- Kia has built an electric restomod sleeper to celebrate its 80th anniversary.
- UK-based Electrogenic converted the 1996 Kia Pride, which was a Madza design sold in the US as the Ford Festiva.
- The 60 hp 1.3-liter engine makes way for a 107 hp motor, but retains its five-speed manual transmission.
Everyone loves a sleeper, and Kia UK has come up with a beaut to mark the automaker’s 80th anniversary, upcycling one of its old city runarounds to turn it into an EV, and upping the power output by 77 percent in the process.
Brits know the little white box you see here as the Kia Pride, the car that introduced UK drivers to the brand in 1991 and was infamous for its bizarre whitewall tires. But if you’re in the US, you’ll know it as the Ford Festiva, which was built by Kia in South Korea from Mazda’s 121 blueprints. Those econo-hatchbacks came with 1.1 and 1.3-liter engines, but even the bigger motor only put out 60 hp (61 PS / 45 kW). This EV-converted example is getting on for twice as potent.
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A new zero emissions powertrain replaces the combustion motor in this 1996 Pride, but Kia and EV specialist Electrogenic opted to retain the five-speed manual transmission. Let’s hope they gave it some fresh bearings to go with the new upgraded clutch because that gearbox now has to deal with 107 hp (109 PS / 80 kW), and as much as 173 lb-ft (235 Nm) of torque instead of 87 lb-ft (135 Nm).
Though much improved, those numbers still look lame next to even the 225 hp (228 PS / 168 kW) of the weediest, single-motor Kia EV6. But then the EV6 weighs 4,550 lbs (2,065 kg) and the electrified Pride just 1,920 lbs (870 kg), including a mere 44-lb (20 kg) penalty for the EV swap.
Zero to 62 mph in 8 seconds
Like the EV6, the Pride has multiple drive modes. Eco limits power to 60 hp (61 PS / 45 kW) and torque to 87 lb-ft (118 Nm) and provides acceleration similar to what the original ICE car offered (0-62 mph in 11.8 seconds).
Auto gives drives more of a modern EV experience by letting them leave the Pride in third gear and forget about the transmission, while also offering more regenerative braking. Top speed is limited by the ratio so it’s going to be no good for motorway runs, but with 80 hp (81 PS / 60 kW) and 130 lb-ft (176 Nm) on tap it should feel nippy during urban adventures.
Finally, there’s Sport, which provides the maximum 107 hp and 173 lb-ft, and is estimated to be good for zero to 62 mph in around 8 seconds. That’s slightly down on the 7.7 seconds of the base 225 hp EV6, which has no gears to shift and a modern set of fat tires instead of the puny 12-inch skinnies on the Pride.
But those puny original wheels and plastic caps are a key part of this car’s sleeper appeal. Even the charging socket is hidden under the stock filler flap. Most people seeing it drive by would just think it’s a perfectly preserved original, though there are some subtle upgrades.
Inspired by the EV6 GT
One is the paint, this car’s orginal Kingfisher blue metallic having been replaced by a White Pearl paint available on Kia’s current EV cars. The front and rear lights have also been upgraded and the interior retrimmed in a period-looking cloth, but finished with lime green stitching that references the interior details and brake calipers on the 577 hp (585 PS) EV6 GT. Unlike many electromods, this one even retains its original instrument pack, Electrogenics’ DCU tech turning the fuel gauge into a remaining charge indicator.
One thing the converted Pride doesn’t do faster than the original is ‘fill up’. There are two 10 kWh battery packs, one under the hood and a second under the trunk floor, and the 3.3 kW on-board charger takes six hours to take them from flat to full. But the Pride’s tiny curb weight means it can cover a useful 120 miles (193 km) on a charge, which is probably further than anyone would want to go in a car that was just built for a bit of fun.
And it does look like a lot of fun, but there’s still one version of Mazda’s original 121 design that’s even naughtier. It’s called the Shogun and it was a project to create something along the lines of an American MG Metro 6R4 or Renault 5 Turbo by dumping a Taurus SHO V6 into the back of a Ford Festiva. You can check out Jay Leno’s video on that beast by clicking here.
