of the Sonet would be critical. Let us take a look at the details here.
Kia Sonet EV Spotted Testing
This post stems from motorbeam on Instagram. It captures a heavily camouflaged SUV plying on a busy road. As per the information in this video, this is the first-ever spotting of the Sonet EV. As is the case with all spy images and videos, the entire body is wrapped under a heavy covering. There is barely anything that we are able to deduce. However, look closely and you will see an exposed side profile. It contains faux roof rails and black B-pillars along with the familiar side body panels as the ICE Sonet.
Apart from that, the compact electric SUV also gets a redesigned alloy wheel design. At the rear, there is a shark fin antenna too. In terms of the powertrain, there are no clear announcements by the Korean auto giant. Still, we expect it to have a range of around 450 km on a single charge. What I can say for certain is that Kia won’t leave any stone unturned and offer the latest tech, convenience, connectivity and safety amenities to pamper the customers. That has been its strength all this while. In fact, that is exactly what customers love about Kia cars.
My View
I am thrilled to see how things pan out with Kia entering the mass-market electric vehicle category in India. We know that EVs are only beginning to gain momentum in our market. At present, Tata Motors is the market leader with over 75% share. It has converted its existing ICE cars into EVs. That is an approach which ensures that companies don’t need to invest heavily in R&D. Similarly, Kia would want to leverage the popularity of the Sonet compact SUV and introduce its electric avatar. In the same vein, we will also see the Carens EV by next year.
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Also Read: Kia Sonet’s My Convenience Plus Package Offers Ownership Cost of 75 Paise/km
