Kia Seltos Electric under development

- Expected to be unveiled in mid 2020

- May get the same electric powertrain from the Kia Soul EV

- Mass production likely to commence from August 2020

Kia Motors launched the Seltos in India in August, and besides the domestic market, the mid-size SUV is also on sale in countries like South Korea and Australia. The company has now commenced work on the Kia Seltos Electric, which is likely to be unveiled in the months to come.

According to reports, the Seltos Electric is internally codenamed SP2 EV. It will share its body panels and interiors with the standard model, but is expected to get subtle styling tweaks, which are likely to be in-line with the design changes on the EV versions of the Kia Soul and Niro SUVs.

Although it's too early to speculate about its tech specs, it is safe to expect the Kia Seltos Electric to come powered by the same electric powertrain as the Kia Soul EV and the Hyundai Kona Electric. So, expect it to get a 204bhp/395Nm electric motor with a 64kWh battery pack. The Seltos Electric is likely to offer a range in excess of 400km on a single charge. Now, you may complain that the range is lower than the Soul EV and the Kona Electric, but you have to take into consideration that the Seltos is longer, wider and heavier than both the cars.

The Seltos Electric is expected to enter into production in August 2020. It will initially be manufactured at the company's facility in Gwangju, South Korea and go on sale in Korea and later make its way to China. There is no official word on the EV's India debut, but if Kia decides to launch it here, we can expect it to be launched sometime in late 2021. Like the India-spec Hyundai Kona, the Seltos Electric may get a smaller 39.2kWh battery pack that will be paired to a 134bhp/395Nm electric motor.

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