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The heroically boring Kia Pride has been given an EV makeover

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The heroically boring Kia Pride has been given an EV makeover | Top Gear

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Kia’s UK team celebrates the company’s 80th birthday with a manual hot hatch Pride. We love it

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The heroically boring Kia Pride has been given an EV makeover

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Kia’s UK team celebrates the company’s 80th birthday with a manual hot hatch Pride. We love it

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Kia’s UK team celebrates the company’s 80th birthday with a manual hot hatch Pride. We love it

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The heroically boring Kia Pride has been given an EV makeover

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The heroically boring Kia Pride has been given an EV makeover

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The heroically boring Kia Pride has been given an EV makeover

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Kia’s UK team celebrates the company’s 80th birthday with a manual hot hatch Pride. We love it

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Last week, TG exclusively revealed that Christian von Koenigsegg is not a fan of restomods. Fair enough, Christian continues to push the modern hypercar game on more than any other individual in the motoring industry. And yet, perhaps we should show our Swedish friend this.

Because this is an electrified Kia Pride restomod, and it could be the car that cures Christian of his restomod reluctance.

Built by Kia UK and Oxfordshire-based restomodders Electrogenic, the Pride EV celebrates Kia’s 80th anniversary (the company started life in 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry making bicycle components) and it has apparently been designed to be “as engaging to drive as an early hot hatch”. We can hear Christian getting excited already.

The starting point for this build was a ‘Kingfisher Blue’ five-door 1996 Pride 1.3 LX from Kia UK’s heritage fleet. We’re told the four-pot engine made 60bhp and a heady 87lb ft of torque when new almost 30 years ago, but that has now been replaced with an electric motor that makes up to 107bhp and 173lb ft of torque. Steady on there.

We say ‘up to’ because the Pride EV actually has three different drive modes. In Eco its outputs are capped to match the original 60bhp and 87lb ft of torque. Paired with a sensible right foot, that should allow for a range of around 120 miles from the twin 10kWh battery packs (one under the bonnet and one under the boot floor for better weight distribution).

The second mode is Auto which ups power to 80bhp and torque to 130lb ft, while also adding in slightly more pronounced regenerative braking. The fun really starts in Sport though. Yep, it’s a Kia Pride with a sport mode. This unlocks the full potential of the electric motor and Kia UK says it’ll do 0-62mph in around eight seconds. It also suggests that Sport mode is “ideal for overtaking in the right conditions, or lunching the car’s front tyres in the wrong ones”. CvK would approve.

The conversion from petrol to electric has only seen the Pride gain 20kg too, so with an 870kg kerb weight it gets 123bhp per tonne. Oh, and we almost forgot the best bit – it has retained its original five-speed manual gearbox and been treated to a ‘performance-oriented’ clutch kit. This thing should be genuinely fun to drive.

Inside you get original analogue dials too, plus period-correct grey cloth. Those lime green accents are new though and apparently mimic the same trim on the 577bhp Kia EV6 GT. On the outside, there’s new ‘White Pearl’ paint and upgraded front and rear lights. Still got the classic 12in steel wheels and wheel covers, though. Perfect.

The charge port is hidden under the original fuel filler cover and is a Type 2 connector linked to a 3.3kW onboard charger. That means a 1-100 per cent top up in around six hours from a standard plug socket or a wallbox.

Come on Mr Koenigsegg – we know this thing can win you round.

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Last week, TG exclusively revealed that Christian von Koenigsegg is not a fan of restomods. Fair enough, Christian continues to push the modern hypercar game on more than any other individual in the motoring industry. And yet, perhaps we should show our Swedish friend this.

Because this is an electrified Kia Pride restomod, and it could be the car that cures Christian of his restomod reluctance.

Built by Kia UK and Oxfordshire-based restomodders Electrogenic, the Pride EV celebrates Kia’s 80th anniversary (the company started life in 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry making bicycle components) and it has apparently been designed to be “as engaging to drive as an early hot hatch”. We can hear Christian getting excited already.

The starting point for this build was a ‘Kingfisher Blue’ five-door 1996 Pride 1.3 LX from Kia UK’s heritage fleet. We’re told the four-pot engine made 60bhp and a heady 87lb ft of torque when new almost 30 years ago, but that has now been replaced with an electric motor that makes up to 107bhp and 173lb ft of torque. Steady on there.

We say ‘up to’ because the Pride EV actually has three different drive modes. In Eco its outputs are capped to match the original 60bhp and 87lb ft of torque. Paired with a sensible right foot, that should allow for a range of around 120 miles from the twin 10kWh battery packs (one under the bonnet and one under the boot floor for better weight distribution).

The second mode is Auto which ups power to 80bhp and torque to 130lb ft, while also adding in slightly more pronounced regenerative braking. The fun really starts in Sport though. Yep, it’s a Kia Pride with a sport mode. This unlocks the full potential of the electric motor and Kia UK says it’ll do 0-62mph in around eight seconds. It also suggests that Sport mode is “ideal for overtaking in the right conditions, or lunching the car’s front tyres in the wrong ones”. CvK would approve.

The conversion from petrol to electric has only seen the Pride gain 20kg too, so with an 870kg kerb weight it gets 123bhp per tonne. Oh, and we almost forgot the best bit – it has retained its original five-speed manual gearbox and been treated to a ‘performance-oriented’ clutch kit. This thing should be genuinely fun to drive.

Inside you get original analogue dials too, plus period-correct grey cloth. Those lime green accents are new though and apparently mimic the same trim on the 577bhp Kia EV6 GT. On the outside, there’s new ‘White Pearl’ paint and upgraded front and rear lights. Still got the classic 12in steel wheels and wheel covers, though. Perfect.

The charge port is hidden under the original fuel filler cover and is a Type 2 connector linked to a 3.3kW onboard charger. That means a 1-100 per cent top up in around six hours from a standard plug socket or a wallbox.

Come on Mr Koenigsegg – we know this thing can win you round.

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Kia’s UK team celebrates the company’s 80th birthday with a manual hot hatch Pride. We love it