New Kia EV4 GT is gearing up for a VW Golf R showdown

Kia is rapidly growing its sporty GT range of all-electric cars and the EV4 GT will make its global debut at the Brussels Motor Show on 9 January. 

The EV4 GT should provide Kia with a hot hatch-shaped EV with enough power and performance to take on the likes of the Volkswagen Golf R and even the Audi RS 3.

Kia won’t have the electric hot hatch segment to itself, however. The Volkswagen ID.3 GTX and MG4 XPower feature dual-motor power and they’ve been joined this year by the Alpine A290 GTS and the Vauxhall Mokka GSE, which have single-motor layouts.

Plenty of information (and design details) about the EV4 GT have been saved for its unveiling, although we do know it’ll come with a dual-motor set-up. The standard EV4 uses a single 201bhp electric motor to drive the front wheels, but with an extra e-motor mounted on the rear axle, not only will the EV4 GT get all-wheel drive, we expect this will also bump power up to 400bhp. The 0-62mph time should be around the five-second mark. 

If the EV4’s hatchback shape doesn’t do it for you, there’s also the Fastback, a sleeker alternative with the same underpinnings. Right now you can get a EV4 Fastback with over £3,000 off thanks to the Auto Express Buy A Car service. 

Beside power, what other upgrades will the EV4 GT get? 

We suspect the EV4 GT will inherit the Virtual Gear Shift system (VGS) from the EV6 GT and new EV9 GT. It’s designed to mimic the sound and feel of a petrol car with a V6 engine and an eight-speed transmission. Kia hasn’t said which car it’s based on, but the Stinger GT-S was the last Kia with that engine and gearbox configuration. The VGS system should help deliver another layer to the EV4 GT’s driving experience over other electric hot hatches that don’t feature this technology. 

We have also been informed that, as well as software tweaks and trickery, there will be some mechanical changes for the EV4 GT. Hopefully, they include the same electronic limited-slip differential that the EV9 GT features, plus its adaptive dampers. We know there’ll be bigger brakes to match the uprated performance, while a retuned steering set-up also seems likely. 

In an exclusive interview with Auto Express, Kia’s marketing director for Europe, David Hilbert, said the EV4 GT is “about showing what we're capable of in terms of delivering a great vehicle that you can use every day, but also have that kind of fun factor”.

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What will the Kia EV4 GT look like? 

Unlike the upcoming EV5 GT and the EV3 GT, Kia has given us an official preview of the EV4 GT by covering it in a ‘GT Wrap’. But there’s no hiding the car’s neon green brake calipers or unique 20-inch rims, plus what look to be new front and rear bumpers with an integrated diffuser at the back. 

Inside, there’ll be sports seats taken from the EV9 GT with bespoke stitching, a sports steering wheel with a 12 o’clock marker and various trim pieces finished in the eye-catching neon green Kia reserves for the GT cars. 

What separates Kia GT cars and Hyundai’s N cars?

We recently learned that in the coming years Hyundai will be launching its own electric hot hatch, the Ioniq 3 N, which will be based on the same underpinnings as the EV4 GT. So naturally we asked Hilbert to explain the differences between these two cars. 

“When we brought out the Kia Stinger GT, or even before that, the ProCeed GT, it wasn't all about straight-line speed,” he said. “I remember, in fact, that Peter Schreyer – who was our designer at the time – said it was all about the thrill of the journey.

“You know, it's not about being the fastest to the destination, it's about having a great driving experience. So our GT philosophy is much more about that kind of driving pleasure, having great times.

“It's not just purely about adrenaline or straight-line speed,” Hilbert added. “I guess N is much more that kind of extreme, racing focus, whereas ours is more about everyday driving, but with a bit of, you know, edginess.”

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