BONUS: The Spec Sheet - Kia EV2 Is The Little Box With Big Ambition
EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs
EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVsJan 16, 2026
BONUS: The Spec Sheet - Kia EV2 Is The Little Box With Big Ambition
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
22:24
Car
Keer EV2
The Keer EV2 is a small electric car that aims to make driving electric cars feel normal and easy for everyone. It's designed to be simple and practical for daily use.
The Kia EV3 is a small electric car that's meant to be easy to drive in the city and not too expensive to buy. It's a good choice for people who want to try an electric car without spending a lot of money.
Car
Kia EV2
The Kia EV2 is a new electric car from Kia, designed for city driving. It's built to be spacious for passengers and luggage, rather than just looking sleek.
The Kia Soul is a small car that looks a bit like a box. It's known for having a lot of space inside, which makes it great for carrying passengers and cargo.
The Renault 4 is an old car that many families used because it was practical and could carry a lot of stuff. It was made for a long time, from the 1960s to the 1990s.
The Renault 5 E-TEC is a new electric car based on an older model called the Renault 5, which was very popular a long time ago. This version runs on electricity instead of gas.
Car
Volkswagen ID Polo
The Volkswagen ID Polo is a new electric car that will be based on a small car called the Polo. It's part of Volkswagen's plan to make more electric cars.
Car
Skoda Epic
The Skoda Epic is a car made for families, focusing on being comfortable and useful for everyday needs. Skoda makes cars that are usually affordable and reliable.
Car
Citroën EC3
The Citroën EC3 is a new electric car designed for families. It's made to be practical and comfortable for everyday use, rather than being a sporty car.
It's a system in the car that helps you find directions and control other features, almost like a smartphone for your vehicle. It makes it easier to use things like maps and music while driving.
Digital Key 2.0 lets you use your smartphone to unlock and start your car instead of using a regular key. You can do this through special technology that communicates wirelessly with the car.
DC fast chargers are special stations that charge electric cars much faster than regular chargers. They are great for quickly recharging your car's battery when you're on a long trip.
State of charge tells you how much battery power is left in your electric car, shown as a percentage. It helps you know when you need to recharge your car.
EGMP is a special design used by Hyundai and Kia for their electric cars. It helps them make different types of electric vehicles that can perform well and be efficient.
A 400-volt system is the amount of electrical power used in some electric cars. It's a common choice that helps keep costs down while still providing good performance.
Car
Hyundai EV6
The Hyundai EV6 is a fully electric SUV made by Hyundai. It's designed to be fast and can charge quickly, making it convenient for long trips.
The Kia EV6 is a new electric car that looks really cool and doesn't use gas. It's designed to be efficient and has a long battery life, making it a great option for people who want to drive an eco-friendly vehicle.
800-volt components are parts of electric cars that use a higher voltage to charge the battery faster. This means you can fill up the battery more quickly compared to lower voltage systems.
WLTP is a way to test how far a car can go on a full charge or tank of gas. It helps buyers understand what to expect in real-world driving conditions.
AC charging is how electric cars get their power from charging stations or home chargers. It's the usual way to charge up your car when you're not on the road.
Euro NCAP is a program that tests how safe new cars are. They give scores based on how well cars protect passengers in crashes and other safety features.
The Chevrolet Bolt is a small electric car that is affordable and has a good driving range, making it a popular choice for people wanting to go electric without spending too much money.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a new electric van that looks like the old VW buses from the past. It's designed to be spacious and family-friendly while being good for the environment since it runs on electricity instead of gas.
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car that people really like because it's fun to drive and has a lot of space inside for passengers and cargo. It's been around for a long time and is known for being reliable and good for everyday use.
LIVE
The holidays are expensive.
You're paying for gifts, travel, decorations, food,
and before you know it, you've blown way past
what you were planning to spend.
Don't start the new year off with bad money vibes.
Download rocket money to stay on top of your finances.
The app pulls your income, expenses,
and upcoming charges into one place
so you can get the clearest picture of your money.
It shows how much to set aside for bills
and how much is safe to spend for the month
so you can spend with confidence.
