It looks like every new EV that debuts nowadays is an SUV — the character of battery expertise (and American automotive purchasing preferences) virtually necessitates it. So it is refreshing to see Kia kicking off the 2025 New York Auto Present this week with the debut of the sharp-styled, new 2026 Kia EV4 electrical sedan and the combustion-powered K4 Hatchback that squeezes a number of utility into smaller packages. Positioned on the entry level of Kia’s lineup, these barely smaller vehicles will probably be pitched as extra inexpensive choices after they arrive subsequent 12 months, which is a giant deal contemplating how expensive most things seem to be getting.
I am most serious about and excited concerning the EV4, and I feel you can be too. The EV4 makes its North American debut, taking part in quick and unfastened with what I consider as a conventional “sedan silhouette.” The EV4 leads with particulars and proportions scaled down from Kia’s EV6, certainly one of my favourite EVs in its class, however the form transitions abruptly on the rear doorways right into a sweeping fastback — virtually as if Kia copy-pasted the rear finish of its K4 sedan onto the EV.
From some angles, the general look is awkward and slightly disjointed. Nevertheless, I adore it when auto designers get bizarre, and the sedan’s total look is beginning to develop on me.
As much as 330 miles of vary
Beneath the sheet metallic and shiny black plastic cladding, you may discover the Hyundai Motor Group’s Electric Global Modular Platform, which additionally underpins practically all of HMG’s devoted EV fashions, from the Ioniq 5 to the EV9. The EV4 will arrive in early 2026, powered by a single 150-kilowatt (201-horsepower) electrical motor on its entrance axle and provided with two 400-volt battery choices. The bottom EV4 Mild contains a 58.3 kilowatt-hour pack anticipated to ship as much as 235 miles per cost. Upgrading to the EV4 Wind or top-spec EV4 GT-Line steps as much as an 81.4 kWh unit promising as much as 330 miles of Kia-estimated vary for the (presumably) lighter Wind.
Drivers will be capable of quickly juice their EV4 from 10% to 80% charged in 29 to 31 minutes (relying on which battery they have) through the automotive’s built-in North American Charging System port. The EV4’s charging port has been relocated to the entrance passenger facet, which the automaker thinks is a extra handy placement for charging when parked nose-in at Tesla Supercharger stations. Personally, I choose the rear-corner place of HMG’s different EVs, however I am additionally a kind of annoying drivers who again into each parking spot when doable.
The usual NACS charging port means the EV4 will be capable of natively cost at Tesla Supercharger stations.
Security and Comfort Tech
Rounding out the EV4’s characteristic set is a brand new model 3.0 of the automaker’s i-Pedal variable regenerative braking system, which routinely adjusts the extent of regen based mostly on velocity, distance to a number one automobile and extra. The system now works in reverse and retains the motive force’s most popular regeneration stage when the EV4 is restarted. Like different E-GMP automobiles, this one is suitable with the automaker’s vehicle-to-load adapter, permitting house owners to transform the exterior charging port into a well-known 120-volt/15-amp energy outlet to run home equipment, tools or instruments when the EV4 is parked.
Inside, the attention lingers on the EV4’s now-familiar twin 12.3-inch show digital dashboard with devoted 5-inch local weather show (much like the sprint of the EV9) earlier than, hopefully, selecting the highway forward. The cabin tech suite contains the brand new Kia AI Assistant, which can assist drivers maintain their eyes off these screens whereas driving with pure language voice instructions. Additionally accessible are Digital Key 2.0 tech, which lets drivers ditch the important thing fob for his or her telephone, wi-fi Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity and commonplace Freeway Driving Assistant security tech. The EV4’s software program will probably be saved present with over-the-air updates and feature-on-demand purchases through the Kia Join knowledge connection, which house owners should subscribe to take care of after the three-year included trial.
There are many blanks that can want filling earlier than the 2026 Kia EV4 hits US roads in early 2026, together with EPA vary and closing pricing for the South Korean-manufactured EV. Anticipate extra particulars to be introduced within the coming months.
2026 Kia K4 Hatchback
For budget-minded consumers not able to make the leap to electrical, the automaker additionally debuted a hatchback variant of its combustion-powered 2026 K4. A lot of the specs are an identical to the sedan till you get to the K4 Hatchback’s 22.2 cubic toes of cargo capability behind the rear seats (up from 14.6 cu-ft), which expands to 59.3 cubes when these seats fold flat. Curiously, the Hatchback can be round 11 inches shorter from bumper to bumper, regardless of sustaining the identical rear legroom, and boasts about an inch of additional rear headroom.
The 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback will probably be provided with both a regular 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 147 hp and 132 pound-feet of torque or a turbocharged 1.6-liter that reinforces to 190 hp and 195 lb-ft. Anticipate the primary examples to succeed in dealerships in late 2025 and pricing, gas economic system and different particulars to emerge earlier than then.
