Tennis champion Rafael Nadal has been given a
Kia EV6 electric SUV, in return for a commitment to expand the use of electric vehicles in his personal and professional life.Nadal, a 20-time grand slam champion, 2009 Australian Open winner and former world number one tennis player, has long been a global brand ambassador for Kia. The Korean car maker first sponsored Nadal as an up-and-coming player in 2004 before taking him on globally in 2006.
This latest agreement between the current world number five and Kia builds on a five-year sponsorship renewal signed in July 2020.
At the handover, Nadal acknowledged that the jet-setting lifestyle of a top tennis player “is not fully sustainable”, but he has committed to making “the necessary changes where I can, starting with my personal use of the EV6 crossover in Mallorca and beyond”.
Nadal said: “I feel lucky to have the support of Kia and the new EV6 that will help drive my commitment. I would like to encourage others to join me in driving these kind of vehicles wherever possible.”
As part of the agreement, Nadal will use the customised Kia EV6 GT-Line presented to him at the announcement more extensively when at home in Mallorca, Spain. He will also have the use of a similar vehicle at tennis tournaments around the world, including the 2022 Australian Open in January, of which Kia is a sponsor.
Nadal has also expressed interest in converting all vehicles used at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy in Mallorca and by the Rafa Nadal Foundation to electric vehicles by 2022. It’s unclear whether the EVs used by Rafa’s two foundations will also be from Kia.
The Kia EV6 is the brand’s first dedicated EV and is scheduled to launch locally in the first half of 2022. Three variants of the mid-sized five-door hatchback-turned-SUV are expected to make up the range: the EV6, EV6 GT-Line, and EV6 GT – though production of the lattermost variant isn’t slated to commence until late 2022.
The first two come with a choice of battery size (58kWh and 77.4kWh) and rear- or all-wheel drive configurations.
The GT flagship comes with the larger battery pack and an even more powerful dual electric motor setup standard, and is claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds.
Pricing has yet to be announced for Australia, although in the UK it starts at approximately $76,600 drive-away (as a direct currency conversion) for the base EV6 and tops out at $97,200 for the second-from-top EV6 GT-Line S.
All variants feature an 800-volt high-speed charging system which can recover 70 per cent of its charge in as little as 18 minutes.
Nadal has won more than $64 million in prize money since turning professional at the age of 15 in 2002. While the exact amount of the Kia sponsorship is not known, Nadal is estimated to have earned $30.7 million in endorsements in 2020 in addition to $5.3 million in appearance money and prize money.
The post Rafael Nadal now drives a Kia electric car appeared first on Drive.
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