Next-generation Kia Seltos EV is set to make its debut this year

The Kia Seltos was launched in 2019 and has slowly garnered popularity amongst those looking for their first crossover. While the Philippine market got the 2.0-liter naturally aspirated version of the vehicle, other markets were able to get their hands on the Electric Vehicle variant of the crossover.

Indianautosblog reports that the South Korean automaker has confirmed the existence of the EV variant through an internal document that the publication was able to get. The document states that the next generation EV will be making its debut this year, however, it will only be for the Chinese market. 

The current generation electric Kia Seltos is being sold with a 45.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack as standard and comes with a range of about 300 kilometers from a full charge. With its electric motor, the electric crossover can generate a maximum of 285 Nm of torque with a top speed of 150km/hr. 

Further rumors and reports state that the next generation Kia Seltos EV will be coming with two variants similar to those found on its brother from Hyundai the Kona EV. It is important to note that if the next generation Seltos EV will be based on the Kona EV it will likely carry over Hyundai's battery pack and electric motor. Currently, the standard-range model of the Kona has a 39.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that has a range of 312 km. Despite the smaller battery pack the Kona still pulls ahead in terms of range even with a lower capacity. The long-range version of the Kona EV on the other hand comes with a bigger 64.2 kWh Lithium-ion battery pack instead. This gives the vehicle a better range while maintaining its high torque figures. The long-range variant comes with an operational range of about 482 km from a full charge.

Another possibility is that the next generation Kia Seltos EV will inherit the Hyundai Elantra EV’s battery pack that comes from the Chinese market. The Sedan EV comes with a 56.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack which gives the vehicle a range of 490 km and 310 Nm of torque. While torque figures are significantly lower the added capacity could greatly benefit the Seltos EV in terms of range. 

The next-generation Kia Seltos EV is reportedly going to enter production sometime in August of 2020 and will have a launch within the year. While not a lot of information is known about the next-generation Kia Seltos EV, the South Korea brand has many electric motors and battery packs to choose from if it needs to bring in the vehicle into production quickly. There is no official word yet if Kia Philippines will bring in the next or current generation version of the Kia Seltos EV into the country.