Kia just converted the Pride into a true EV ‘socket rocket’ as a birthday gift to itself

Published

4 weeks ago

October 8, 2024

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As an 80th-anniversary gift to itself, Kia UK unveiled the Pride EV. Calling it a true ‘socket rocket,” the electric restomod swaps the 90’s model gas-powered engine with an all-electric powertrain packing nearly double the power. The only thing it retains is its original five-speed manual transmission.

Kia gifts itself the Pride EV hot hatch

Kia is celebrating 80 years of business in the UK. As a gift to itself, the company restored a 1996 Pride 1.3 LX into a one-off all-electric restomod.

With the help of British EV powertrain conversion specialist, electrogenic Kia brought the Pride EV to life.

Kia claims the electric hot hatch is the “most powerful of its kind ever created,” deeming it a true socket rocket. The Pride EV swaps nearly all the original combustion components with a more powerful, all-electric powertrain.

The only part Kia kept from the original model is its five-speed manual transmission and drive shafts to “ensure maximum driver engagement.”

With up to 107 bhp (80 kW) and 173 lb-ft of torque, the Pride EV packs nearly double the power of the gas-powered model.

Kia replaced the engine, fuel tank, and filler neck with an electric motor, twin 10 kWh battery packs, and a charging port. The added power enables the electric hot hatch to sprint from 0 to 62 mph in 8 seconds.

A true electric socket rocket

With up to 20 kWh battery capacity, Kia said the electric hot hatch can drive up to 120 miles on a single charge. However, that’s if you’re in “Eco” mode.

Kia-Pride-EV-battery — Kia Pride EV with Electrogenic battery and motor (Source: Kia UK)

Kia included three driving modes: Eco, Sport, and Auto. In Eco mode, its default setting, the Pride EV produces 60 bhp while torque is capped at 87 lb-ft (118 Nm).

With Sport mode, Kia said the restomod is “not a day-to-day kind of Pride.” With max power (107 bhp) and torque (173 lb-ft), the Pride EV can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in an estimated 8 seconds.

	Pride 1.3 LX	Pride EV
Drive mode	n/a	Eco	Sport	Auto
Power	60 bhp	60 bhp	107 bhp	80 bhp
Torque	87 lb-ft	87 lb-ft	173 lb-ft	130 lb-ft
Weight	850kg	870kg
Top speed	91 mph	TBC	TBC	TBC
0-to-62mph	11.8 secs	TBC	TBC	TBC

Kia Pride EV restomod vs Pride 1.3 LX

Kia claims the restomod is “the most powerful of its kind ever created,” deeming it a “true socket rocket.”

Later this year, Kia will independently confirm the Pride EV’s specs in all three modes. The converted model was built at Electrogenic’s Oxfordshire, UK plant.

As a “one-off” restomod, Kia’s Pride EV is not for general sale. However, the company is launching several new EVs, including the new EV3, as part of its “Plan S” strategy. Kia plans to offer 15 electric vehicles by 2027, nine of which will go on sale in the UK.

Source: Kia UK

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Oil giant Saudi Aramco posts 15% drop in third-quarter profit but maintains dividend

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4 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Oil giant Saudi Aramco posts 15% drop in third-quarter profit but maintains dividend

Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal

Ahmed Jadallah | Reuters

Saudi state oil giant Aramco reported a 15.4% drop in net profit in the third-quarter on the back of “lower crude oil prices and weakening refining margins,” but maintained a 31.05 billion dividend.

The company reported net income of $27.56 billion in the July-September period, topping a company-provided estimate of $26.9 billion. The print is also a 5% drop from the previous quarter, which came in at $29.1 billion, as lower global oil prices, weaker demand and prolonged OPEC+ production cuts led by Saudi Arabia continue to impact crude prices.

The average selling price of oil for the second quarter of 2024 stood at $85 per barrel, but dropped to $78.7 per barrel during the third quarter, according to Saudi-based bank Al Rajhi capital, as non-OPEC supply volumes grew.

The oil firm said its year-on-year decline was partly offset by a “reduction in selling, administrative and general expenses primarily driven by a gain from derivative instruments, and a decrease in production royalties largely reflecting lower crude oil prices and a lower average effective royalty rate compared to the same quarter last year.”

Aramco’s dividend includes a base payout of $20.3 billion and an atypical performance-linked one of $10.8 billion. The Saudi government and the kingdom’s sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund, are the main beneficiaries of the dividend, holding stakes of roughly 81.5% and 16% in the company.

The remaining shareholding trades freely on Saudi Arabia’s Tadāwul stock exchange, with the company having finalized its second public share offering back in June.

