Gas engine replaced with electric
motor producing up to 107bhp

(October 8, 2024) Kia UK has revealed the Kia Pride EV, a unique "restomod" built especially to mark the company's 80th anniversary. Restored, modified and unveiled for the first time at the Bicester Heritage "Scramble" on October. 6, the Pride EV is a collaborative project between Kia UK and British EV powertrain and conversion specialists Electrogenic.

The Pride EV is a unique and playful "restomod" created in collaboration between Kia UK and Electrogenic, a labour of love and levity based on a 1996 Pride 1.3 LX five-door donor car from Kia UK’s heritage fleet.

The up-cycled Pride EV introduces a fully electric powertrain — with high power, instantaneous torque and zero tailpipe emissions — to a car that was never created with any of these characteristics in mind. It swaps almost all of its original internal combustion components for a fully electric powertrain with only its original five-speed manual transmission and drive shafts retained to ensure maximum driver engagement.



The conversion from gas to electric power was carried out by hand in the UK. The Pride EV is fully road-legal and, somewhere between a curio and a plaything, intended to be as engaging to drive as an early hot hatch.

Unashamed and unabashed, the car retains its original 1980s-derived design (and its original 12-inch steel wheels and wheel covers). However, it adopts certain elements that link it to the modern Kia of 2024. Until only recently, the donor car sported its original ‘Kingfisher Blue’ exterior paint. Now the car has been stripped down and resprayed with a ‘White Pearl’ finish, as featured on the Kia EV3, EV6, EV9 and Niro EV. The front and rear lights have also been upgraded, helping to better see and be seen in all conditions.

The interior of the Pride EV remains trimmed in period-appropriate grey cloth, but now features lime green piping on the seats, and lime green stitching on the floor mats. These playful details are a direct visual link to the same lime green found throughout the interior – and on the brake calipers – of the 577bhp Kia EV6 GT.

Socket rocket: up to 77% more power, 99% more torque

The Pride EV is the most powerful of its kind ever created, a true "socket rocket." The motor’s peak power output is significantly inflated over the four-cylinder 1.1- or 1.3-liter engines originally offered with the Pride.

The first step of the conversion was to remove the 1,324cc engine, 37-liter gas tank, fuel lines and filler neck. These have been replaced with a compact electric motor, twin 10kWh battery packs, and a charging socket beneath the filler flap.



When new in 1996, the original engine produced 60bhp at 5,500rpm, and 87 pound  ft (118Nm) torque at 3,500 rpm. Now in its place is an electric motor, which spins at up to 8,000rpm and produces up to 107bhp (80kW) at 3,600-4,800rpm, an increase of 77.7%. In its most powerful drive mode, the Pride EV’s motor also produces a peak 173 pound ft (235Nm) from 0-2,500 rpm, up 99.2%.

The new motor drives the front wheels via its original five-speed transmission, retained and re-worked by Electrogenic. This is matched with a new performance-oriented clutch kit, able to accommodate the elevated torque output of the motor. The Pride’s earlier mechanical linkage between throttle pedal and acceleration is also replaced with a new drive-by-wire system, for more immediate throttle responses.

The motor and transmission is powered by twin battery packs, totaling 20kWh in capacity. The front 10kWh battery pack is fitted under the bonnet, with the second 10kWh pack housed beneath the slightly raised boot floor.

What was once the fuel filler now houses a Type 2 charging connector, linked to a 3.3kW on-board charger. The Pride EV can be fully recharged from 1-to-100% in around six hours from a conventional plug socket or wall-mounted charger.

When driven sensibly in ‘Eco’ mode, the Pride EV is able to travel up to around 120 miles on a single charge. Driven less sensibly, or in ‘Sport’ mode, drivers can expect to see this fall somewhat.

The conversion from gas to electric has also resulted in only a slight gain in weight for the model, with the donor car jumping from 850kg to 870kg (without driver). In addition, the distribution of the twin battery packs aids weight distribution to improve agility and balance. The 20kg additional weight is also more than offset by gains in power and performance, with the car’s power-to-weight ratio rising from 71 to 123 bhp/tonne in ‘Sport’ mode – similar to that of various-gas-powered hot hatches from the 1970s and 1980s.

The Pride EV retains its original analogue instrument binnacle for maximum clarity, with its manual-needle speedometer and tachometer working ‘just like the good old days’. It also keeps its fuel level dial, adapted instead to show the battery’s current state of charge. This has been made possible thanks to Electrogenic’s proprietary ‘DCU’ electronics package.

While the Pride EV offers a peak power output of 107bhp, Electrogenic’s proprietary software also enables it to follow Kia’s more recent trend of offering different drive modes for different conditions. Drivers can shift between the three driving modes using a new switch located next to the instrument binnacle: ‘Eco’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Auto’.

In its default ‘Eco’ setting, the Pride EV produces 60bhp (45kW), similar to the petrol unit that previously occupied its engine bay. ‘Eco’ mode is ideal for maximizing the car’s range. Motor torque is limited to 87 pound ft (118Nm) in this mode, around half of the motor’s potential maximum – and identical to the torque produced by the original 1.3-liter engine.

However, with this torque available from the moment the driver pushes the accelerator, the Pride EV in ‘Eco’ mode exhibits more spritely acceleration at lower speeds. In this mode, the car is capable of accelerating from 0-to-62 mph in a similar time to the 11.8 seconds claimed when powered by its original 1.3-liter gas engine. Torque and power build in a smooth manner when the driver pushes the accelerator, making it smooth, relaxed and perfect for efficient day-to-day driving.

The Pride EV is not a ‘day-to-day’ kind of Pride, however. Turning the dial to ‘Sport’ mode boosts the Pride EV’s power and torque to its maximum 107 bhp (80kW) and 173 pound ft (235Nm), respectively. Furthermore, the motor has been tuned to provide this power and torque more urgently than in ‘Eco’ mode. This enables the car to accelerate from 0-to-62 mph in an estimated 8 seconds, making ‘Sport’ ideal for overtaking in the right conditions, or lunching the car’s front tires in the wrong ones. Neither of these capabilities will be remotely familiar to anyone who has ever driven an original Kia Pride, the latter being briefly shocking and enormous fun.

Both ‘Eco’ and ‘Sport’ modes feature minimal regenerative braking, matching the character of its manual transmission. The car has been tuned instead to decelerate only slightly when the driver lifts off the accelerator pedal, aping the in-gear engine braking that drivers will be familiar with when driving a gas or diesel car.

A third mode, ‘Auto,’ enables the Pride EV to behave more like a conventional electric vehicle. The driver activates Auto mode by pushing the clutch pedal, shifting the gear lever into third, then pushing the drive mode switch to ‘Auto’. Smooth, progressive acceleration is the name of the game in ‘Auto’ mode, with slightly more pronounced regenerative braking programmed in at the same time.

Power and torque are set at 75% of the motor’s maximum (80bhp / 60kW and 130 pound  ft / 176 Nm, respectively), and the top speed is limited slightly (due to gearbox ratio, motor rpm limits, and other factors). ‘Auto’ mode is therefore perfect for mooching around town, tackling stop-start traffic, and nipping into slightly improbable gaps when entering roundabouts.

Kia UK will independently confirm the Pride EV’s acceleration and performance statistics (in all three drive modes) later in 2024.