- Kia is celebrating its eightieth anniversary
- The automaker commissioned an electrical conversion of its Delight hatchback
- A pair of 10-kwh batteries present as much as 120 miles of vary within the restomod
Kia turns 80 this 12 months, and to have a good time the automaker’s U.Okay. division commissioned an electrical restomod of a humble Delight hatchback.
The EV conversion was accomplished by Electrogenic, a U.Okay. agency that focuses on becoming basic automobiles just like the Citroën DS with electrical powertrains. The Kia Delight would not have the stature of the DS, nevertheless it was a vital automobile for Kia.
Whereas the corporate was based in 1944 as a bicycle components producer named Kyungsung Precision Business (the identify was modified to Kia Industries in 1952), and constructed its first automobile (the Kia Brisa) in 1974, the Delight was what gave Kia a world presence. Primarily based on a Mazda design, it was offered within the U.S. because the Ford Festiva from mannequin years 1988 to 1993, and reached the U.Okay. with Kia badging in 1991.
1996 Kia Delight EV conversion
The donor automobile was a 1996 Kia Delight 1.3 LX five-door hatchback from Kia’s U.Okay. heritage fleet. The outside is authentic—right down to the tiny 12-inch wheels—and no everlasting alterations had been made to the construction, in line with Electrogenic, permitting the conversion to be reversed if desired.
Nevertheless, changing the 1.3-liter inline-4 with an electrical motor nets a considerable improve in energy. The gasoline engine made 60 hp and 87 lb-ft of torque, however the Delight EV now boasts 80 hp and 130 lb-ft in its default Auto drive mode and 107 hp and 173 lb-ft in Sport mode, slicing the 0-62 mph time from the unique 19.8 seconds to a extra affordable time of roughly 8.0 seconds. An Eco mode, matching the output of the gasoline engine, can also be accessible.
Energy remains to be despatched to the entrance wheels via the unique 5-speed handbook transmission, which was rebuilt with a efficiency clutch to deal with the additional torque from the electrical motor. Eco and Sport modes restrict regenerative braking so drivers could make higher use of the handbook, in line with Kia, whereas Auto mode options extra regeneration and a driving really feel extra like that of a standard EV.
1996 Kia Delight EV conversion
A pair of 10-kwh battery packs—one underneath the hood and one beneath a barely raised cargo-area ground—present as much as 120 miles of vary. That is when being pushed “sensibly” in Eco mode, Kia notes. A 3.3-kw charger, with its port hidden underneath the inventory gas filler flap, can full a full recharge in round six hours.
Even with the pair of battery packs, the Delight EV weighs simply 1,918 kilos, in comparison with 1,873 kilos for the inventory model. It is one other indication that, whereas retaining weight in test with EV conversions is troublesome, it is not not possible. U.Okay.-based Bedeo has additionally claimed its Land Rover EV conversions do not pack on kilos.
Kia is not the one automaker to resurrect a automobile from its adolescence as an EV restomod. Guardian Hyundai has accomplished the identical with a Pony hatchback—its first in-house design—and its Eighties Grandeur flagship sedan. In 2023 a gaggle of apprentices at Audi’s Neckarsulm, Germany, plant turned a classic NSU Prinz 4 from one of many automaker’s predecessor manufacturers into an EV to mark 150 years of producing on the website.
