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2010 Paris Auto Show: Kia POP Concept

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Kia POP, the South Korean electric concept that is being presented these days in Paris, has been unveiled today, with full details and specs being disclosed to the media. Aiming towards a car that acts like a “wild atom,” the designers of the Kia POP concept are offering their vision of future urban electric transport.

“A concept car like the POP could only have come from us,” stated Gregory Guillaume, Kia Europe’s Chief Designer, “designers from other companies regularly approach me at motor shows and say ‘I would never even be allowed to try and carry that one off’ and it’s great to be in a position to operate with such freedom.”

Measuring 3.0 m (118 inch) in length, 1.74 m (68.5 inch) in width and 1.49 m (58.66 inch) in height, the Kia POP has a wheelbase of 2.055 m (81 inch) and comes as a chrome-colored three-seater with an electric drivetrain, oblong-shaped side windows and front-hinged doors.

“Many of the things that influenced this design were non-automotive,”
Guillaume explains. “We were looking at lightweight, aerodynamic things, such as gliders and high-speed bicycles.”

The rear seat is positioned at an offset angle facing out from the rear passenger side across the cabin to the driver-side A pillar. On a small piece of plexi-glass in front of the steering wheel sits a Transparent Organic LED (TOLED) display that shows a speedometer, battery charge gauge and the other main readouts when the car is running, but is otherwise totally transparent.

The POP is powered by an electric motor developing 68 hp and 190 Nm of torque, mated to a lithium polymer gel battery. The vehicle needs 6 hours to fully recharge using a 230V outlet, or 30 minutes of high voltage. It is capable of reaching a top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) and has a driving range of 87 miles (140 km).

“You know, I have this vision in my head of a POP sat at the lights at a busy Paris intersection with all these Vespa riders waiting alongside, noisily revving their engines.  Then, when the lights go green, the POP just serenely moves off without a sound,”
concluded Guillaume.
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