Kia debuted its 2026 EV4 sedan on the New York Worldwide Auto Present on Wednesday, its first world electrical sedan and one designed for purchasers in search of an reasonably priced EV.
Whether or not U.S. clients will gravitate towards a sedan is an open query — and one Kia is not essentially betting on. The corporate launched gross sales of the EV4 in South Korea and plans to deliver it to Europe by the top of the 12 months. Gross sales in america are anticipated to start within the final quarter of 2025 or first quarter of 2026, a Kia spokesperson informed TechCrunch.
Kia’s main pitch with the EV4 is affordability, and with a decent vary, inside options, and tech touches, it may lastly give shoppers an alternative choice. Whereas Kia hasn’t but shared U.S. pricing, some have estimated that it could begin at round $35,000, including one other competitor to the Tesla Mannequin 3. Eric Watson, VP of gross sales at Kia America, confirmed the ballpark worth vary to TechCrunch.
Picture Credit:Rebecca Bellan
Tom Kearns, Kia’s chief designer, stated Wednesday that what “many EVs have in frequent is the pricing that leans extra in direction of the upper finish. However our final objective is to make electrified attainable driving for everybody.”
That is why the EV4 is “distinctive with a tech-forward design” and is reasonably priced even with its “many superior options,” a lot of which may be present in Kia’s larger finish EV6 crossover utility car and EV9 SUV.
For U.S. consumers, nonetheless, that enticing worth level may very well be in danger. President Donald Trump’s proposed automotive tariffs threaten so as to add 25% to the price of any imported car — together with the EV4, which Kia plans to construct in South Korea and launch stateside within the first quarter of 2026. With the tariff panorama shifting by the day, it is unattainable to say what consumers will probably be going through a 12 months from now.
Watson famous that Kia was open to exploring the thought of bringing manufacturing of the EV4 to the U.S. The automaker already has a facility in West Level, Georgia, the place it builds its EV6 crossover utility car and EV9 SUV for the U.S. market, with SK On as its battery manufacturing companion.
Regardless of Kia having American manufacturing and domestically produced batteries, Orth Hedrick, Kia America’s VP of product planning, stated, “There are nonetheless lots of parts which are topic to tariffs. It isn’t good for enterprise. We’re hoping there will probably be some developments possibly over the summer season.”
The Kia EV4 does have a number of issues going for it that would make a purchaser threat the tariffs, most notably its first rate vary. The usual 58.3 kWh battery, which comes with the “Gentle” trim, has a variety of 235 miles, and the long-range 81.4 kWh battery, which comes with the “Wind” or “GT-Line” trims, can go as much as 330 miles.
Kia stated it centered on aerodynamics for the EV4, which doubtless helped enhance these vary numbers. The car has a coefficient drag of .23 — the identical because the Tesla Mannequin 3.
Each battery configurations present energy to the front-mounted 150 kW motors. And with V2L4 performance, drivers can use the automotive’s battery to cost units like laptops and smaller electronics.
The EV4 additionally expenses with a DC quick charger at a decent half-hour, and its NACS charging port is positioned on the entrance passenger aspect for simple accessibility.
Kia additionally performed up its i-Pedal 3.0 system within the Ev4, which captures power and shops it within the battery, however offers drivers extra management over the pace of deceleration utilizing solely the accelerator pedal.
Now, on to the appears.
Kia debuts EV4 on the 2025 NYIAS.Picture Credit:Rebecca Bellan
Kearns stated Kia needed a possibility to do issues in another way with the 2026 EV4, to interrupt the norm of many EV makers that prioritizes effectivity usually on the expense of constructing a cool design assertion.
And taking a look at it up shut, Kia’s EV4 does have an attention-grabbing aesthetic, type of a enterprise within the entrance, occasion within the again vibe. Head on, you’ll be able to see the low nostril, long-tail silhouette, and fastback roofline of a basic sports activities automotive, and from the rear, vertical taillights, a two-piece roof spoiler, and modern bumper design give it a extra aerodynamic, tech-forward presence.
Talking of tech, the automotive boasts your commonplace futuristic, minimalistic, high-tech inside. Standouts embody the two-spoke steering wheel, 64-color dynamic ambient lighting, a free-floating consumer interface composed of twin 12.3-inch screens and a five-inch local weather show. That’s the place you’ll find all of your navigation and leisure options, together with wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Like Kia’s different EVs, the EV4 additionally provides the prospect to reinforce connectivity and leisure options via over-the-air updates, together with including customized show themes throughout the cockpit like your “favourite NBA crew” for all of the environment-loving superfans on the market.
When it comes to different tech-forward options, the drivers can entry their EV4 through Kia’s digital key via their cell telephones, and Kia’s AI Assistant makes use of voice recognition and pure language processing to assist drivers management car capabilities, plan journeys, and extra.
The EV4 additionally comes commonplace with a collection of driver help options, together with Kia’s Freeway Driving Help, which mechanically adjusts the car’s set pace to match the posted pace restrict and maintains distance from the car forward. Kia’s ADAS additionally consists of help with ahead collision avoidance, lane following, distant good parking, driver consideration warning, and hands-on steering wheel detection.
This text has been up to date with extra info from Kia representatives about design and tariffs.