No guesswork needed.
Get alerts before bills hit, track budgets,
and see every subscription you're paying for.
Rocket money also finds extra ways to save you money
by cancelling subscriptions you're not using
and negotiating lower bills for you.
On average, rocket money users can save up to $740 a year
when using all of the app's premium features.
Start the year off right by taking control of your finances.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
I didn't even realize I was wasting $415 a month
until I downloaded rocket money.
I thought I had my finances under control
until the app laid out all my spending
and categorized it for me.
Takeout, shopping, and unused subscriptions
were quietly draining my account.
And as a result, my savings took a backseat.
But rocket money doesn't just tell you
what you're wasting money on.
It takes action to save you money.
First, the app looks at your income
and monthly expenses and calculates how much
you can safely spend each day to stay on your budget.
Rocket money also finds and cancels
unwanted subscriptions for you
and even negotiates better rates on your bills
so you have more money in your pocket.
On average, rocket money members can save up to $740 a year
when using all the app's premium features.
Users love the app with over 186,000 five-star ratings.
It's time to simplify your finances
and take control of your money.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Fall is all about cozy comforts,
but when you're prioritizing your health,
it's easy to feel like you're missing out.
With hero bread, you can enjoy all your fall favorites
because they're made with hero bread sliced bread loaves,
tortillas, bagels, dinner rolls, and more.
Try their all new hero noodles
with 12 grams of protein and just 80 calories.
You won't believe hero bread's options
have zero to five grams net carbs
and are high fiber from the taste and texture.
They've even got small batch drops of indulgent favorites,
like the popular hero croissant.
And right now, hero bread is offering 10% off your order.
Go to hero.co and use code FALL25 at checkout.
That's FALL25 at H-E-R-O dot C-O.
All figures are per serving of hero bread,
contains two to 18 grams of fat per serving.
See the product nutrition panels on hero.co
for more information.
Welcome back to the podcast.
Welcome to a special bonus edition about the Keer EV2,
the little box aiming to make electric feel normal.
In the sprawling Las Vegas campus of CES last week,
electric cars were shown off as spaceships
and rolling tech showcases.
Meanwhile, in the rather more temperate climate
of Northern Europe at the Brussels Motor Show,
the star of the show came back down to earth.
No spaceships here, just a little box from Keer.
Launched at the 2026 Brussels Motor Show,
the EV2 is a small, upright, SUV-shaped design
squarely for Europe.
It's built in Slovakia, sized for tight streets
and priced to slip under the EV3
as Keer's new cheapest dedicated EV.
Welcome back to another bonus edition of the show
and our mini series that I call the spec sheet,
which runs the numbers on any new car launch,
at least big car launches,
and we spend a good 10, 15 minutes,
who am I kidding, it's normally longer,
on looking at one specific car.
Patreon supporters get the episodes up front,
if you're happy to wait and you don't wanna spend the money
on supporting my work, that's absolutely fine,
everyone's a bit skint these days,
and so just wait a week and it'll appear in the free feed
with the ads, sorry about that, but gotta pay the bills,
or you're welcome to check out my patreon.com
slash EVNewsDaily to support the move to electric vehicles.
Let's talk about the Keer EV2 today,
launched this week at the Brussels Motor Show.
It is built not for spectacle,
small electric crossovers have become
the new decisive battleground in Europe.
Positioned as Europe's entry point
into Keer's dedicated EV lineup,
the EV2 is 4.1 meters long and 1.8 meters wide,
the footprint of a Keer Soul,
but with the stance of a taller city crossover.
The design is deliberately square,
a flat roof, upright tail, vertical sides,
every millimeter is reclaimed for passengers and luggage,
rather than sacrificed for a slick silhouette,
but it hasn't got the looks that only a mother could love
that the Keer Soul had, a kind of love it or hate it thing.
This thing seems to have gone down very well
with most people.
The EV2's real rivals are the Renault 4
and the Renault 5, E-TEC,
Volkswagen's upcoming ID Polo,
Skoda's Epic and Citroën's EC3,
these are not enthusiast cars,
these are family transport.
