Kia’s $19,000 Syros EV Is Exactly the Car America Keeps Missing Out On
Kia revealed the production Syros EV in India this week, and it’s the cheapest electric car the brand sells there. Pre-orders opened Wednesday at around 1.85 million rupees, or about $19,200. That price buys a lot more than you’d expect.
The Syros rides on the same platform as its gas twin and offers two batteries, a 42 kWh and a 51.4 kWh pack shared with the Hyundai Creta Electric. The larger version is rated at up to 326 miles on India’s ARAI cycle and charges from 10 to 80 percent in 39 minutes, best in its class. Power is modest at 168 hp, but the cabin isn’t: a 30-inch panoramic display, Harman Kardon audio, wireless CarPlay, and a phone-based Digital Key all come standard.
The catch is familiar. Kia builds the Syros in India, for India, so the US and Europe never see it. It’s a sibling to the EV2 sold in the UK for about $32,500. America gets neither, though the popular EV3 does arrive here later this year, expected under $35,000 with up to 320 miles of range to take on the new Chevy Bolt and Nissan LEAF.
So no, the Syros isn’t coming. But the fact that Kia can build a sharp, long-range electric SUV for the price of a loaded Corolla says everything about where this is heading. The affordable EV wave is real. It just keeps breaking on someone else’s shore first.