2007 Kia Rio Base Sedan 4-door 1.6l on 2040-cars

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Wonder Woman Kia Sportage is anything but invisible

The spectacular partnering of Kia and DC Entertainment (the company we grew up loving as DC Comics) continues here at the New York Auto Show, with this Wonder Woman-inspired 2013 Kia Sportage. Ardent Autoblog readers will undoubtedly remember the fruits of earlier Kia/DC efforts: Batman Optima, Flash Forte Koup, Green Lantern Soul, Cyborg Forte, Aquaman Rio and Superman Optima Hybrid. (We're still trying to figure out who Cyborg is, too.)
The Wonder Woman Sportage, sporting the Amazing Amazon's particularly patriotic livery, is perhaps the most, eh, eye-catching super-Kia to date. (Actually, no, none of the superhero rides seared our eyeballs like Supe's hybrid.) Red, white and blue paint with spangled sides, an aggressively low body kit and a WW logo grille really sell the theme. Of course, The Lasso of Truth is represented too, showing up in the design as a subtle gold line that wraps around the bodywork.
As with the earlier DC concept cars, the Wonder Woman Sportage's real goal - aside from entertaining the kid-contingent of auto show goers - is to raise awareness for the We Can Be Heroes charity. The DC charitable program seeks to raise money and awareness about the hunger crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Get a better look at Wonder Woman's crossover in our attached galleries and find the Kia press release below.

New electric Kia spied, looks like the production version of the Imagine Concept

Last we heard, Kia had plans to bring forth a production version of the Kia Imagine Concept vehicle. These spy photos today suggest that the intel was good, and Kia is well on its way to transforming its concept into a production car. The shape and proportions of the heavily camouflaged car seen in photos here are the two most intriguing elements. From the side, this vehicle looks like a short, lifted wagon. One look at the Imagine Concept is all you need to know where this one is going, though. Its roof slopes further downward the closer you get to the rear of the car, and despite the black tenting, we can still see that it’s going to have a heavily raked rear window like the concept. In a nutshell, the best way we can describe this thing right now is a cross between a wagon and a “crossover coupe.” Kia called the concept a sedan, but the higher-than-normal ride height suggests something in the same vein as the V60 Cross Country. One other big element in all of this is its powertrain. The Kia Imagine Concept is an electric car, so we can assume that Kia is going to keep the production version of it electric. ThereÂ’s no sign of an exhaust hanging out under there. ItÂ’s a pretty safe bet that this camouflaged tester is electric, which will just add to the legion of electric cars Hyundai and Kia have on the way or at dealerships now. The last new electric car out of Korea that we spied was the 45, which is yet another EV based on a recent concept car. Assuming the coronavirus didnÂ’t knock the Imagine ConceptÂ’s timing too far off track, we expect to see it revealed in full in 2021. The concept was revealed in Geneva, so that would suggest that itÂ’s definitely bound for Europe. However, itÂ’s unclear whether Kia will also sell the vehicle here. With the illusion of it being a crossover, Kia might try its luck. If there are Kias it reminds us of the most, though, itÂ’s the XCeed and ProCeed. Obviously, we donÂ’t get either here, which is a shame because the new ones are rather attractive. We will hopefully have more concrete news on this car in the coming months or in 2021. Related video:

Kia Soul EV starts production in Korea

As sister company Hyundai delivers its first Tucson fuel cell vehicles in California, Kia has kicked off volume production of the Soul EV in Korea. We've driven the prototype and are excited about the arrival of this electric vehicle. Kia is already calling the production start a landmark event, but let's remember that other automakers have been building production EVs for years now. The EVs won't be exported outside of Korea until later in 2014, but the automaker is hoping to make 5,000 a year at its Gwangju facility. The first batch is headed to "select European countries" with more coming to Europe at a later date. The vehicle might be coming to the US in the third quarter. The Soul EV is Kia's second production EV, following the Ray EV. Kia only made 2,500 of them for governmental agency use in Korea. We've got a little video on the Soul EV here. As a reminder, the Soul has a 27-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery which is good for a now-official range (on the European test cycle) of 212 kilometers. That's 132 miles, but expect a good chunk to get knocked off when it gets rated on the US text cycle. For example, the Nissan Leaf is rated at 199 kilometers (123 miles) in Europe but only 84 miles from the EPA. Read Kia's press release below. Start of production for all-electric Kia Soul EV Volume production of Soul EV for export is a landmark in Kia's history Ideal for commuters, Soul EV goes on sale outside Korea later in 2014 Class-leading drive range of 212 km certified for Europe 81.4 kW motor produces 285 Nm of torque for 'fun-to-drive' motoring The first vehicles off the production line are destined for select European countries and are scheduled to go on sale across the continent during the second half of the year. The Soul EV is manufactured at Kia's Gwangju facility in Korea, where annual output of the electric car is planned to reach 5,000 units. "Now that production of export models has begun, the new Soul EV is truly at the forefront of Kia's 'Clean Mobility' program, providing environmentally-friendly transport to our customers around the world," comments Thomas Oh, Executive Vice President and COO, Kia Motors Corporation.