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Transportation

Kia Plans To Build EVs In the US To Comply With New Federal Tax Credit (theverge.com) 62

Posted by BeauHD from the made-in-the-USA dept.
Kia is planning to manufacture its electric vehicles in the US, according to South Korean media sources Maeil Business and SBS (via The EV Officials). The Verge reports: The automaker currently builds its flagship electric car and North American sales hit, the Kia EV6, in South Korea at its Hwasung plant. But now, Kia will shift some of its EV assembly to the US by 2024, according to the report. Manufacturing EVs in the US would allow Kia to qualify for new incentives that were included in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which requires automakers to build EVs in North America to qualify.

Kia and its parent company, Hyundai, had threatened legal action against the US over what they see as a "discriminatory" policy. Other provisions will exclude automakers from incentives if they use Chinese-sourced minerals and battery components, which could effectively cut off almost every domestic EV manufacturer once the law goes into effect. Hyundai and Kia combined currently hold the second-highest market share for electric vehicles in the US, a position that could be at risk if customers can't take advantage of the new federal incentives (and man, are EVs getting expensive).
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Kia Plans To Build EVs In the US To Comply With New Federal Tax Credit More

Kia Plans To Build EVs In the US To Comply With New Federal Tax Credit

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  • EV user here (Score:3)

    by TheMiddleRoad ( 1153113 ) on Monday September 26, 2022 @01:01AM (#62913823)

    Had a Fiat 500e, Spark EV, Jaguar I-Pace, and Model Y. i4 on order. EVs are just plain better 99% of the time. Rent a gasser for your long trip. Otherwise, go EV. 150 miles range is fine.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      In Europe you can do your road trips in an EV without issue now. People regularly do a north to south run down to Italy, or up to the arctic circle. You hear complaints about the cars charging *too fast* now, not giving people enough time to take a comfort break.

      • My brother drove his new electric car across France a few months ago. The trip took 16 hours instead of 8. Refilling cost was higher than with gasoline because the few charging stations he could find along the road were more expensive per mile than with gasoline. And this is with a country that has supposedly good electrical infrastructure, and high petrol taxes.

        EV is only good for local trips and if you have solar panel to lower your cost of electricity.

        My expectation is that the cost of electricity will k

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by edwdig ( 47888 )

          My brother drove his new electric car across France a few months ago. The trip took 16 hours instead of 8. Refilling cost was higher than with gasoline because the few charging stations he could find along the road were more expensive per mile than with gasoline. And this is with a country that has supposedly good electrical infrastructure, and high petrol taxes.

          That's a *right now* problem that goes away once we commit to transitioning and build out infrastructure.

          EV is only good for local trips and if you have solar panel to lower your cost of electricity.

          Solar panels are a nice plus, but even without them, just charging an EV at home makes it way cheaper to fuel than a gas powered car. And the EV gets cheaper when you realize there's very little ongoing maintenance on the car. Almost everything that needs regular in a gas powered car doesn't exist in an EV.

          My expectation is that the cost of electricity will keep on going up to cover the increased demand, road tolls and car registration taxes will go up to cover the losses in petrol taxes, and the free remaining folks will struggle to find a gas station at all. The mandatory push for EV could be good for the planet long term but the technology still need to improve so that you don't need to fork an extra $24k after 8y to replace the battery pack, and the charging infrastructure need to improve so that you can conveniently do a longer trip like it is possible with a traditional car.

          Obviously infrastructure needs to improve, and that'll probably happen sometime soon once we hit a

        • The trip took 16 hours instead of 8.

          I'm guessing there were zero fast chargers along the way? I've done a couple of trips that usually take about six hours, and the most it's taken me was a little over seven hours (had a few charger hiccups on one trip that slowed me down). And that's with a standard range Mach E (around 230 mi range).

          Refilling cost was higher than with gasoline because the few charging stations he could find along the road were more expensive per mile than with gasoline.

          So? Most EV driving is done near home, where you will save tons on day-to-day driving. I can't figure out why I hear so many complaints around fast charging prices. It's a tiny fraction of my electricity co

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          In a Leaf perhaps? Or a very low range EV?

          Because a couple of weeks ago UK to Italy and back again was no problem in an Ioniq 5. Plenty of chargers, priced cheaper than petrol.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by sodul ( 833177 )

            It was back in December 2021, one of Hyundai's EVs. Not sure which one as I'm less familiar with the European models. The trip was roughly Calais to Marseilles so not that far off compared to your trip. The charging stations are far in between, especially in the smaller cities where my family members are located.

            I live near San Jose, CA, and we have charging stations all over the place. Even local campgrounds are starting to be equipped, although I have not checked the National Parks recently.

            Personally I

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Had a Fiat 500e, Spark EV, Jaguar I-Pace, and Model Y. i4 on order. EVs are just plain better 99% of the time. Rent a gasser for your long trip. Otherwise, go EV. 150 miles range is fine.

      People do road trips in EVs just fine. It takes a little planning, but the 8-Bit Guy even did a Dallas to Chicago road trip in a Bolt - notable because a Bolt has only 150 miles of range, and barely qualifies for "DC fast charging".

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      General consensus is that EVs do road trips just fine - the

      • So you stop to charge, get out, stretch your legs, get something to eat, etc. An hour later, your EV is ready to go

        How does such a rest stop work when, for example, there's an outbreak of some disease and the health department has ordered all restaurants in the county you're refueling in to close? This was the case from March 2020 through June 2020 in my home state, and many chains didn't reopen their dining rooms for months after that. And if COVID case rate can't be brought down near typical flu rate, I see it happening again at times.

