Kia is not one to do things by numbers, especially where its ‘EV’-badged cars are concerned. The EV6 – which has just received a subtle cosmetic up-date – kicked things off for the company as part of its major offensive towards a much cleaner, quieter future, before it was joined by the goliath-sized, seven-seat EV9 family wagon.
Not before time, we now have the EV3 – the Korean firm’s “first dedicated electric compact SUV” that promises to redefine this corner of the market. It plans to achieve this with a quoted 375-mile real world range; a tech-heavy, spacious cabin; and styling that melds funky with futuristic.
Available in ‘Air’, ‘GT-Line’, and ‘GT-Line S’ grades, every EV3 gets Kia’s ‘Digital Tiger Face’ (no, we aren’t sure what that means, either), aerodynamically contoured alloys, vertically stacked LED lighting front and back, and wheel arches protected by angular cladding. Flush-fitting door handles and roof rails are standard across the line-up, too, with ‘Frost Blue’ and ‘Sunset Orange’, ‘Shale Grey’ and ‘Pistachio Green’ among the colour choices.
The final look does a fair job of disguising the actual size of this car: built on Kia’s Electric Global Modular Platform, the 2,680mm long wheelbase is the same as the current Sportage. With a battery occupying the space between the two axles, it results in a nailed-down ride that errs on the side of comfort and not athleticism. In tandem with the 17-inch wheels on our ‘Air’ grade test car, the soft-tuned passive suspension easily smooths out broken and uneven surfaces without the clatter, bangs or jolts commonplace in some rival cars.
Class-leading refinement is further enhanced by a spookily quiet, front-mounted electric motor that has 201bhp for crisp acceleration. The sole ‘engine’ option as it stands, it gets you to 60mph in 7.5 seconds in standard range cars (275-miles), and 7.7 seconds in 375-mile variants due to the weight differential of the 58.3kWh battery and the 81.4kWh unit. That puts ‘Air’ EV3s in the £33,005 and £36,630 price bracket, the ‘GT-Line’ costs between £39,405 and £40,030 respectively, and ‘GT-Line S’ starts at £43,005 rising to £44,530.
The EV3’s profile has a hand in total miles covered, as well. A drag coefficient of 0.263 has been achieved through extensive testing in wind tunnels, say Kia, as well as active air flap technology. Engineers have even gone to the trouble of covering off underbody parts to ensure cleaner airflow and reduce drag. When it comes to charging, DC fast charging is supported and enables a 20-80% charge in 35 minutes using a 100kW charging station, rising to 55 minutes for a 10-80% charge if owners are relying on a 50kW fast charger. And thanks to Kia offering a trio of regenerative braking levels – including one-pedal driving – you can reasonably expect to claw back a few miles’ worth of energy over a long journey.
If you happen to be a passenger for an extended period, you can rejoice. The completely flat electric vehicle architecture divvies up generous space for those seated in rows one and two and is lounge-like for those travelling in the back where a central armrest – and handy USB-C ports on the front seatbacks that are perfect for charging gadgets – can be found. Kia could, and arguably should, have gone further, though, by giving the rear seats a slide and recline function.
With these pushed out of the way, the boot, with its height adjustable floor, jumps up from 460-litres (Volvo’s EX30 can only manage 330-litres, and Renault’s Megane E-Tech 440-litres, but the Skoda Elroq trumps them all at 470-litres) to a very useful 1,250-litres. Incorporating a 25-litre ‘frunk’ underneath the bonnet is handy, and also frees up space and can (just about) accommodate your Type 2 charging cable.
Range and other car-related information is relayed clearly on the big – and bright – 12.3-inch driver display that can be partially obscured by the steering wheel depending on how tall you are, or at what height you like the firm but supportive cloth and faux leather trim seats. To the left of it is a second, identically sized touchscreen for infotainment and satellite navigation, and directly beneath it a slim row of haptic shortcut buttons to access various areas of the home screen. Our preference is to default to Android Auto (or Apple CarPlay if you sit on the other side of the smartphone fence) and we suspect others will do likewise given how Kia has opted to go for a main menu constructed entirely of dark tiles featuring grey text and icons.
Designers have resisted the urge to just collate every button in the one area of the dash, which explains why the heated steering wheel and heated seat buttons are integrated into the doors, just below the beltline. We like how this has been executed, though we are less impressed by the presence of some unsatisfactory plastics that are rock hard, sheeny, and rough in this particular area, materials that are also used in the construction of the central ‘table’ – a complaint we have not levelled at Kia for quite some time. We are told this is remedied the higher up the range you go. Still, for a car that is going to set you back north of £33,000, owners expect better.
In terms of standard equipment, ‘Air’ has most boxes ticked for convenience and comfort, but ‘GT-Line’ is the perfect middle ground as it adds LED headlights with adaptive driving beam, privacy glass, two-tone artificial leather upholstery, ambient lighting and a sliding centre console, wireless mobile phone charging and a digital key. Push the boat out for a ‘GT-Line S’ and you get an 8-speaker Harman Kardon sound system with centre speaker and subwoofer, customisable head-up display, front electric sunroof with tilting and sliding function, front ventilated seats, outer rear heated seats, an electrically powered tailgate, Remote Smart Parking Assist, blind-spot view monitor, a 360-degree surround view monitor, and parking collision-avoidance assist.
