We’ve been eagerly anticipating the launch of the electric Kia EV4 sedan, which was revealed in U.S. spec just six months ago with an expected starting price of $35,000. We already knew we weren’t going to get the awesome EV4 hatchback in the U.S., but now we might not get the EV4 at all. Following reporting from InsideEVs, Kia says the EV4 sedan will be “delayed until further notice” in the U.S., citing changing market conditions for EVs. Surely the fact that the EV4 is built in South Korea also factored into this decision, as there’s a 15% tariff on automobile imports, and that stuff is changing so often.
Kia had originally said the EV4 would be on sale in early 2026, so this seems like a very last-minute decision, and I doubt that the EV4 is canceled here for good. As recently as this week I’ve seen photos of U.S.-spec EV4s driving around California, so the car is definitely ready. Hyundai Motor Group already makes a lot of EVs and batteries in the U.S. — though Trump is doing his best to prevent that — so there’s a chance that a plant here could be re-tooled to produce EV4s. The EV4 is no longer on the upcoming vehicles page of Kia’s U.S. website, and there’s no fuel economy ratings on the EPA website, but it is at least still on Kia’s media website.
It’s a damn shame
This is a real shame, as the EV4 looks like a really great product, and it would’ve been one of the most affordable and appealing new EVs on sale. Kia has been really pushing styling boundaries lately, and the EV4 is so much more interesting than basically every other compact car on sale. Its interior feels a step above its competition, too. The EV4 is built on the same E-GMP platform as cars like the EV6 and EV9, but unlike those 800-volt models, the EV4 only has a 400-volt architecture. But it can still charge from 10%-80% in under 30 minutes, and Kia said it would offer a range of 330 miles. Kia also is working on an EV4 GT, which could have over 400 horsepower.
The indefinite delay of the EV4 also makes it seem even less likely that we’ll get the smaller, cuter EV3 in the U.S., and the bigger EV5 isn’t available in our market yet either. In Kia’s statement about the EV4, the automaker says its “full range of vehicles offer[s] meaningful value and inspiring performance to customers.”
