Kia Restomods Manual EV to Commemorate 80th Anniversary

Kia Motors turns 80 this year, and the British division celebrated by unveiling an electric restomod based on the 1996 Kia Pride subcompact hatchback.

The one-off restomod was first unveiled on October 6 at the annual Bicester Heritage Scramble Classic Car Gathering in Bicester, UK, and recently converted a 1929 Rolls-Royce into an EV for actor Jason Momoa, British EV conversion It was developed in partnership with the company Electrogenic.

Uniquely, the restomod retains the donor car's five-speed manual transmission and combines one electric motor in place of the original 1.3-liter inline four-cylinder. The electric motor drives the front wheels in the same way as the gasoline-powered car and draws energy from two 10 kwh battery packs located under the hood and trunk floor.

The electric motor delivers 107 hp of power and 173 lb-ft of torque, about 60% more power and nearly twice as much torque as the original gas engine. To help the manual transmission handle this power and torque, a performance clutch was installed. A drive-by-wire gas pedal was also installed in place of the original mechanical linkage connected to the gas engine's throttle. [According to Kia, the weight only increased by 44 pounds, bringing the electric pride's weight total to 1,918 pounds.

Kia says performance details such as acceleration figures and range will be released at a later date.

Kia has worked hard to retain the car's original look, although some subtle modern details have been added. The headlight internals are new and were added to improve nighttime visibility. The paint finish is also new and matches the white pearl finish offered on Kia's current EVs. Lime green accents have also been added to the seat piping and floor mat stitching in relation to the green accents found on Kia's high-performance EV6 GT.

As with all EV conversions done by Electrogenic, the original structure of the Pride is fully preserved and all modifications can be undone.