Kia EV5 Spied With Major Interior Redesign and Tougher Styling

The Kia EV5 is not an old car, especially if you live in Canada or Europe, where the mid-sized electric crossover is only just beginning to arrive in showrooms. However, in China, where the car first launched, it’ll be celebrating its third birthday this year, and the pace at which the modern car industry moves means a facelift isn’t too far around the corner.

South Korean YouTube channel HealerTV has got hold of spy shots of the updated crossover on a car carrier, and while all the key details are covered, they give us a sense of what to expect when the facelift arrives.

A More Rugged Exterior

We don’t get a lot to go on with the exterior, most of which is shrouded in a large fabric covering designed not to give the game away. However, we can see that the facelifted EV5 looks set to get some chunkier, more rugged-looking bumpers front and rear, most likely inspired by the overland-themed EV5 WKNDR concept unveiled at last year’s Guangzhou Auto Show. It remains to be seen whether this is something the model as a whole will be treated to, or if it hints at a new, off-road inspired trim level, like the X-Pro version of the new Telluride.

We also get a brief glimpse at a headlight, which looks set to move to a setup featuring several small but intense lighting elements, similar to the one already seen on models like the K4 and K5.

An Overhauled Interior

The bigger change looks to be coming on the interior, which currently shares a setup with most other Kia EVs – a single, wide glass panel incorporating 12.3-inch instrument and infotainment screens and separated by a dedicated climate control panel.

HealerTV has also managed to spy the updated cabin, and while the picture is heavily pixelated, you can make out that the large widescreen setup now spans from the center to the passenger side of the dash. This looks like a similar setup to the one found in the Chinese-market Hyundai Elexio, and indeed previewed by the EV5 WKNDR concept. The Korean Car Blog also suggests that the updated EV5’s infotainment setup could be one of the first to run on Hyundai and Kia’s upcoming next-gen Pleos software system.

What Else Could Change?

The facelift is likely to bring more than just visual and software changes. One of the EV5’s biggest weaknesses among some rivals is that it runs on a 400V electrical system, significantly slowing down charging speeds. The Korean Car Blog hints that this could be upgraded to a more efficient, faster 800V system, something already featured on Kia’s EV6 and EV9.

We’ll likely find out more around a year from now, when the facelifted EV5 is expected to be revealed. None of this is likely to be particularly relevant to the US market, though, unless Kia U-turns on its decision to limit the EV5’s North American presence to Canada.