Are you ready for a $40k Picanto? New cars are about to get far more expensive as Kia says EVs mean the end of the sub-$20k vehicle

Kia says the rise of EVs in Australia will effectively spell the end of the sub-$20k car flagging that brand-wide electrification could push its cheapest models – like the Picanto and Cerato – to around $40k.

The Picanto is currently Kia's most budget-friendly model in Australia, and more than 6500 of them found homes last year. It lists at around $17k with its tiny petrol engine. But a Picanto-sized EV? That, Kia says, would be a different story entirely.

"I don't think you'll see a $20,000 Picanto-sized EV," says Kia Australia's Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith. "But you may see a $35,000 to $40,000 Picanto-sized EV."

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At $35k, electrification would add a roughly $20k premium to a city-sized hatch, then. Which, Kia says, would essentially become the new normal in our EV future.

It's a similar scenario to one already seen with MG, where the brand's ZST SUV starts at around $25k drive-away for the most affordable model (or around $23k for the base ZS). The ZS EV, however, starts at around $45k.

Asked if electrification would spell the end of the sub-$20k Kia in Australia, Mr Meredith replied: "I believe so", before adding that Chinese manufacturers could eventually fill the void.

"I think there'll be a lot of competition in regards to that, because I think a lot of Chinese manufacturers will move in, and that's right, and that's fantastic," he said.

"Whether we have the hunger to be in that area, we'll have to wait and see."

That said, Mr Meredith has previously promised that time is not yet running out for the brand's petrol-powered fleet.

“The Picanto isn’t going anywhere. We’re going to continue to sell Picanto,” he recently told CarsGuide.

Speaking at the launch of the Kia EV6, which starts at $67,990 for the AIR model, Mr Meredith also said he expects EV take up to accelerate in Australia in the coming years, forecasting up to 50 per cent of the new car market to be electrified by 2030.

"It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when EVs will dominate the landscape," he said. "The next five years will be very exciting."