Connect with us

Published

on

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-Pride-EV
Kia Pride EV restomod (Source: Kia UK)

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

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

U.S. Steel shares rally as Trump approves Nippon takeover with unique government ‘golden share’

Published

on

By

U.S. Steel shares rally as Trump approves Nippon takeover with unique government 'golden share'

U.S. President Donald Trump walks as workers react at U.S. Steel Corporation–Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, U.S., May 30, 2025.

Leah Millis | Reuters

U.S. Steel shares jumped on Monday after President Donald Trump approved its controversial merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel.

U.S. Steel shares were last up about 5% in premarket trading.

Trump issued an executive order on Friday that allowed U.S. Steel and Nippon to finalize their merger so long as they signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government. The companies said they signed the agreement with the government, completing the final hurdle for the deal.

U.S. Steel said the national security agreement includes a golden share for the U.S .government, without specifying what powers the government would wield with its share. Trump said on Thursday that the golden share gives the U.S. president “total control.”

Typically, golden shares allow the holder veto power over important decisions the company makes. Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick told CNBC in May that the golden share will give the U.S. government control of several board seats and ensure production levels aren’t cut.

Trump has avoided calling the transaction a merger, describing the deal instead as a “partnership.” U.S. Steel confirmed in a regulatory filing Monday that the company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Steel North America.

“All regulatory approvals required for the completion of the Transaction have been received,” U.S. Steel said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. “The Transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and is expected to be completed promptly.”

Continue Reading

Environment

Israel vows Iran will ‘pay the price’ as attacks continue for a fourth day

Published

on

By

Israel vows Iran will 'pay the price' as attacks continue for a fourth day

Trails of Iranian ballistic missiles light up the night sky as seen from Gaza City during renewed missile strikes launched by Iran in retaliation against Israel on June 15, 2025.

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

Tehran will “pay the price” for its fresh missile onslaught against Israel, the Jewish state’s defense minister warned Monday, as markets braced for a fourth day of ramped-up conflict between the regional powers.

Fire exchanges have continued since Israel’s Friday attack against Iran, with Iranian media reporting Tehran’s latest strikes hit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, home to a major refinery. CNBC has reached out to operator Bazan for comment on the state of operations at the Haifa plant, amid reports of damage to Israel’s energy infrastructure.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said overnight it deployed “innovative methods” that “disrupted the enemy’s multi-layered defense systems, to the point that the Zionist air defense systems engaged in targeting each other,” according to a statement obtained by NBC News.

Israel has widely depended on its highly efficient Iron Dome missile defense system to fend off attacks throughout regional conflicts — but even it can be overwhelmed if a large number of projectiles are fired.

Tankers depicted in the Strait of Hormuz — a strategically important waterway which separates Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Why Iran won’t block the Hormuz Strait oil artery even as war with Israel looms

The fresh hostilities are front-of-mind for investors, who have been weighing the odds of further escalation in the conflict and spillover into the broader oil-rich Middle East, amid concerns over crude supplies and the key shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Oil prices retained the gains of recent days and at 09:19 a.m. London time, Ice Brent futures with August delivery were trading at $73.81 per barrel, down 0.57% from the previous trading session. The Nymex WTI contract with July expiry was at $72.7 per barrel, 0.38% lower.

Elsewhere, however, markets showed initial signs of shrugging off the latest hostilities early on Monday.

Spot prices for key safe-haven asset gold retreated early morning, down 0.42% to $3,417.83 per ounce after nearly notching a two-year-high earlier in the session, with U.S. gold futures also down 0.65% to $ 3,430.5

Tel Aviv share indices pointed higher, with the blue-chip TA-35 up 0.99% and the wider TA-125 up 1.33%.

European stock markets opened higher Monday, meanwhile, and U.S. stock futures were also in the green.

Luis Costa, global head of EM sovereign credit at Citigroup Global Markets, signaled the muted reaction could be, in part, attributed to hopes of a brisk resolution to the conflict.

“So markets are obviously, you know, bearing in mind all potential scenarios. There are obviously potentially very bad scenarios in this story,” he told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Monday. “But there is still a way out in terms of, you know, a faster resolution and bringing Iran to the table, or a short continuation here, of a very surgical and intense strike by the Israeli army.”

U.S. response in focus

As of Monday morning, Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom reported four dead and 87 injured following rocket strikes at four sites in “central Israel,” reporting collapsed buildings, fire and people trapped under debris.

Accusing Tehran of targeting civilians in Israel to prevent the Israel Defense Forces from “continuing the attack that is collapsing its capabilities,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, a close longtime ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a Google-translated social media update that “the residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon.”

The IDF on Sunday said it had in turn “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes on numerous weapon production sites belonging to the Quds Force, the IRGC and the Iranian military, in Tehran.”

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

The U.S.’ response is now in focus, given its close support and arms provision to Israel, the unexpected cancellation of Washington’s latest nuclear deal talks with Iran, and President Donald Trump’s historically hard-hitting stance against Tehran during his first term.

Trump, who has been pushing Iran for a deal over its nuclear program, has weighed in on the conflict, opposing an Israeli proposal to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to NBC News.

Discussions about the conflict are expected to take place during the ongoing meeting of the G7, encapsulating Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., along with the European Union.

CNBC’s Katrina Bishop contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Environment

Tesla on ‘self-driving’ gets stuck on train track and hit by train

Published

on

By

Tesla on 'self-driving' gets stuck on train track and hit by train

A Tesla Model 3 got stuck on a train track and was hit, albeit slightly, by a train in Sinking Spring, PA. The driver claimed it was in “self-driving mode.”

According to the fire alerts in Berks County, a Tesla Model 3 drove around a train track barrier near South Hull Street and Columbia Avenue and got stuck in the tracks.

The driver was able to exit the vehicle, but a train hit the car, reportedly snapping off the side mirror.

The fire commissioner ordered to stop all train traffic as the emergency services worked to get the Model 3 off the tracks using a crane.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Spitlers Garage & Towing, performed the recovery and shared a few pictures on Facebook:

The Tesla driver reportedly claimed that the vehicle was in “self-driving mode” leading up to getting stuck on the train tracks.

Tesla claims that all its vehicles built since 2016 will be capable of unsupervised self-driving with software updates; however, this has yet to occur.

Instead, Tesla has been selling a “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) package for up to $15,000 that requires the driver to constantly supervise the vehicle, with the driver remaining responsible for the car at all times.

Electrek’s Take

There have been instances of Tesla drivers engaging in reckless behavior and then attributing it to the Full Self-Driving (FSD) features.

I’m not saying it’s the case here, but it’s a possibility.

On the other side, I’ve seen FSD try to navigate around construction barriers. It’s possible that it tried to do that in this case, here and then got caught on the tracks.

We would need more data.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Trending