Images of New Plug-In Kia Ray Leaked

Not everybody is expecting the Chicago Auto Show to be a huge zinger of an event, but at least one showstopper is anticipated to make an appearance, and that’s the new plug-in concept vehicle from Kia, codename “Ray.”

In Chicago, Kia Soul buzz is relatively old news, but the new Ray is the wave of the future for Kia, who in the last year has pulled out all the stops to show that they absolutely can compete with the longer-tenured, bigger-named automakers in the world. In late January, a teaser picture was leaked to the press that showed the Ray in all its glory, cruising through some sort of futuristic, poorly-lit tunnel.

While the setting looks like something from the movie “iRobot,” the car itself is like a gorgeous little silver bullet. It appears to be some sort of sporty four-door sedan with dark-tinted panels on the roof that also slope down the back of the car. This could just be tinted windows, but it’s also possible that they include solar photovoltaic technology designed to use the sun’s rays to charge the car’s battery or keep the interior of the vehicle cool in summer months. Considering the car is named the Ray, it would make sense to utilize some sort of technology benefitting from sunlight.

The drivetrain is expected to be similar to that of Hyundai’s Blue-Will concept because the configuration for this vehicle is based on the configuration for the upcoming hybrid Hyundai Sonata. Whatever this car ends up being, we’ll get a chance to see it for ourselves on February 12th at McCormick Place in the Windy City. The media gets a preview of all the goodies a few days earlier, so less ambiguous pictures should be available even sooner than that, with more details to go along with them.

In Round Lake, used cars are probably going to take a hit when this new wave of hybrid vehicles hits dealerships in the next couples of years, and in Antioch, used cars are likely to experience the same issues. But those are good problems to have. After all, as much as dealers love to find homes for pre-owned vehicles and make some money off of the work their auto plants have already done, new vehicles always will be the big money-makers, and when those money-makers also just so happen to be good for the environment, everybody wins.