Kia starts selling the EV6, an all-electric SUV

Kia started sales of its all-electric EV6 SUV Monday, going head-to-head with Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 and Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y in Korea's fast growing electric vehicle (EV) market.

Kia's EV6 SUV launched in Korea on Aug. 2. [KIA]

Kia started sales of its all-electric EV6 SUV Monday, going head-to-head with Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq 5 and Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y in Korea’s fast growing electric vehicle (EV) market.

More than 30,000 orders had been made for the model since its premiere in March, according to the carmaker, and deliveries will start from next week after the factory’s summer vacation finishes at the end of the first week of August.

Kia’s EV6 is oftentimes compared to the Hyundai Motor Ioniq 5 because they are made on the same EV-dedicated E-GMP platform, but the EV6 has a longer range and is cheaper.

The long-range version of the model, which has a 77.4 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery, has been certified by the Ministry of Environment at 475 kilometers on a single charge. The long-range version of Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq 5, which has a 72.6 kWh battery, was rated at 405 kilometers by the ministry.

The standard version of the EV6 is equipped with a 58 kWh battery and is certified at 370 kilometers per charge.

Nearly 70 percent of the customers who placed orders on the Kia model picked the long-range version, according to the carmaker on Monday.

Another 24 percent of the customers picked the GT-Line which is a version added with extra design features that emphasizes dynamic driving.

Only four percent of those who made orders picked the standard version.

The long-range version of the EV6 has a sticker price of 51.2 million won, which drops below 45 million won after subsidies from the central and municipal governments. The sticker price of the long-range version of the Ioniq 5 starts from 52 million won.

The EV6 is expected to compete not only with the Ioniq 5 but imported models that got a head-start in Korea's EV market.

Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y dominated the country's passenger EV market in the first half, ranking No. 1 and No. 2 with 43 percent of the market.

Mercedes-Benz recently introduces the all-electric EQA SUV, which is priced under 60 million won.

Kia's sales goal for the EV6 is 14,000 units in the second half.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]