For people who want lower running costs
without compromise, Keer aims the EV2,
they say, at three biotypes,
first time EV shoppers who want a normal small car,
urban families who want rear space and a usable boot,
and cost-conscious households that refuse to trade
practicality for price.
What about pricing?
Well, it'll start at mid-20,000,
so we think it'll start about 25,000 pounds before offers,
that's about low $30,000 equivalent,
not that this will come to the United States, of course.
In the European region, it'll start around 30,000 euros.
The EV2 is pitched at an attainable audience,
but not trying to undercut every Chinese newcomer brand.
The cabin delivers the core insight of the EV2.
How do you get C-segment space from a B-segment vehicle?
The wheels get pushed to the four corners
and the absence of any real engine bay frees up the length,
so rear leg room reaches a total,
when the seats are pushed back, I'll get onto that,
at 958 millimeters,
that is territory usually reserved for larger saloons.
The boot holds 362 liters in five-seat form,
it's 403 liters, even bigger,
when the rear chairs are slid forwards
in the four-seat configuration.
A 15-liter frunk, all right, it's small,
but it's big enough for charging cables.
It's the time when you want to pull into a charging space
in a car park and the cables are buried under the kid's
push chair, all the things that inevitably end up in boots,
like the blankets and the beach stuff and the umbrellas.
Trust me, I've been there and charging cables in a boot
is just a pain in the rear,
so don't put them in the rear.
A small frunk, maybe a stinky takeaway,
but not much more goes up there.
The seating layout is where the flexibility appears.
Buyers of the four-seat version get two individual rear chairs
that slide and recline independently,
and it may seem like you think I don't want the compromise
of not having a five-seater car.
Well, you make that decision how often you have
five people in the back, because when you have
three people in the back of a B-segment vehicle,
it's a squash anyway in terms of shoulder room,
plus those two seats that always get used
for kid's seats or something are then a compromise
because you have that middle bit.
Well, actually, this is a true four-seater.
Some of the reviews, I was watching the AutoGifu review
with Thomas, he's a big chap,
and he was sitting in the rear seats of the four-seater version.
He said, this is already comfortable.
This is like sitting in the back of a chauffeur-driven car.
I've got loads of room, the seats are very supportive.
They're a proper seat.
So that degree of flexibility is very rare in this class.
So look, you've got the option to buy whichever one you want,
but if you get the four-seater,
those rear seats do recline as well
and slide forwards and backwards.
The driving position sits high and SUV-like.
Now, all the reviews call this an SUV.
This is a small, boxy city car.
This is the opposite of what my brain has always been told,
a sport utility vehicle is.
But still, everyone calls it an SUV,
so I'll call it SUV-like in terms of the styling.
If you, you know, made it a bit bigger.
It eases the entry for parents wrestling with child seats.
That's the current hell that I'm living in,
at least with my three-year-old.
She'll be out of that soon.
But still, I know you're bending over with the kid
and it's raining and they're heavy
and you're wrestling them in,
and this car is designed for those kind of buyers.
The dashboard is simple and horizontal,
a 12.3-inch digital cluster
and a 12.3-inch infotainment screen.
Side by side and a separate five-inch climate display,
which some people have said,
oh, it's hidden a bit behind the steering wheel,
but it's that constant screen all the way across.
Physical knobs and buttons are back-handling core tasks,
like temperature and volume.
For drivers migrating from older petrol cars,
that matters more than some fancy gesture control system.
Materials lean on recycled and biobased content.
The result avoids any hard, shiny plastics
that blights and budget EVs
and feels more like a small living room
that'll be your second home on wheels.
What about software?
That's how you interact with the car after all.
Well, the EV2 is debuting a new version of CCNC Lite.
That's a cost-optimized version
of Kia's connected car navigation cockpit platform.
The hardware is more modest than in higher-end models
and some trims will even skip built-in navigation
in favor of plugging in your smartphone.
And that's not a weakness.
It's a pragmatism to get the cost of the car down.
When we live in an era of our smartphones
are updated regularly, never leave our owner's side.
