Kia EV9 Mini (EV3), The Korean R2 ?

[narmstrong79]

World Premiere

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[Noplacelikeloam]

Nope, just another blah EV. R2 has intent and purpose to it. This is just a car.

 

[TollKeeper]

Looks like a Kia Soul went and got digitized or something.

 

[NY_Rob]

Hideous wheels

 

[TollKeeper]

Hideous wheels

Like a digitized, or a 8bit (think Atari), pac-man

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Mechanically not all that different from R2. Though, likely more soft-roader in terms of capability/engineering. UI/UX is likely more traditional… both good and bad (infrequent OTAs). Build quality likely better than where Rivian is now. Every time I’m behind a Telluride while in traffic I marvel at how I couldn’t spot a fault. The gaps. The alignment of design lines across gaps. Perfect symmetry. We’re talking MB level on assembly. Still, I could never picture myself owning one (KIA). They are appliances with bizarre overwrought design language, which is getting better but still too far beyond point of elegant.

Rivian should revamp Alexa, make it “hey Gary…” and give him a voice.

 

[DuoRivians]

Glad EV3 exists. But will never drive one myself. It’s basically a generic car, made into an EV

 

[Tim-in-CA]

I'm sure it will do fine. Jeez, the narration was taken directly from a ChatGPT script and the spoken cadence made the video unbearable to watch.

 

[dleewla]

this is more in line with the size of the R3. the Kia EV5 is more like the R2.

 

[Electron]

World Premiere

I think it's great. We need more EVs to enter the market and there's a lot to thank KIA for, especially as a legacy auto maker, for producing great EVs and not being a loser like toyota (total joke). Or even worse, having a chinese company make honda's EVs. Ouch. Let alone GM and Ford going M.I.A. Sad.

HMG is going all in with EVs and we're only seeing the first wave from KIA's offerings. Wait until we start to see the IONIQ 9 and Genesis EVs. Very exciting. (Not referring to the converted ICE GV70 ev or G80 ev, both very under rated btw, but not on the E-GMP platform.)

With the EV3 starting at $30K and with it likely being built at the West Point, GA factory, it'll be a solid affordable option to serve the majority, who are not Adventurous people like us. And that's okay.

For the mass market as it is intended to serve, I think it's a home run.

• 81.4 kWh pack on the Long Range
• 373 miles (Long Range)
• 12" HUD in this price point is impressive
• Best in Class luggage space, 460 liters
• Low drag co-efficiency of just 0.26
• Ai Assistant using OpenAi
• New i-Pedal 3.0 Tech. (HMG has the strongest regen in the in game w/ paddle shifters to adjust it between 3 levels of regen.) For context: Tesla's max is only 85kW of regen, vs HMG's 360kW.

 

[Yota2R1T]

I agree, Kia is forging ahead and innovating - kudos.

HMG is Hyundai Motor Group?

Toyota is being cautious, not a bad route in my opinion considering the nutty, unpredictable world we live in. Also, maximizing all the innovation they poured into Hybrid drive is understandable.

Cheers

 

[evhelphub]

I think it's great. We need more EVs to enter the market and there's a lot to thank KIA for, especially as a legacy auto maker, for producing great EVs and not being a loser like toyota (total joke). Or even worse, having a chinese company make honda's EVs. Ouch. Let alone GM and Ford going M.I.A. Sad.

HMG is going all in with EVs and we're only seeing the first wave from KIA's offerings. Wait until we start to see the IONIQ 9 and Genesis EVs. Very exciting. (Not referring to the converted ICE GV70 ev or G80 ev, both very under rated btw, but not on the E-GMP platform.)

With the EV3 starting at $30K and with it likely being built at the West Point, GA factory, it'll be a solid affordable option to serve the majority, who are not Adventurous people like us. And that's okay.

For the mass market as it is intended to serve, I think it's a home run.

• 81.4 kWh pack on the Long Range
• 373 miles (Long Range)
• Low drag co-efficiency of just 0.26
• Ai Assistant using OpenAi
• New i-Pedal 3.0 Tech. (HMG has the strongest regen in the in game w/ paddle shifters to adjust it between 3 levels of regen.) For context: Tesla's max is only 85kW of regen, vs HMG's 360kW.

I agree - the price to range value is going to be one of the best in the business. I'm not a huge fan of the designs Kia/Hyundai are using, and I do prefer the R2 by a good margin, this looks to be a fantastic offering nonetheless.

R2/R3 is going to face some stiff competition indeed. But we need others to step up and really challenge Tesla. Everyone should be happy with more quality choices coming to the market.

 

[DB-EV]

Nope, just another blah EV. R2 has intent and purpose to it. This is just a car.

I agree but this should be 30k before incentive range so pretty sweet.

 

[Hillbilly]

I like these new Nine Inch Nails EV's

 

[Electron]

I agree, Kia is forging ahead and innovating - kudos.

HMG is Hyundai Motor Group?

Toyota is being cautious, not a bad route in my opinion considering the nutty, unpredictable world we live in. Also, maximizing all the innovation they poured into Hybrid drive is understandable.

Cheers

Correct. Hyundai Motor Group [Hyundai, KIA & Genesis]

As for toyota there are key reasons that shape the reality of the truth behind their bluffs and failures.

1. toyota is the most indebted auto maker in the World at $200 BILLION. Insane. They're going downhill fast, calling bluffs out of desperation, lack of innovation, overpromising, under delivering and quickly exhausting their 90's reputation wave, which has pretty much lost its energy.

2. Their bz4 is complete rubbish, along with the white labeled subaru solterra. The worst EVs right up there with the (heavily lacking in QC) chinese EVs that are falling apart.

3. They are so vertically reliant on their suppliers that they need to convince the suppliers down the chain to change up everything to go the EV route. The suppliers are reliant on ICE parts as they've been doing for years so it's not a change they're willing to make overnight.

4. toyota's in bed with big petrol, which is why they're pushing hydrogen, which benefits the dyno juice companies. It's all a circus behind the smoke.

5. They have lost and are losing big in the chinese market, which they have relied on heavily as their main bread and butter. Same goes for a lot of the luxury Euro brands. They're in big trouble and I mean big. BMW, Audi, and Mercedes are in a crisis. (Same reason we don't want chinese EVs here in America. It'll destroy our domestic brands.)

6. Again, it's not the 90s anymore for them (and honda), that twilight era is gone. Other brands, even including our so-so (Ford & GM) domestic brands have caught up in a lot of ways and that's saying a lot.

Regarding toyota's hybrid investment, although their hybrids are good, when you compare the RAV4 Hybrid to the Hyundai Tuscon Hybrid for example, all the large investment becomes less justified as the Hybrid in the Tuscon is very good, in a lot of ways better and overall wins over the RAV4.

In my opinion, I think toyota is bluffing its way to buy time due to their lack of abilities since they can't compete in the EV race. To prove a simiar point, you have a chinese company like dongfeng making honda EVs. To circle back to the main point, toyota is relying on chinese companies for their near future EVs.

Ultimately, for those wanting to support the EV industry, toyota is the enemy and I personally would never buy an EV from them. I would prefer to invest in legacy companies committed to EV expansion, like HMG, maybe Ford & GM when they come around and all in with Rivian, Lucid and Tesla*.

* I have a stronger preference for supporting Rivian over Tesla and hope to see Rivian succeed.

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