Kia Carens Clavis EV launch in India on July 15

The Carens Clavis EV will be locally manufactured in India. (Representative image)

Kia India will enter the country's mass-market electric vehicle (EV) segment with the launch of the electric version of the Carens Clavis MPV on July 15.

The company currently offers premium EVs like the EV6 SUV and the EV9 SUV. The EV6 is priced at Rs 65.96 lakh (ex-showroom) and the EV9 at Rs 1.30 crore (ex-showroom).

While both EV6 and EV9 are sold in India as completely built-up (CBU) models, the Carens Clavis EV will be manufactured locally at Kia's Anantapur plant in Andhra Pradesh.

The Carens Clavis EV will reportedly share battery pack options with Hyundai's Creta Electric, which gets a 42 kWh unit and a 51.4 kWh unit.

The Creta Electric has a claimed range from 390 km to 473 km on a single full charge, depending on the battery pack. Since the Carens Clavis EV will be slightly bigger than the Creta Electric, we expect the former to have a lower claimed range.

The complete technical specifications of the Carens Clavis EV will be revealed on July 15 at the launch.

The exterior of the Carens Clavis EV is expected to be almost identical to that of the internal combustion engine (ICE) version, with LED headlights and connected LED taillights. However, we expect a new set of alloy wheels to cater to the aerodynamic requirements.

The ICE and EV versions are expected to share interior details as well, with bells and whistles like a 26.62-inch dual panoramic display panel (for touchscreen infotainment and instrument cluster), front ventilated seats, a 360-degree camera and panoramic sunroof. The Carens Clavis EV will get Level-2 ADAS also.

The Carens Clavis price is expected to be below Rs 25 lakh (ex-showroom) for the top-spec variant. For reference, the Creta Electric's price is between Rs 17.99 lakh and Rs 24.38 lakh (ex-showroom).

The Kia Carens Clavis EV will take on the MG Windsor EV, which sits in the price range of Rs 14 lakh to Rs 18.10 lakh (ex-showroom).