They're updated more often than our cars
and the car can stay feeling modern
because your phone's up to date.
Over-the-air updates keep your devices current,
whereas Kia will also do over-the-air updates on the car.
The AI Assistant voice control,
they say will handle natural language commands,
has digital key 2.0 letting owners unlock and start the car
with your smartphone, NFC, or Bluetooth.
Plug and charge is included,
supporting automatic authentication
at compatible DC fast charges,
removing RFID cards from an EV driver's wallet.
An integrated EV root planner on those specs
that have it factors in state of charge
and your charging stops on longer trips.
Let's talk about the platform then.
The EV2 uses a tailored version of EGMP,
like some of them are value-oriented models.
It's the 400-volt version.
Now, the 800-volt siblings, EV6,
Hyundai Unix 5,
chasing the ultra-rapid charging time of 18, 20 minutes,
the EV2, like its value, EV3, et cetera, versions,
opts for the 400-volt simplicity and lower cost.
High-end 800-volt components are still not ubiquitous
and they cost a little more from the parts catalogs
or to make yourself as a car maker.
So, for modest battery packs, for school runs,
for commutes, for shopping trips,
and consistent and brisk charging,
this is more than enough.
Two batteries address the use cases,
standard range, 42.2, lithium-ion phosphate,
so charge that to 100% all day long, it will love it.
No cobalt, no nickel, better thermal stability
and fine for urban fleets.
WLTP range, 197 miles or 317 kilometers.
Long range variants have a 61 kilowatt hour,
NMC, nickel-manganese cobalt pack
in the same physical space, lifting WLTP
to 278 miles or 448 kilometers.
A slight bit of confusion on power,
which I couldn't resolve before recording time.
The EV2 uses a single front motor, that's all fine,
but multiple early write-ups and reviews
quoted different power figures,
so the final numbers are TBC.
The reviewers quoted 144 horsepower
on the small battery, 42.2 kilowatt hours,
and less power, 134 horsepower, not 144,
for the big battery.
If it's the same motor, I don't know why it would be different,
it can be, of course, and the 0-60 time
was a lot slower for the big battery.
Okay, so it's heavier, that's fine, I understand that.
I'll wait to get confirmation from Kia on that.
Kia says its charging strategy is tuned
to how you actually drive your cars.
I'll tell you about that plus safety
and why they're making the vehicle over here in Europe,
there's lots of reasons for that.
Stick around, back in a moment, we'll take a quick break.
Five years ago, I was paying $65 a month for my subscriptions.
Today, those same subscriptions cost $111,
and I don't even use half of them anymore.
That's why now I use rocket money
to manage my subscriptions for me.
The app gives you a list of all of your subscriptions
and reminds you of upcoming payments,
so you're not hit with any surprise charges.
On top of that, it also sends you alerts
when subscription prices go up,
so you always know the price you're paying.
If you decide you no longer want a subscription,
you can cancel it right from the app,
no customer service needed.
And the best part is, Rocket Money even reaches out
and tries to get you refunded
for some of the money you lost.
On average, people that cancel their subscriptions
with Rocket Money, save $378 a year.
And overall, Rocket Money has saved its members
$880 million in canceled subscriptions.
Stop wasting money on things you don't use.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Want to feel more confident with your finances this year?
If you have 60 seconds, I can show you how quick
and easy it is to start building healthy money habits
that could last you the entire year
just by using Rocket Money.
Step one, download Rocket Money.
Step two, link all your accounts
and see your entire spending picture.
Your subscriptions, your upcoming bills,
your due dates, everything.
Step three, tap a subscription you don't use and cancel it.
Boom, that's money back every single month.
Step four, create a financial goal
for something you want to save for,
whether it be a vacation, a retirement account,
or a pet's birthday, we don't judge.
Now let the app automatically move
small amounts of cash towards your goal.
In a month, you'll see real dollars piling up.
In a year, you'll be shocked at how much money you saved,
similar to the over 10 million members on the app
that have saved up to $740 a year
when using all of the app's premium features.
