In this week’s notebook, we take a look at Kia’s plans for a pair of radical electric trucks and find out if Cupra and Porsche could ever work together on a performance electric vehicle.
Pppp pick up a Kia
Avid readers may recall that Kia design boss Karim Habib told Autocar at the Los Angeles Auto Show last year that if he had the opportunity to design a pickup truck, he would “would welcome him with open arms.”
Dreams are coming true, it seems, as Kia has now confirmed that a pair of pickup trucks will be included in the series of 14 new electric vehicles it will introduce by 2027. One is a bespoke electric truck , the other a “strategic model for emerging markets”.
Both will no doubt look as wacky as the EV9 concept SUV, but neither is confirmed for the UK.
Our advice? Start pestering your local dealer now to help our chances. Kia has also confirmed a hot GT version of all future EVs, so there’s another incentive…
Collaborate to Accelerate
Cupra aims to stand out within the Volkswagen Group with bold styling and sporty performance, but its first electric vehicle, the Born, differs only subtly from the Volkswagen ID 3.
So we had to ask CEO Wayne Griffiths: could you imagine a Cupra EV that uses a platform developed by Porsche, like the PPE?
“We are a very sporty brand, so sporting solutions are good for us,” he acknowledged, adding that Cupra needs to go “a bit further” than rebadging other Volkswagen Group products.
A Cupra-Porsche tie-up, though? Unlikely.
“I have to admit I like the idea of Porsche,” he laughs, “but it was your idea, not mine. Don’t say it was mine.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-15 00:01:23
