Kia Is Bringing an EV Pickup to North America

After showing off its new Tasman pickup (pictured above), which is launching this year in Australia, South Korea and other markets with internal-combustion engines, Kia announced that it’s planning to build an electric pickup truck that is scheduled to hit North American markets.

This news comes from Kia’s recent Investor Day event, but significant questions remain: Is Kia talking about a battery-electric pickup for North America, or perhaps a plug-in hybrid? Also, Kia is targeting annual sales of about 90,000 of these North American pickup trucks, which would be an extremely ambitious goal for a battery-electric pickup.

Still, Kia says the truck will be based on a new EV platform, which could point to Kia targeting a bigger share of the battery-electric market.

Further muddying the waters, Autoweek confirms that Kia doesn’t plan to bring the Tasman over to the United States.

A Kia spokesperson told us, “A pickup truck for the US market has certainly been studied and would be an exciting addition to our already full-spectrum lineup. At this time, we do not have information beyond what was shared last week but can confirm the Tasman is not planned to come to the United States.”

So how different will this new truck be from the Tasman? Stay tuned.

Kia says the truck will sport a best-in-class interior and have off-road chops, according to the Investor Day notes. The pickup will be aimed at city slickers and adventure-minded outdoor enthusiasts.

Currently, the closest product Kia has to a truck in the United States is its sister-brand Hyundai’s Santa Cruz. Expanding its portfolio to include any pickup truck is probably a wise move, but it might take some time for truck buyers to warm up to any brand just entering a space.