There are not many manufacturers that can be proud of celebrate an 80th anniversary. However, Kia reaches that marked milestone of eight decades and wanted to celebrate it in style with a special action. They took a car close to becoming a classic and made a restomod (restoration with modifications) quite interesting for what it contributes. They have named it as Kia Pride EV Restomod and it is an electric version of the small utility vehicle from the 90s.
Although the Kia Pride is not very well known in our country, it was a predecessor to the current Kia Rio in the B segment. Specifically, They took a five-door unit from 1996 which belonged to the Kia fleet in the United Kingdom and they got to work turning it into something more up-to-date. For this they counted with the hand of Electrogenica specialist in converting combustion vehicles to electric vehicles. In fact, the first thing they did was remove that 1.3 engine that the original had and change it for a zero-emission one.
Originally, 1.1 and 1.3 liter engines were offered, with powers of up to 60 HP. However, the electric motor that has been added to the little Pride has 107 HP and 235 Nm of torque. That’s a 77.7% increase in power and a 99.2% increase in torque. Not to mention what it means to have maintained the gearbox five speed manualwhich features a redesign made by Electrogenic to adapt to the new power and mount an electronic control on the clutch.
In addition to being more powerful, the Kia Pride EV Restomod has two battery packs, one under the hood and another in the trunk floor. They combine to obtain a 20 kWh capacity and only accepts recharges of up to 3.3 kW of power. This allows it to be fully charged in about six hours on a conventional outlet. With this it achieves a electric autonomy of up to 193 kilometers in Eco mode, which limits power. It also has an Auto mode for everyday use and a Sport that brings out all its power and allows 0 to 100 km/h in 8 seconds.
Another peculiarity of the Kia Pride EV Restomod is that adapts regenerative braking to the selected driving mode and that the aesthetics are very similar to what it had. It retains its body panels and 12-inch steel wheels with hubcaps, only improving the front and rear lights. It has also been painted in White Pearla color available in the rest of the brand’s electric cars. Inside, the gray cloth upholstery is maintained, although it now sports lime green piping on the seats and floor mats. The box is the original analog, changing fuel for battery charge.
