Kia Motors entered the Indian market in the year 2019 with the Seltos SUV and tasted instant success. The Seltos received an extremely overwhelming response from the Indian car buyers. It garnered a huge amount of bookings within just a few months of its launch. All thanks to its striking looks, extremely good and capable powertrains, feature-loaded cabin and an attractive price tag. The Seltos shattered all the previous records of the Indian Automotive History and went on to become the Best selling car in its segment. Now, coming to the Seltos EV point, so a few months ago rumours spread across the internet that Kia is working on an electrified version of the Seltos. However, at that point of time, we didnt have any legit proof. But now, IAB has revealed a document that confirms the launch of the Kia Seltos Electric SUV in 2020.
As you can see in the leaked document (see picture above), the Kia Seltos EV is scheduled to make its global debut later this year. It will be initially launched only in China and that too in the second half of 2020. As of now, the launch of the Seltos EV isnt confirmed for any other International markets (except China). According to reports, it will be launched in China as the next-gen Kia KX3 EV. The current-generation Kia KX3 EV is already on sale in the Chinese market. Currently, it is sold with a 45.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack as standard. This battery pack offers a range of 300 kilometres on a single charge. It gets an electric motor that churns out 111 PS of maximum power and 285 Nm of peak torque. It has a top speed of 150 kmph and the energy consumption rating is rated at 16.4 kWh/100 km.
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Talking about the new upcoming Kia Seltos Electric (next-gen Kia KX3 EV in China), it is expected to be offered in standard-range and long-range versions just like its sibling Hyundai Kona Electric. According to reports, it will even get the same battery and motor specifications, similar to the Kona EV. The standard-range model of the Hyundai Kona EV gets a 39.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Its electric motor produces 136 PS of maximum power and 395 Nm of peak torque. It has a claimed range (WLTP) of 312 kilometres on a single charge and the efficiency rating stands at 13.9 kWh/100 km. The long-range Hyundai Kona Electric, on the other hand, uses a bigger 64.2 kWh lithium-ion battery. Its electric motor develops 204 PS of maximum power and 395 Nm of peak torque. The WLTP range of the long-range Kona EV is 482 kilometres on a single charge and the efficiency rating stands at 14.3 kWh/100 km.
Coming back to the Indian market, the India-spec Kia Seltos recently got some feature add-ons about which you can read, HERE. The Indian version of the Kia Seltos is offered with multiple powertrains. It gets a 1.5-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel engine. The petrol motor churns out 115 PS of power and 144 Nm of torque. It comes mated to a 6-speed manual as well as a CVT gearbox. The oil-burner, on the other hand, churns out 115 PS of power and 250 Nm of torque and comes mated to a 6-speed manual as well as an automatic gearbox. It also gets a powerful 1.4-litre turbo petrol motor that pumps out 140 PS of power and 242 Nm of torque. This motor comes mated to a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT).
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The Kia Seltos is a very successful product in India and the Seltos EV is also a highly-anticipated electric SUV in the country. However, Kia doesnt have any plans to launch it in India anytime soon. But if launched, it can garner some really good numbers for the company as people have now started showing interest in the electric vehicles. In India, it will rival against the Tata Nexon EV, MG ZS EV and its sibling Hyundai Kona Electric. So, this was all about the upcoming Kia Seltos Electric SUV. In other news, Kia Motors will soon launch its third-offering, the Kia Sonet sub-compact SUV in India.
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