Since EV prices have mostly gone down in the past, it may not be a surprise that there is some price drama surrounding the Kia EV6. But Kia is going in a different direction than most of its rivals. Most of its competitors are lowering the prices of all of their EVs. We discussed Kia’s pricing plan a few months ago, which put the Niro EV up against the regular EV6. A few days later, we saw that the price of the EV6 was going up. The most current news is that the EV6 Light, a cheaper model with a shorter range taken off the market in 2022, will be returned. Even though the Light’s price is lower than most EVs, it has a few restrictions, the most important of which is who can buy one. The EV6 Light was the base form of the EV6 before Kia got rid of it to make its top-of-the-line EV more expensive than the Niro EV. Before the EV6 Light was taken off the market, it cost just $1,950 more than the Niro EV Wind. The Niro EV Wind could only charge at an 85-kW pace, while the EV6 Light could charge at a 350-kW rate with DC fast charging thanks to its 800-volt battery design. The smaller Kia EV had a more extended range than the bigger one. Even if the price increased by $2,000, some buyers would have liked to choose less time at the charger and a more extended range. When we discovered that Kia would stop making the Light in November 2022, Kia prices started to make sense again. The EV6 Light is back on the market today with a lower price and a range of about 232 miles. You’ll only be able to get an EV6 light if you live in the “Western Region,” which means you’ll have to be on the West Coast. A Kia spokesperson said that the company is making this change because the market is changing and because of rivals like the Volkswagen ID4, which “offers shorter range models in relatively small volumes.” Kia says that people in states where the extra range isn’t needed will value the worth of a less expensive model. Kia also wouldn’t say the MSRP for the 2023 Kia EV6 Light, but CarsDirect.com got a window sticker by calling a dealer in Ontario, California. The new Light version costs $44,100. Because it meets the California Clean Vehicle Rebate requirements, it can get a $2,000 discount. This brings us back to the Kia showroom battle, where a possible customer has to decide which one is more important to them. The Niro EV has more range for less money, but the EV6 costs $3,355 more and charges faster. Soon, people who sell Kias in the Western Region will know.
