Kia Introduces Two EV Concepts at 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

LOS ANGELES -- In addition to the updated 2024 Sorento, Kia has unveiled two concepts today at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show -- the EV3 and EV4.


The EV3 is a crossover with an interior inspired by the upcoming Kia EV9 SUV and the EV4 is a four-door that is sort of a cross between a sedan and a crossover.

These are both mostly styling exercises, though they also use environmentally-friendly materials that Kia would like to use in production models going forward. One example will make cows happy -- the company wants to use bio polyurethane as a substitute for animal-based leather. And you thought the cows in the Chik-Fil-A ads were working to dodge bullets.

The EV3 has mood lighting and an uncluttered interior design, and it also has tables in the cabin. Yes, tables -- and they can be setup in one of four configurations.

Meanwhile the EV4 is inspired by race cars and has design element such as a rear spoiler and vertical headlamps. Inside, materials include recycled cotton, and hand-woven fabric creates an effect that appears to be 3D. The coolest trick is a HVAC control panel that can disappear when not in use.

[Images: Kia]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Nov 17, 2023

    The EV9 is one of the three finalists for the NA Utility of the Year award (along with the Genesis GV80 and the Volvo EX30), but the EV9 has an underwhelming 230-mile range (EPA cycle).

  • Bd2 Bd2 on Nov 18, 2023

    The smaller EV3 looks better than the EV4.

  • El scotto Inside EVs? Like that's not biased not a bit. /s The US government just put a 100% tariff on Chines EV's. Do BYD's or other Chinese EVs even come close to meeting US crash regulations? My money would on an empty Amazon box instead. The car market has imploded. The big three were too greedy and thought everyone wanted top-spec trucks and suvs. Too bad not everyone could afford them. The EV market has imploded in magnitudes greater than the ice market. This is exactly the wrong time to enter the US EV market.In the end, the Chinese will help a lot of lawyers buy boats. The Chinese have no respect and do not recognize intellectual property. The Chinese copy of the Land Rover that was reported that manufacturers should be very afraid of? Naw, if the Chinese try to import that lawyers will be pushing wheelbarrows full of money.Then again, any country that is great at making athletic shoes in not, repeat not known for the quality of their vehicles.Or in five years we could all be ordering our new rides off Temu.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Oem’s should fire whoever made the decision to drop V8’s in favor of Turbo V4 and V6’s. Got it was for emissions but I’m sure they could make V8’s more emission compliant. My F150 Ecoboost gets the same mileage as my 2021 Tundra 5.7. In addition to renewing my faith in extended warranty’s as it was a maintenance nightmare.
  • ToolGuy Nice car. I would buy it but I wouldn't be able to put fuel in it, plus I am not a criminal.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Old news if it is even true. But from m my time as Firefighter/EMT fighting vehicle fires when it catches fire it is very toxic.
  • Akear Chinese cars simply do not have the quality of their Japanese and Korean counterparts. Remember, there are also tariffs on Chinese cars.
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