Kia EV5 launch and fleet day in Perth, Thursday December 5th.

[jonescg]

Kiera Preece (formerly at BYD) is now the regional manager for Kia Western Australia, and she kindly invited me to attend their EV5 launch at RAC DTEC/DRM facility near the airport (where we used to hold Electrikhana 14 years ago). Fortunately I'd finished my classes by midday so I snuck out and had a look.

EV5 launch DTEC.jpg (171.15 KiB) Viewed 3072 times

It was kinda funny being at a launch when there were hundreds of unsold Teslas sitting in the sun right across the way...

Lots of teslas at DTEC.jpg (115.08 KiB) Viewed 3072 times

It's basically a solid contender for the highly competitive mid-sized SUV segment. Starts at low $50k range, and as high as $73k. It can come with a towbar, but does not currently have that spec (wait till next year for more details). 3.3 kW V2L and *probably* V2G. They were a bit coy, but it sounds like when it does happen, it's a just firmware upgrade.

EV5 launch Rear quarter.jpg (45.24 KiB) Viewed 3072 times

It's a 1.9 ton car, and the highest trim with the biggest battery is a portly 2.2 ton.

Internally it's like most modern cars - a billion things on two 12" x 6" screens and a stack of buttons. There's quite a bit going on right on front of you, and personally I think they've overdone the screen with too many details, but at least there's still buttons, and you can see what you're doing by glancing downwards, and not leftwards.

EV5 internals.jpg (75.11 KiB) Viewed 3072 times

As far as space is concerned, it's an SUV, so basically no But to their credit, the back opens up at the same level as the floor so you don't need to lift over anything. The rear seats fold forwards and you have a perfectly flat surface to sleep on. A valuable feature in today's housing crisis...
The passengers legroom felt perfectly reasonable to me, but I've long suffered from Duck's disease so your leg space might differ. If you were using this as a taxi it would probably work out OK provided the front passenger pushed their seat forward enough to be reasonable.

EV5 rear legroom.jpg (103.88 KiB) Viewed 3072 times

And being an SUV you would expect some headroom, which was nice. Again, I don't suffer from elevation issues, but there's plenty of space to spare.

EV5 Rear headroom.jpg (118.36 KiB) Viewed 3072 times

[Sorry for the frightening image]

This car is a direct competitor for the hybrid RAV4, which is of course nothing like the smaller, lighter RAV4 from decades ago. But at $53k for a 410 km range EV with all the fruit, I think this will sell like electric hotcakes.

I don't want one, because it's got two too many wheels, and I still lament the demise of the station wagon. But once this thing comes with a tow hitch it will be popular.

[g4qber]

According to Paul Vianna on Ask Us Anything, the Teslas are waiting to be delivered.

https://youtu.be/pl9cGJfzfRk
20:45

[jonescg]

Fair enough - I guess they'd been there a long while, but no idea why they hadn't simply just delivered them.
There's a similar holding yard on Kelvin Road in Maddington for Ford Rangers. New car sales overall are slumping (which is good, IMO).

Anyway, as soon as this EV5 comes with a towbar it will be popular.