Kia electrifies a Pride – but there will only be one

While Kia is clearly more than capable of building EVs – witness its current acclaimed range – for this one-off restomod it collaborated with Oxfordshire-based Electrogenic who specialise in such conversions. Out has gone the 61PS (45kW) four-cylinder engine that had called the Pride its home since being built in 1996. In its place is an electric motor fed by two battery packs, one located above each axle in the interests of weight distribution. The five-speed gearbox remains in place, gifting drivers the interaction of the lever, as do the original driveshafts.

The little Pride will never have felt so enlivened, going from 61PS to 107PS (79kW). And the increase in torque is more significant still, the boost from 118Nm (87lb ft) to 235Nm (173lb ft) giving the Pride enough instant ‘go’ to shock unsuspecting onlookers. The power figures are broadly similar to those from a 1980s hothatch, the Peugeot 205 GTI being pretty close in 1.6-litre form.

Performance figures are unconfirmed but Kia promises to share them later this year. Surprisingly, the switch to EV power hasn’t brought with it much of a weight penalty, the scales only being troubled by an extra 20kg at 870kg. If only modern EV hatchbacks could get close to that...

The Electrogenic proprietary software allows for three driving modes: Eco, Sport and Auto. The most efficient of these gives a 120-miles range, but all but Auto mode have minimal regenerative braking effect to more closely resemble the effect of engine braking when you come off the throttle. Kia UK was aiming to give the Pride similar levels of engagement to a 1980s or ’90s hot hatch in a silhouette that was never intended to fulfil that brief. That’s why the gearbox has been retained.

As well as having a manual lever to play with, the driver (and passengers) can enjoy lime green stitching and piping that enliven to otherwise bone stock grey interior that was typical of the period. The analogue instruments remain, too. Retention was an important part of the project. No part of the car’s structure has been cut, so it can be returned to internal combustion engine power at any time.

The Pride EV – as it’s named in the press material, in contradiction to the PridEV badging – made its public debut at the Bicester Scramble. It’s the third one-off car made by Kia, following the Kia Soul beach car in 2021 and the 3.3-litre twin-turbo Stinger GT420 track car in 2019.