Aramco’s earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) came in at $51.45 billion in the third quarter, down 17% year-on-year. Aramco’s capital expenditure guidance was brought up 20% to $13.23 billion.

The company was trading at 27.45 riyals following the announcement, down 0.18% on the previous day.

The earnings align with a broader trend across oil majors, whose third-quarter profits have also suffered from declines in crude prices and refining margins. Aramco said it achieved average realized crude price of $79.3 per barrel in the third quarter, compared with $89.3 per barrel in the same period of last year.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter who produces roughly 9 million barrels per day of crude at present, serves as the de facto leader of the OPEC+ oil producers’ alliance, a subset of whom agreed over the weekend to delay a planned December output hike by one month.

OPEC chief says delayed December output hike is 'nothing unusual'

“Aramco delivered robust net income and generated strong free cash flow during the third quarter, despite a lower oil price environment,” CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement. “We also progressed our upstream developments, strengthened our downstream value chain, and advanced our new energies program as we continue to invest through cycles.”

The revenues will be a boon to the Saudi economy, which is currently undergoing a diversification process under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s legacy Vision 2030 scheme spanning a slew of high-cost infrastructure “gigaprojects.”

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance cut the kingdom’s growth forecast to 0.8% in 2024, in a steep decline from a previous projection of 4.4%, and raised the outlook for the national budgetary shortfall to roughly 2.9% of GDP, from a prior indication of 1.9%.

Environment

Cybertruck backlog runs out, Model S gets stuck, GM hits a sales milestone

Published

10 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Cybertruck backlog runs out, Model S gets stuck, GM hits a sales milestone

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Tesla’s Cybertruck is now available in Canada – and, like in the US, there’s no waiting! Plus, we’ve got an “actually” smart summon Tesla that’s actually stuck, GM reaches a sales milestone, and we get a brand-new title sponsor!

Today’s episode is the first with our new title sponsor, BLUETTI – a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems.

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonusLucid proves than an EV company can keep its promises while Xiaomi teams up with Chevrolet and Honda to prove – at least conceptually – that records are made to be broken. audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!

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Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!

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Environment

This ‘supercharger on wheels’ brings fast charging to you [update]

Published

12 hours ago

November 4, 2024

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This 'supercharger on wheels' brings fast charging to you [update]

Mobile car care company Yoshi Mobility launched a DC fast charging EV mobile unit that it likens to “a supercharger on wheels.”

November 4, 2024 update: Yoshi Mobility will only be charging EVs on the side of the road now – it announced today that it’s selling its fleet fueling operation to EZFill Holdings (Nasdaq: EZFL).

It was originally founded as a direct-to-consumer, mobile fueling business in 2016, but now it’s going to focus on mobile EV charging, virtual vehicle inspections for partners like Uber and Turo, and onsite preventative maintenance.

Bryan Frist, Yoshi Mobility’s CEO & cofounder, said, “By spinning off our fuel business and focusing all of our energy on solving hair-on-fire problems that fleet owners face, we are meeting the changing needs of enterprise customers while making the future of transportation safer, cleaner, and more sustainable.”

May 22, 2024: Yoshi Mobility saw that its existing customers needed mobile EV charging in places where infrastructure has yet to be installed, so the Nashville-based company decided to bring the mountain to Moses.

“We recognized a demand among our customers for convenient daily charging, reliable private charging networks, and proper charging infrastructure to support their fleet vehicles as they transition to electric,” said Dan Hunter, Yoshi Mobility’s chief EV officer and cofounder.

The company says its 240 kW mobile DC fast charger, which can turn “any EV” into a mobile charging unit, is the first fully electric mobile charger available. It can provide multiple charges in a single trip but doesn’t detail how they charge the DC fast charger or who manufactured it. (I asked for more details, and they replied that they won’t disclose client names or the manufacturer of its DC fast charger yet.)

Yoshi is launching its mobile charger on two GM BrightDrop Zevo 600s and will introduce additional vehicles throughout 2024. It aims for full commercialization by Q1 2025. (I wonder if the Zevo 600 ever charges itself? Yes, I asked that too.)

Yoshi Mobility says it’s already deployed its EV charging solutions to service “major OEMs, autonomous vehicle companies, and rideshare operators” across the US. Its initial customers are made up of large EV operators managing “hundreds” of light-duty vehicles requiring up to 1 megawatt of energy per day that don’t yet have grid-connected EV chargers. I’ve asked Yoshi for details of who it’s working with, and will update if they share that info.

The company says pricing is based on location and enterprise charging needs. Once under contract for service, the service will be deployed to US-based customers within 10 days.

To date, Yoshi Mobility has raised more than $60 million, with investments from GM Ventures, Bridgestone, ExxonMobil, and Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley.

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