Kia begins series production of the EV2
For this reason, the South Korean car manufacturer describes the EV2 as ‘another stepping stone in Kia’s regional electrification strategy.’ As the smallest and most affordable battery-electric Kia in Europe to date, the EV2 not only expands the brand’s electric vehicle portfolio but also attracts new customer groups.
The battery-electric B-segment SUV celebrated its world premiere at the motor show in Brussels in January 2026 and has been available for order since mid-March.
In Germany, prices start at €26,600 for the base model with a 42.2 kWh battery, which offers up to 317 kilometres of WLTP range. For the larger 61 kWh battery, prices in the Air variant begin at €33,490.
While in other electric Kia models the Air trim represents the most basic configuration, the EV2 features an additional base variant without a name suffix. The significant price difference is not only due to the larger battery, which provides up to 453 kilometres of range, but also includes a higher level of equipment.
Overall, the trim logic for the EV2 is not particularly straightforward—especially with the distinction between four- and five-seater configurations—which is why we refer to our article on the order launch for further details.
Unlike Hyundai’s smallest electric vehicle, the Inster, which is an electrified version of a combustion-engine compact car, the EV2 is the smallest model to date based on Kia’s dedicated electric platform, E-GMP. That means the EV2 shares the same modular architecture as the EV4, which is also produced in Zilina, although the B-segment vehicle uses different components and battery sizes. At the start of production, Kia is manufacturing the EV2 only with the 42.2 kWh Standard Range battery; production of models with the larger battery and the top-tier GT-Line trim is set to begin in June.
The fact that the EV2 rolls off the production line at Kia’s European plant is the result of an investment of over €200 million last year. With this budget, Kia Slovakia modernised the facility, which opened in 2004, by investing in next-generation robots, optimising production lines, and improving the working environment, according to the company. In fact, the infrastructure for the EV2 was already established during preparations for EV4 production—the first E-GMP model from Zilina has been in series production since August 2025.
Kia has not disclosed the planned production volumes for the EV2. In 2025, the Slovakian plant produced around 300,000 vehicles and approximately 470,000 engines, including the internal combustion/hybrid models XCeed and Sportage, as well as the aforementioned battery-electric compact car, the EV4. A test drive review of this model is available here. The vehicles manufactured in Zilina account for 9.3 per cent of Kia’s global production and have been exported to 73 countries.
“The start of production for the EV2 continues to verify our technical capabilities and flexibility in Europe,” said Soohang Chang, President and CEO at Kia Europe. “When the EV4 went into production last August, we demonstrated our ability to produce fully electric models and cars with hybrid and internal combustion powertrains side by side. Now adding the EV2, the output of our Slovakian factory will better support Kia’s electrification strategy in Europe.”
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