Use the savings challenge as one step closer
to feeling better about your finances today
at rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
One more time, it's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Welcome back to the podcast.
Welcome back to our bonus show,
all about the Kia EV2.
Let's talk about charging.
Kia says they've tuned this
for how Europeans drive their cars.
They've added 11 kilowatt DC fast charging
and an option of 22 kilowatts.
So if you come across a three phase AC post,
a 22 kilowatts, and that's your workplace charging,
the car parks you normally use have that.
That's all you need if you're not road tripping
and looking for 350 kilowatt DC fast chargers.
On the DC side, they say it'll charge half an hour.
So 29 minutes on one pack and 30 on the other, 10 to 80.
And that's fine, it matches its direct rivals.
AC charging is where the action happens.
Our vehicles are mostly not driven.
I talk about this all the time.
And whilst there's so much excitement
around DC fast charging, I get it.
I watch all the YouTube videos about the charge testing
and I love it and I wouldn't be without that.
We don't have big enough conversations about AC charging,
which is where all of our charging actually happens.
And this will come with 22 kilowatt AC charging
for European posts.
On an 11 kilowatts wall box, if you can have that at home,
I have a single face here at 240 volts,
then I'm on 7. something kilowatts.
But if you have an 11 kilowatts wall box,
you're filling that overnight in absolute no time.
On a 22 kilowatt public post or maybe a work,
a place post or you have 22s when you go to the cinema
or take the kid bowling once a week,
you are filling your battery in just over two hours.
So bi-directional capability comes as standard.
This blew me away.
Vehicle to load is great.
It lets owners power tools, laptops, camping gear,
even the fridge freezer when you have a power cut at home.
And that's all good.
Vehicle to grid is built in as well.
And they were a little vague about this
because there's not really a turnkey product
that they can advertise at launch.
But vehicle to grid is built in,
allowing power to flow bi-directionally where rules permit.
And that's the thing we haven't quite worked out
with your local utilities, home wiring, all that.
It's not just a case of flicking a switch yet,
but we're so close to this.
Seeing it arrive as standard on a 25 grand car
with little fanfare suggests energy companies
are working with car companies.
It's a whole new dancing that they have to do
to learn together.
And they're taking the idea more seriously now.
Owners who don't care, just plug it in
and let the car do its thing.
But what is a basic city EV?
Could actually be, and I'll put this out there,
feel free to disagree,
key is test bed for their new connected system.
Industry insiders suggest that this new software,
the CCNC Light System, is a layer of a platform
for things like subscription services,
not massively key, not like have subscription fatigue,
but I don't really want to pay another X many pounds
per month for the heated seats.
But energy integration, now you got me interested.
Vehicle to grid, hardware ready,
evolves into demand response partnerships
with utility companies and smart grids.
The EV2 would be key as entry point
into cars being nodes in the power network,
rather than, well, actually,
oh, actually, and what's important here
is some of its cheaper competition doesn't come with this,
and certainly the cheap Chinese cars coming in
are just selling you on, hey, look at our headline price.
They're not doing this kind of integration yet,
well, they can't, they're just competing on cost.
Bidirectional hardware in a 25 grand car is radical,
and it's way more radical than anyone actually talked about
when they initially launched this video.
Hyundai Motor Group itself is trialling V2G
in markets like the Netherlands with utilities,
time of use tariffs and scheduling
to let EVs exploit the difference
between cheap and expensive electricity.
On behalf of you, the owner,
I'm really excited about this,
no one really covered it enough, I'll keep my eye on it.
Now, let's talk about safety.
Formal Euro NCAP scores will follow,
but the EV2 safety package is good for its class.
It's got the buttons back because Euro NCAP
is gonna start looking at distracted driving
as well in terms of its scores.
Ford collision avoidance assist two
brings automatic emergency braking
with detection for pedestrians and cyclists.
HDA two, highway driving assist two,
combines adaptive cruise and lane centering
with lane changing, help, smart cruise control two,
adjust the speed in line with traffic
and in some markets even it will change it
to the posted limits.
Lane keep and lane follow, blind spot monitoring,
blind spot view camera on the screen.