        • sit in your car while it charges? are you really that stupid?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          How does such a rest stop work when, for example, there's an outbreak of some disease and the health department has ordered all restaurants in the county you're refueling in to close? This was the case from March 2020 through June 2020 in my home state, and many chains didn't reopen their dining rooms for months after that. And if COVID case rate can't be brought down near typical flu rate, I see it happening again at times.

          So if I understand your question, you're saying you're wanting to go on a road trip

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Hodr ( 219920 )

      EVs are great, but it's still prudent for many (most?) to have a GTFO gas powered vehicle. Right now there are a good number of people in Florida being told they may need to evacuate a hurricane path, and also to expect charge stations to be overwhelmed and/or unavailable.

      I have been waiting and waiting for the right vehicle, actually had an F150 lightning pre-ordered but didn't buy because the dealer was trying to add an insaine markup, but even after I do buy I will still have a cheap functional gas powe

      • Right now there are a good number of people in Florida being told they may need to evacuate a hurricane path, and also to expect charge stations to be overwhelmed and/or unavailable.

        Yep, good thing there are never lines for gas stations during an evacuation, or people running out of gas because they have to idle in evacuation traffic. ICE vehicles haven't proven infallible to evacuations. When I had to evacuate for a wildfire, there was a line of 50 cars lined up at a gas station I passed in the middle of the night. Luckily the fire didn't reach that area while everybody was trying to fill their tanks...

  • I bet that the cars they make in the USA will be of poorer workmanship quality than those made in S. Korea. Koreans still have their dignity & take pride in their work while the USA's the origin of the term, "minimum viable product." When I want something that's decent quality in N. America, I tend to look for European imports & some Japanese, S. Korean, & Chinese brands. It seems the USA's forgotten how to make things well & are more interested in volume than quality.

    • I bet that the cars they make in the USA will be of poorer workmanship quality than those made in S. Korea.

      You're talking about a company where practically every gasoline vehicle they've made in the last decade has been recalled for an engine fire hazard. Any time you want to start making sense, please do.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by chill ( 34294 )

        You just don't see that level of consistency in American cars anymore. :-)

        Besides, damn near every story, video, and picture I can find on Kia's Hwasung plant focuses on robots as far as the eye can see. I'm fairly certain their robots aren't necessarily more proud of their work than US robots.

        • You just don't see that level of consistency in American cars anymore.

          Well, there is the Volt, I'm sure GM is working hard to expand that experience to more of their customers.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by EvilSS ( 557649 )
        Yea but the upside is you don't have to pay for them. You only need to carry around a USB cable and just find one parked somewhere and take it. It's kind of like an involuntary car lending program.
      • ...and a company that settled a lawsuit because their engines were constantly failing so badly to the point where replacing the whole engine was the only solution to the problem.
    • Pretty much all vehicles are manufactured across multiple countries. The final assembly point is only one part of the equation - you have also consider where the individual components were manufactured. While there are some differences by car brand, the country of the final assembly doesn't seem to be the biggest factor in quality or reliability.
    • My Kia Optima that burns a quart of oil every 1,000 miles disagrees with your statement. Oh, and when I took it to Kia (still under warranty) they said that amount of oil loss was within their 'quality limits'... and they wouldn't do anything else.

  • They should make the Ray EV in the US. Then they'd actually be making an EV that wasn't a ridiculous-looking space-wasting fake muscle-car. They're lineup screams "We know Americans are idiots, so we make cars with that in mind -- Everything should ape the PT Cruiser."

    I'd also like to see the Bongo EV made here. They could replace every two-stroke forestry/park service vehicle and a lot of urban utility trucks.
    https://youtu.be/tE6mMSwtLQc?t... [youtu.be]

    Here's the Ray EV being used as a simple camper: https://youtu [youtu.be]

    • The problem is that Americans, by and large, ARE idiots who WANT ridiculous-looking space-wasting fake muscle-cars. The majority of the US population moved from rural to urban areas before even my parents were born [statista.com] and yet the best-selling vehicle here has been the ford F-series pickup truck for as long as I can remember. As recently as 2021 at least, the #2 and #3 slots were other pickup trucks. And similarly ridiculously large, hulking, wasteful SUVs, and even more pickup trucks, dominate the rest of t

      • All completely correct. But there's nothing at all which fits the consumer who isn't self-deluding in the way you describe. Surely if a car only appealed to 10% of the market, but was 1 car in a market of 20, it would do twice as well as any other?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ranton ( 36917 )

        We will never change the mindset to buy larger vehicles until the cost of gasoline rises significantly, and for an extended period. The average federal gas tax in Europe is about $2.50 per gallon, while the US has a $0.18 federal gas tax. If gasoline had been $2-3 more expensive per gallon for the past couple decades, we would see far more fuel efficient cars. Less urban sprawl too. Make a tank full of gas for those F150s $150 instead of $80, and that Civic or Camry Hybrid starts to look far more appealing.

  • ". . . and its parent company, Hyundai" (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Hasaf ( 3744357 ) on Monday September 26, 2022 @09:45AM (#62914621)
    Myself, I found this the most interesting part. I was not aware that Kia and Hundi are the same company. In the US they are positioned as competing Korean car companies.

  • Cars built in the USA do not have a great reputation for the 94.5% of humanity from outside there. I believe that the USSR had similar build quality problems. Is there a connection?

  • More market distortion to trick you into believing EVs are remotely price competitive with ICEs.

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