Kia Motors has invested multi Millions of Korean Won in expanding its green areas around the brands facilities.

• Kia approaches landmark five million trees planted at production facilities
• Green space around manufacturing plants equivalent to 866 football pitches
• No cases of soil contamination at any Kia production facility in 15 years
• Domestic investment in environmental initiatives grows 50 per cent year-on-year

Kia Motors Corporation has expanded the amount of green space around its production facilities. In 2015, Kia created an additional 136,289 m² of green space around its manufacturing plants worldwide, the equivalent of 33 football pitches. This is a rise of 3.9 per cent and brings the total area of green space created by Kia at its sites to 3,507,276 m² – the equivalent of 866 football pitches.

Green areas are located at every single one of Kia’s global production facilities. These are Sohari, Hwasung and Gwangju in Korea, Žilina in Slovakia, Georgia in the USA, and in Yancheng Province, China.

Kia Motors sees afforestation as a cornerstone for developing even more eco-friendly production facilities and, by the end of 2015, the company had planted a total of 4.94 million trees at its manufacturing facilities. The planting of trees at each production site helps absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. With a single tree able to absorb up to 22 kg of CO₂ per year, around 107.5 million tons of CO₂ are absorbed as a result of afforestation by Kia.

As a result of Kia’s ongoing efforts to introduce a higher proportion of green areas at each of its production facilities, the company has managed to avoid any instances of soil contamination at any of its production sites since 2000.

In 2015, Kia invested 38.5 billion Korean Won (GBP £27 million) into green initiatives at its three domestic Korean plants to further prevent potential environmental issues at the source. Year-on-year, this investment is 50 per cent higher than in 2014, and many of the new initiatives – such as manufacturing and painting processes being free from hazardous substances – will be rolled out across Kia’s global manufacturing facilities in the near future.

Kia Motors is committed to pursuing effective innovations and improvements to production processes at every one of its global production facilities, in order to further reduce its impact on the environment. The company’s efforts in this regard, along with the development of alternative powertrains and the use of recyclable, eco-friendly materials in its vehicles, have been recognised by Interbrand - the world’s leading brand consultancy. Interbrand included Kia in 35^th place in its most recent Best Global Green Brands report.

Kia to launch all new SOUL EV in Europe, the first Zero Emmisions car outside of Korea.

• Volume production of Soul EV for export is a landmark in Kia’s history
• Soul EV goes on sale outside Korea later in 2014
• Class-leading drive range of 212 km certified for Europe
• 81.4 kW motor produces 285 Nm of torque

Kia Motors has begun volume production of its new all-electric Kia Soul EV for export sales.  A landmark in Kia’s history, the zero-emissions Soul EV is Kia’s first electric vehicle to be marketed by the company outside Korea.

The first vehicles off the production line are destined for select European countries and are scheduled to go on sale across the continent during the second half of the year. The Soul EV is manufactured at Kia’s Gwangju facility in Korea, where annual output of the electric car is initially planned to reach 5,000 units.

“Now that production of export models has begun, the new Soul EV is truly at the forefront of Kia’s ‘Clean Mobility’ program, providing environmentally-friendly transport to our customers around the world,” commented Thomas Oh, Executive Vice President and COO, Kia Motors Corporation.

“Although it is Kia’s first globally-sold all-electric vehicle, the Soul EV is our second-generation battery electric vehicle and benefits significantly from our in-depth experience gained from development of the Ray EV and proven daily operations of the Ray EV fleet in Korea for the past three years.”

Embodying the iconic design language of the second-generation Kia Soul, that went on sale in the UK in April, the Soul EV is a uniquely designed battery electric vehicle perfectly suited for city commuters thanks to its class-leading drive range, a spacious cabin and generous cargo area.

Featuring a high-capacity 192-cell 27 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack, 212 km of the Soul EV’s drive range is now certified for Europe. Key enablers for the Soul EV’s outstanding drive range are industry-leading 200 Wh/kg cell energy density and a number of state-of-the art energy-saving features such as the new heat pump, smart air intake control system and a new individual ventilation system that ensure maximum driving range without losing energy for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC).  The Soul EV also employs regenerative braking to capture and recycle into the battery the kinetic energy generated while the car is coasting and braking.

Power comes from an 81.4 kW (110 ps) electric motor, producing a generous and instantly available 285 Nm (29 kg/m) of torque, driving the front wheels via a single speed constant ratio gear reduction unit.

Ensuring that the Soul EV retains all the ‘fun-to-drive’ character of the regular Soul, rapid acceleration to 100 kph (62 mph) is predicted to take 11.2 seconds, while top speed is in the region of 145 kph (90 mph).

The battery pack is mounted beneath the cabin, ensuring a low centre of gravity and contributing to the car’s accomplished ride, handling and refinement.

Charging is accomplished by plugging the Soul EV into any standard household electricity supply. Recharging times are up to five hours for a fully depleted battery using a 6.6 kW AC slow charger. An 80 per cent charge can be achieved in as little as 25 minutes with a 100 kW charger (if available) or 33 minutes using a 50 kW DC charger.

The new Soul EV has achieved the world automotive industry’s first UL Environment Validation for containing 23,942 grams of bio-based plastic and 10 per cent bio-based organic carbon content. Soul EV’s recyclable interior materials include Bio Plastic, Bio Foam, Bio Fabric and Bio PET Felt, together with low volatile organic compounds and newly developed antibacterial materials and paint.