These are all high-end features not so long ago.
Now, in their entry-level car,
remote parking assist on the key.
So you can move the car forwards and backwards
in a tight car parking spot in European cities
with just the key fob.
It's not a party trick.
It genuinely saves you your door mirrors
and your doors from getting dinged.
All this matches the tightening European rules
and will help EV2 get a solid rating.
We don't know what it's gonna be
but I would be surprised if it's not Euro NCAP five star.
No journalist has driven this yet by the way
so I can't talk about driving impressions,
verdicts on handling and refinement will come.
The ingredients suggest a car that is competent
and that's not a criticism by the way.
Instant electric torque, modest weight.
It'll pull cleanly all the way from the lights around town
and it'll hold a motorway speed with no strain at all.
Not a 62, 8.6 seconds.
That's not so long ago.
I was buying car mags in the 90s
and 8.6 seconds would have been a breathless hot hatch review.
Do you know what I mean?
And now 8.6 seconds, all right, box ticked.
A motor-driven power steering system tuned for the city
with lightweight steering hints at steady weighting
at higher speeds, we'll wait and see how it drives.
The battery in the floor and the short wheelbase,
well, we'll see how it balances low speed bump absorption.
The roads in Britain are typically bad
and we'll see how it controls European roads.
Okay, let's talk about, I mentioned it before,
why it's built over here.
Manufacturing in Slovakia gives key advantages
beyond sheer logistics.
European built EVs now sit under shifting tariff rules,
local content mandates, and incentive schemes
that increasingly favor regional production.
Building the EV2 inside the EU avoids anti-substitut tariffs
that hit some Chinese built rivals
and shortens transport chains at a time
when shipping routes are unreliable,
both matter for costs and carbon footprints,
which some governments now take into their subsidies.
For buyers, the detail may be invisible,
but for eligibility, it can spell the difference
between access to a grant and not.
Battery supply at launch comes from the Korean
and European partners, longer term.
It'll point towards LFP packs coming from Goshen high tech.
They're building a factory also in Slovakia.
LFP sells made on European soil from next year.
The decision to build the EV2 in Slovakia positions KIA
to benefit from the EU's incoming rules next year
for origin of EV and battery components.
That tightens the requirement
that up to 55% of an EV's value
must come from within the European Union or its partners.
Aligning with the planned Slovakian Goshen LFP gigafactory
gives KIA a clear path to compliance.
It protects it from future tariffs
that will probably challenge low cost imports.
This is not just an assembly choice.
I think this is evidence that KIA
is preparing their European manufacturing
with an eye on post 2030 decarbonization rules.
So where's the market at?
I say this all the time to my US listeners.
The cheapest cars in the US are 30 grand.
It's the new Bolt, the new Nissan Leaf.
Over here, the new battleground is 15 grand cars.
So small electric SUV shaped vehicles
are turning into Europe's battleground now.
So it means the EV2 enters a competitive market
but not a vacuum.
So it hasn't got to create the market for itself
but it has got to compete.
Renault 4 and Renault 5 e-tech.
Well, they trade on nostalgia and style
and they look really good.
Retro styling, brand loyalty to Renault.
They're great vehicles.
Volkswagen's ID Polo, unknown quantity.
It's going to be the new electric people's car
recording to Volkswagen.
Software stumbles have dent at its timetable.
The buttons are back inside.
We've seen interior shots.
Citroën's EC3, well, they trade more on value, on price.
They trade a bit of range and equipment
to get the sticker price down.
Scott is epic is, again, a bit more value conscious.
EV2 threads the needle.
A path straight down the middle of the mainstream.
Cheaper than the EV3,
which I think is the new Volkswagen Golf.
I love that vehicle.
But it's not stripped bare.
It offers an interior that copes with family duties,
different battery chemistries for different drivers,
very strong AC charging, vehicle to grid.
Most of its expensive rivals like that.
Its long range is competitive with its competitors.
Many buyers will care more, though,
about the dealer network.
Where's my local key idea?
What's the personal finance offer?
Obviously, more than nine out of 10 cars in this segment
are bought on monthly finance
and probably how the car fits into their life.
