In light of ever increasing oil prices Kia has shown some of its work on electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. The company's goal is to have a fuel cell vehicle on sale by 2015.
Twenty five years ago Kia developed an electric Sportage in 1999. More recently, in 2011, the Ray EV was built for the Korean government.
To overcome the range limitations of pure electric power Kia has also developed hybrid models. In Korea the Forte (similar in size to the cee'd hatchback) is available with a 15kW electric motor and a 1.6-litre engine that runs on LPG. For the American market the Optima has been available as a hybrid since 2011 with 2.4-litre petrol power and a 30kW electric motor.
Looking further ahead, Kia is working on fuel cell technology to generate electricity. Having developed a Sportage-based Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) in 2003 the company claims to have brought the technology to a production-ready stage. The Borrego FCEV is a large SUV used to trial the technology. On a full tank of hydrogen a range of over 640 kilometres is claimed, with an equivalent fuel economy figure of 54mpg (5.2 litres/100km). Most of the reliability and safety issues have been overcome but cost remains an obstacle. However, Kia claims this will come down with volume production.
Kia is one of seven major motor manufacturers who have agreed to start producing fuel cell vehicles by 2015. By the middle of the decade the production target is 10,000 units; increasing to 100,000 vehicles a year as quickly as possible. At that level it is claimed the cost becomes comparable with petrol and diesel cars.
Since 2011 Kia has been part of the Clean Energy Partnership to promote FCEVs in Germany. The company has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with four European countries to operate a fleet of fuel-cell vehicles in Europe as part of its development programme.