Hyundai’s Kia Motors unit is in many respects a separate automaker from Hyundai, with its own design and manufacturing facilities. 

Now, Kia is getting specific about its goals for going electric. With an announcement Wednesday, coinciding with an investor day, Kia released a slew of details about the company’s future intent for electric vehicles and mobility ventures, under something called Plan S (for “shift”). It’s spearheaded by a total investment of $25 billion by the end of 2025, aimed at electrifying its vehicles and diversifying into new mobility areas.

Globally, it aims to sell a million “ecofriendly vehicles” annually, including 500,000 electric vehicles annually, by 2025. At that rate, eco-vehicles will make up 25 percent of the automaker’s global sales. 

2021 Kia Soul EV

As part of these goals, Kia aims to “selectively introduce EV models in emerging markets.”

In 2025 it hopes to supply 6.6 percent of the world’s electric vehicle sales. That will come via a total of 11 EVs arriving by 2025, and starting with a dedicated EV model set to go on sale in 2021. 

Kia will also make a new push for electric-and-autonomous mobility services, with Mobility Hubs established in cities with stricter environmental regulations—like London or Paris, perhaps. 

Separately, Kia will be revealing a “new brand system” in the second half of 2020 that includes nods to “becoming a pioneer in the age of EVs” and “a symbol of challenge and innovation.”

Imagine by Kia concept

At present, Kia has engineered several great electric vehicles but failed to make them as widely available as they should be, given potential demand. That’s been the case with the Kia Niro EV, which was one of our Best Car To Buy 2020 nominees, and the Kia Soul EV, which has now been delayed until 2021 at the earliest—all while Kia has shown compelling electric concept cars, like the “Imagine by Kia” concept from last year’s Geneva show, and the Futuron concept shown in November. 

With so much more investment and commitment in EVs, Kia might not just design an electrified future, but deliver it.