Kia Meta Turismo: Could This Be A High-Performance Electric

• Kia acknowledges it may be working on a sporty and emotional electric Stinger successor.
• The model will be the first to feature a new design direction for the Kia brand.
• The recent Meta Turismo concept offers a hint of what Kia plans to do next.

Late last year, Kia unveiled the Vision Meta Turismo concept, an electric fastback design study that had hints of the gas-powered Stinger sport sedan, which was discontinued in 2023. The concept is not a direct preview for an upcoming production model, but it does signal Kia’s intention to produce a vehicle in that space, which will become the brand’s halo model and show its future design direction.

We don’t know much about the upcoming model, but Kia’s design boss, Jochen Paesen, stopped just short of confirming it to AutoExpress. When asked specifically about Kia launching something along the lines of an electric Stinger successor, he replied that “Enough to say that we think it is the right time to explore those things. It [the Meta Turismo Concept] is not the only answer, but the fact we’re taking this as an opportunity, we feel it’s the right time to push these ideas, explore these ideas, work with these ideas, and find the answers we’re looking for.”

Paesen clearly wasn’t planning to give much away, but his statement strongly suggests that Kia is working on a new electric halo model. “The Meta Turismo was a great project; it was an internal study that happened to find its way out into the public,” he said. “This was our homework to try and consider: how do you create something that is more emotional and still has our core values?”

We’ve known about rumors of a possible electric Stinger replacement even before the combustion model was discontinued. Kia never officially confirmed them and this is as close as it’s come to admitting such a model is in the works. According to Paesen, the concept had “a more emotional form of language, and products that today we don’t have in our portfolio, but at the same time asks questions about how you use technology. Less screens, a richer experience.”

Kia has already trademarked the EV7 and EV8 names, with the latter expected to be used for the upcoming halo model. But since it would be a special model, Kia may choose not to stick to its current electric vehicle naming strategy and give it a bespoke name; Stinger seems like a strong candidate since it’s already established and the old model won lots of fans with its unique design, premium interior and driving dynamics to rival a BMW.

Whatever Kia ends up calling it, the model is expected to ride on a new software-defined platform known as the Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA). It is meant to replace E-GMP, which is used in all larger Hyundai-Kia EVs, and to improve efficiency and scalability, as well as reduce costs. It will likely remain an 800-volt platform but improve charging speeds over today’s peak of around 240 kilowatts.

Kia could reveal the EV8 sometime this year, but it’s unclear if it could come to the United States if it’s not locally built. The Korean automaker builds the EV6 and EV9 for the U.S. market in its West Point, Georgia, plant, which also produces the Telluride, Sorento, and Sportage. The factory has an annual capacity of 350,000 vehicles and some of its output is exported abroad to Mexico or the Middle East.

But the Kia EV8 could be built at the new Hyundai Metaplant Georgia, which is described as the group’s “first dedicated mass-production electrified vehicle plant.” It has a projected annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles, and even though so far there’s only confirmation of Hyundai and Genesis models rolling off its production lines, it could also produce Kia-badged vehicles.