Kia Prepares EV5 Refresh, Promises Cosmetic and Technological Improvements

Kia plans to introduce an update to the EV5 model and is expected to arrive before the end of 2026, with a market launch likely to follow in 2027 for most regions outside of China.

Quoting from the Carscoops website, Wednesday, December 31, the certainty was revealed by GM Product Planning Kia Australia, Roland Rivero. He said that the update will be accompanied by a series of improvements in the middle of the product cycle.

"So yes, there will be some cosmetic changes, and there will be some technological improvements," he told Drive.

Rivero did not elaborate on what changes might be made. However, it's not hard to imagine where updates could be focused to make the EV5 more competitive and attractive.

One aspect that may need to be improved is charging. Unlike Hyundai's flagship electric car, the EV5 does not use the advanced 800-volt E-GMP platform.

Instead, it uses the more affordable N3 eK 400-volt system. This limits the maximum DC fast charging speed to 140 kW, which means charging from 10 to 80 percent takes 38 minutes. That's one step behind direct competitors like the Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7, and much slower than Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and Kia's own EV6.

It is not yet clear whether there will be any significant changes to the SUV's cabin. Last month, Kia introduced an interesting EV5 Weekender concept, which was equipped with a number of improvements for off-road terrain. Although the exterior was updated, more significant changes were made to the cabin.

For example, this concept eliminates the dual display for the driver and infotainment system in current models, and replaces it with a single panel that includes the infotainment screen and the passenger screen. In front of the steering wheel there is a thin instrument panel.

Kia also equips this concept car with a distinctive new steering wheel and eliminates the unconventional center console found on the production version. The Weekender could even hint at a new variant for the updated product lineup, potentially adding a more robust model to the lineup.