A battery-electric version of the upcoming Kia Tasman ute is still in the carmaker’s plans, but it’s no closer to confirming when it’ll go on sale.
While much of the focus on the Tasman since its launch a month ago has been on potential hybrid drivetrains, Kia South Africa’s head of marketing, Christo Valentyn, this week told CarBuzz that a fully-electric version of the ute is happening.
“I’m probably not supposed to say this, but… an electric one is coming,” Mr Valentyn reportedly said at a media roundtable.
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Kia confirmed globally in 2022 that it was working on two utes: “a dedicated electric pickup truck and a strategic model for emerging markets”, the latter of which is understood to be a battery-electric Tasman derivative.
Speaking to Australian media at the local launch of the Tasman in November, Kia Australia product planning general manager Roland Rivero said “there’s no sacred cows” when asked whether there’s potential for mild-hybrid, hybrid, plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and all-electric versions of the new ute.
“We’ll look at over the course of its product life cycle, what we need to do to continue to maintain that sales plan of 20,000 [sales] or 10 per cent of the market.”
An electric Tasman would give Kia a rival to the upcoming LDV eTerron 9, while other brands like Ford have indicated globally that they’re working on electric utes of their own to compete in this segment.
There are also an increasing number of traditional hybrid (GWM Cannon Alpha and Toyota Tundra) and plug-in hybrid (BYD Shark 6, Ford Ranger PHEV and GWM Cannon Alpha Hi4-T) utes either already on sale here or coming to Australia.
The arrival of more hybrid and electric ute options comes amid the federal government’s looming 2025 New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which will penalise carmakers for exceeding fleet emissions targets.
While some carmakers are reducing the emissions of certain models by offering electrified alternatives, Mr Rivero said Kia won’t need to do so with the Tasman just yet.
“We actually have an opportunity because, perhaps unlike other brands, we’ve got other [EV] products doing the heavy lifting under the NVES to help build up some credits,” he said in November.
“Irrespective of our ICE offerings that are coming – K4 and Tasman – we do have EV5 and EV3 and they can do the initial heavy lifting.”
The Kia Tasman is due to be released in Australia exclusively with turbo-diesel power in the first half of 2025. CarExpert understands it will be followed by an all-electric version 12 months later, by mid-2026.