On paper, the EV2 is really coherent,
not the cheapest, not the flashiest.
Probably one of the most rounded.
According to the ACEA,
that's the Carmakers Association in Europe,
according to their data,
B and C segment EVs grew by more than 40% in 2025
compared to the previous year,
whereas the premium segment started to plateau.
This shift leaves the EV2 in the perfect place.
It's not a subsidy chaser.
It's a product that meets the needs of the mainstream.
Buyers who want reliability, local availability,
and just stability.
It's just a key.
And it looks just like a normal car,
not like a freaky EV.
Research from the mobility think tanks like PWC auto facts
or transport and environment,
they all point to a growing resistance
to really oversized SUVs in European cities
because of parking constraints
and emissions-based taxation.
Possibly taxation coming in many governments
looking at weight of vehicles
because they can inflict more damage on the roads.
And so those big, heavy vehicles
could end up costing you a lot more to run.
The EV2's efficient footprint is the perfect car
at the right time.
So what's the verdict then?
Well, I've not seen it in person,
but the EV2 is a small square,
front-wheel drive crossover with two battery options,
modern software in context,
predictable and consistent
is exactly what the segment wants from Kia.
Kia has not turned its lowest price car
into a bargain basement stripped-down toy car.
Instead, 400-volt architecture containing costs,
charging still good though.
It's carving out some adult-friendly space
inside a small footprint,
bundling in digital and charging technology
that will get those that are a bit more early adoptery
or lean forward in terms of the technology
actually quite excited about this car.
EV2's specs suggest Kia understands what it needs to do,
not led by novelty,
but by households who want their first EV
to be just normal.
If the EV2 drives as it reads on paper,
it could be the car that fills the ordinary streets,
plugs into ordinary wallbox
and persuades ordinary buyers
that electric motoring is just ordinary.
For a little box coming from Slovakia,
that would be no small achievement.
And that's your bonus podcast for today.
See you on the next one.
The holidays are expensive.
You're paying for gifts, travel, decorations, food,
and before you know it,
you've blown way past what you were planning to spend.
Don't start the new year off with bad money vibes.
Download RocketMoney to stay on top of your finances.
The app pulls your income, expenses,
and upcoming charges into one place
so you can get the clearest picture of your money.
It shows how much to set aside for bills
and how much is safe to spend for the month
so you can spend with confidence.
No guesswork needed.
Get alerts before bills hit, track budgets,
and see every subscription you're paying for.
RocketMoney also finds extra ways to save you money
by canceling subscriptions you're not using
and negotiating lower bills for you.
On average, RocketMoney users can save up to $740 a year
when using all the app's premium features.
Start the year off right
by taking control of your finances.
Go to rocketmoney.com slash cancel to get started.
That's rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
Rocketmoney.com slash cancel.
About this episode
The Kia EV2 is introduced as a practical and affordable electric vehicle aimed at European consumers. Launched at the Brussels Motor Show, this compact SUV features a square design optimized for urban environments, spacious interiors, and a competitive price point starting around €30,000. With two battery options and a focus on practicality, the EV2 is designed for families and first-time EV buyers. It includes advanced tech like vehicle-to-grid capabilities and a user-friendly dashboard, making it a strong contender in the growing electric vehicle market.
In the sprawling Las Vegas campus of CES last week, electric cars were shown off as spaceships and rolling tech showcases. Meanwhile in the temperate climate of Northern Europe, at the Brussels Motor Show, the star of the show came back down to earth with a little box from Kia.
Launched at the 2026 Brussels Motor Show, the EV2 is a small, upright SUV-shaped EV designed squarely for Europe. It is built in Slovakia, sized for tight streets, and priced to slip under the EV3 as Kia’s cheapest dedicated EV in the region.
Welcome back to another bonus edition of the show, and our mini-series called The Spec Sheet which runs the numbers on new car launches. Patreon supporters get the podcasts a week exclusively, but if you’re happy to wait, everything ends up in the free podcast feed with a few ads. You’re welcome to check out Patreon to support my work.
