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- Pre-orders halted after 1,800 deposits collected
- Australia's allocation is only 500 cars per year
- Shortage in semiconductor parts and EV batteries limiting sales
- Malaysia to launch Kia EV6 in H2 2022, but limited supply will drive prices up
Kia Australia has confirmed today that it has accepting new orders for the Kia EV6. Shortage in supply, caused not just by shortage of semiconductor parts but also batteries, mean that Australia is only allocated 500 cars per year.
Customers checking Kia Australia website to pre-order a Kia EV6 are greeted with a notice saying, “Due to global supply chain interruptions, semiconductor shortage and high demand, we are experiencing extended lead times for EV6. Register here for the latest availability status updates.”
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As it is, Kia Australia has already collected 1,800 deposits on the car, from 25,000 pre-orders collected.
At the current rate of supply, Kia Australia will need at least 3 years to fulfill these 1,800 orders, prompting the company to put brakes on pre-orders.
Without supply constraint, Kia told Australian publication GoAuto that it can easily sell 5,000 units of the Kia EV6 annually.
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The shortage in batteries is a concern that manufacturers have cautioned pro-EV policy governments many times.
There just isn’t enough manufacturing capacity for high voltage batteries and the supply chain can’t keeping up. Prices of minerals needed to make such batteries are also climbing.
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While manufacturers are investing into increase battery manufacturing capacity, supply will continue to trail demand until past 2030.
Last year, Geely-Volvo’s CEVT’s electric vehicle expert Johan Hellsing told WapCar.my in an interview, explaining that disregarding hybrids to accelerate EVs is foolish because securing enough battery is the biggest bottleneck.
Also read: Ignore hybrids to focus on BEVs? This is what Geely’s EV expert thinks
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The Kia EV6 is a sister-car of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5. Both electric SUVs (yes, they are SUVs) are running on the same EV-only E-GMP platform.
The Ioniq 5’s supply situation isn’t any better. Hyundai Australia only managed to deliver 400 cars since its launch Down Under last year, receiving an even smaller allocation than the Kia EV6.
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Closer to home, the Kia EV6 has been earmarked for a launch in Malaysia sometime within the second half of 2022.
Globally, the Kia EV6 is available in two battery options. The standard-range variant has a 58 kWh battery that gives up to 394 km while the long-range variant has a 77.4 kWh battery that delivers up to 528 km.
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Like the Ioniq 5, the Kia EV6 supports dual 400V and 800V charging architecture for even faster DC charging.
As a much smaller market, supply is less of an issue for Malaysia, but it also means that prices will be very high.
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If the Malaysian importer Dinamikjaya Motors complain about high wholesale price, Kia Motors will simply just tell the Malaysian importer to either keep quiet and accept the price, or step aside and let the Australian importer waiting in line to have it.
Kia’s business in Australia and Malaysia are managed by the same Asia Pacific regional office operating at Naza Tower, Platinum Park in Kuala Lumpur.
Also read: Hyundai chooses Indonesia but Kia prefers to do CKD in Malaysia over Thailand, here’s why
