Kia debuted its 2026 EV4 sedan at the New York International Auto Show on Wednesday, its first global electric sedan and one designed for customers looking for an affordable EV.
Whether U.S. customers will gravitate toward a sedan is an open question — and one Kia isn’t necessarily betting on. The company launched sales of the EV4 in South Korea and plans to bring it to Europe by the end of the year. Sales in the United States are expected to begin in the last quarter of 2025 or first quarter of 2026, a Kia spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Kia’s primary pitch with the EV4 is affordability, and with a respectable range, interior features, and tech touches, it could finally give consumers another option. While Kia hasn’t yet shared U.S. pricing, some have estimated that it would start at around $35,000, adding another competitor to the Tesla Model 3. Eric Watson, VP of sales at Kia America, confirmed the ballpark price range to TechCrunch.
Image Credits:Rebecca Bellan” loading=”eager” height=”509″ width=”680″ class=”yf-g633g8 loader”/>Tom Kearns, Kia’s chief designer, said Wednesday that what “many EVs have in common is the pricing that leans more towards the higher end. But our ultimate goal is to make electrified attainable driving for everyone.”
That’s why the EV4 is “distinctive with a tech-forward design” and is affordable even with its “many advanced features,” many of which can be found in Kia’s higher end EV6 crossover utility vehicle and EV9 SUV.
For U.S. buyers, however, that attractive price point could be at risk. President Donald Trump’s proposed automotive tariffs threaten to add 25% to the cost of any imported vehicle — including the EV4, which Kia plans to build in South Korea and launch stateside in the first quarter of 2026. With the tariff landscape shifting by the day, it’s impossible to say what buyers will be facing a year from now.
Watson noted that Kia was open to exploring the idea of bringing production of the EV4 to the U.S. The automaker already has a facility in West Point, Georgia, where it builds its EV6 crossover utility vehicle and EV9 SUV for the U.S. market, with SK On as its battery manufacturing partner.
Despite Kia having American manufacturing and domestically produced batteries, Orth Hedrick, Kia America’s VP of product planning, said, “There are still a lot of components that are subject to tariffs. It’s not good for business. We’re hoping there will be some developments maybe over the summer.”
The Kia EV4 does have several things going for it that could make a buyer risk the tariffs, most notably its decent range. The standard 58.3 kWh battery, which comes with the “Light” trim, has a range of 235 miles, and the long-range 81.4 kWh battery, which comes with the “Wind” or “GT-Line” trims, can go up to 330 miles.
DJ Kamal Mustafa
I’m DJ Kamal Mustafa, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of EMEA Tribune, a digital news platform that focuses on critical stories from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. With a deep passion for investigative journalism, I’ve built a reputation for delivering exclusive, thought-provoking reports that highlight the region’s most pressing issues.
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