Legendary Kia Pride model revived as electric car

In production since 1987, the Pride is a rebadged version of the Ford Festiva, a compact hatchback built in Korea but not sold in Europe. The Pride was launched in the UK in 1991 with two petrol engine options: a 1.1L - 51 horsepower or a 1.3L - 60 horsepower.

This model was discontinued in 2005, replaced by the Kia Rio. The special edition produced by the Korean automaker to celebrate its anniversary was built on the 1993 Pride 1.3 LX prototype from the company's heritage collection.

Notably, this car has had its original 1.3L petrol engine removed and replaced with an electric drivetrain. The electric motor drives the front wheels through a 5-speed manual transmission, which Kia collaborated with British company Electrogenic to rebuild with a new high-performance clutch.

Accordingly, the pure electric Pride has a maximum capacity of 107 horsepower and 234 Nm of torque. The new transmission system helps the car accelerate from 0-100 km/h in about 8.0 seconds, much faster than the 11.8 seconds of the original, even in the most powerful variant.

Visually, the car retains the Pride's styling from the late 1980s, but with some minor updates. The interior has also been slightly updated to match the times, with green accents inspired by the Kia EV6 GT.

According to the announcement, this electric car can travel about 193 km per charge. The charging port is located under the original fuel tank cap and is a Type 2 type, connecting to a 3.3kW integrated charger. This means that the car will take about 6 hours to charge from 0-100% using a standard socket or wall charger.