Kia Introduces Two EV Concepts at 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

LOS ANGELES -- In addition to the updated 2024 Sorento, Kia has unveiled two concepts today at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show -- the EV3 and EV4.


The EV3 is a crossover with an interior inspired by the upcoming Kia EV9 SUV and the EV4 is a four-door that is sort of a cross between a sedan and a crossover.

These are both mostly styling exercises, though they also use environmentally-friendly materials that Kia would like to use in production models going forward. One example will make cows happy -- the company wants to use bio polyurethane as a substitute for animal-based leather. And you thought the cows in the Chik-Fil-A ads were working to dodge bullets.

The EV3 has mood lighting and an uncluttered interior design, and it also has tables in the cabin. Yes, tables -- and they can be setup in one of four configurations.

Meanwhile the EV4 is inspired by race cars and has design element such as a rear spoiler and vertical headlamps. Inside, materials include recycled cotton, and hand-woven fabric creates an effect that appears to be 3D. The coolest trick is a HVAC control panel that can disappear when not in use.

[Images: Kia]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Nov 17, 2023

    The EV9 is one of the three finalists for the NA Utility of the Year award (along with the Genesis GV80 and the Volvo EX30), but the EV9 has an underwhelming 230-mile range (EPA cycle).

  • Bd2 Bd2 on Nov 18, 2023

    The smaller EV3 looks better than the EV4.

  • Varezhka The biggest underlying issue of Mitsubishi Motors was that for most of its history the commercial vehicles division was where all the profit was being made, subsidizing the passenger vehicle division losses. Just like Isuzu.And because it was a runt of a giant conglomerate who mainly operated B2G and B2B, it never got the attention it needed to really succeed. So when Daimler came in early 2000s and took away the money making Mitsubishi-Fuso commercial division, it was screwed.Right now it's living off of its legacy user base in SE Asia, while its new parent Nissan is sucking away at its remaining engineering expertise in EV and kei cars. I'd love to see the upcoming US market Delica, so crossing fingers they will last that long.
  • ToolGuy A deep-dive of the TTAC Podcast Archives gleans some valuable insight here.
  • Tassos I heard the same clueless, bigoted BULLSHEET about the Chinese brands, 40 years ago about the Japanese Brands, and more recently about the Koreans.If the Japanese and the Koreans have succeeded in the US market, at the expense of losers such as Fiat, Alfa, Peugeot, and the Domestics,there is ZERO DOUBT in my mind, that if the Chinese want to succeed here, THEY WILL. No matter what one or two bigots do about it.PS try to distinguish between the hard working CHINESE PEOPLE and their GOVERNMENT once in your miserable lives.
  • 28-Cars-Later I guess Santa showed up with bales of cash for Mitsu this past Christmas.
  • Lou_BC I was looking at an extended warranty for my truck. The F&I guy was trying to sell me on the idea by telling me how his wife's Cadillac had 2 infotainment failures costing $4,600 dollars each and how it was very common in all of their products. These idiots can't build a reliable vehicle and they want me to trust them with the vehicle "taking over" for me.
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