Kia Stinger set to be replaced by electric sedan – but Australia unlikely

The now-discontinued Kia Stinger is due to eventually be replaced by a new all-electric sedan in 2026, according to a new report.

The Korean Car Blog [↗] has obtained a copy of a document called 'Kia’s union new car production schedule', which outlines model-by-model information about the Korean brand's future models.

The Stinger will be indirectly replaced with a high-performance electric-powered sedan, which has been codenamed GT1.

The production model, expected to be named Kia EV8, will start production in 2026 in South Korea with up to 450kW of power.

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Extract from Kia’s Union New Car Production Schedule (Source: thekoreancarblog.com [↗])

The EV8 will be Kia’s first vehicle on the forthcoming eM platform, which will eventually replace the E-GMP architecture used for the Kia EV6, EV9, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Genesis GV60.

eM will be a dedicated EV platform, one of two to be built under Hyundai Motor’s new Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA).

Kia will share this new platform with new Hyundai and Genesis models, with the Genesis GV90 upper-large electric SUV due in 2025 rumoured to be the first vehicle to use it.

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2020 Kia Stinger GT

Massive 113.2kWh battery likely to provide 700km-plus range

Hyundai Motor claims IMA will increase EV driving range by 50 per cent compared to current models.

To this end, EV8 will reportedly feature a 113.2kWh battery, which will be the largest yet used by Kia (EV9 is 99.8kWh). This will provide a range of 700 to 800 kilometres, according to the document.

The battery will allow the top-spec EV8 to have plenty of power, in addition to a high driving range. The flagship model is set to offer a 450kW total system output, which will be provided by a 200kW front engine and a 250kW rear engine (EV6 GT currently has 430kW).

An entry-level model with a single rear 160kW electric motor and an AWD model with another 160kW motor in the front (for 320kW in total) will round out the range.

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EV8 (codenamed GT1) specifications contained in Kia’s Union New Car Production Schedule (Source: thekoreancarblog.com [↗])

High performance electric Stinger replacement unlikely to come to Australia

The Kia Stinger sedan – which offered a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol or 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 – built a devoted following in Australia, launching into a marketplace that home-grown rear-drive performance cars were deserting.

Sadly, an unnamed source told Carsales [↗] that the EV8 will be left-hand drive only, preventing it from being offered in Australia.