► Kia’s ID.3 killer driven in Seoul
► Priced from £32,995 undercutting VW, Seat and Jeep
► Spacious, rangey, stylish and laden with intelligent kit
As Kia’s high-value halo models the EV6 and EV9 confidently signalled the Korean brand’s bold design and technology-led approach to the EV sector. So this new EV3 – smaller, more affordable, but still packed with tech and style – will have to do the grunt work to really deliver the kind of European sales volumes the Koreans want.
That’s a tough gig when the electric market is cooling by the day, ICE price parity is still some way off, and in the UK the charging network is not fit for purpose. Can the combination of a £32,995 start price, family-friendly functionality wrapped in dramatically futuristic styling, and gold-star battery and charging tech be enough to not only attract ardent ICE drivers, but also shoulder aside rivals from Volvo, VW and Cupra? We headed out to Seoul to answer that question.
At a glance
Pros: Concept car looks, sophistication, space and comfort, price, equipment levels
Cons: No heat pump as standard, rear visibility, modest charging rates
What’s new?
The whole car. This is, for now, Kia’s smallest ‘EVx’ car, which is roughly the same size as a Niro but offers as much space inside as a Sportage. This is the Kia EV car that’ll really hit the mainstream, with so many other electric cars from other makers in its sights; the VW ID.3, Volvo EX30 and Smart #1 are to name just three.
Arguably the EV3’s trump card is its sensational styling. Like a concept car that’s driven off the motor show plinth and on to the high street, the Kia’s combination of chunky four-square proportions, clean sheet metal, smart use of colour and overall lack of adornment imbues it with a sleekly futuristic style. Most car brands have a snappy name for their design language, and most are a load of marketing tosh, but Kia’s ‘Opposites United’ design label does make more sense as more EV models are unveiled. It brings together a raft of disparate shapes, angles and lines that somehow hang harmoniously together.
There’s nothing out there I can think of – the bigger EV9 aside – that looks quite so fresh and distinctive. It’s slippery, too, posting a drag co-efficiency figure of just 0.267, achieved with the help of a three-dimensional underbody jacket that covers 80 per cent of the underside, and by a version of the Active Air Flap (also fitted to the EV6) that adjusts airflow shutters behind the EV3’s nose to limit higher speed drag.
What are the specs?
When deliveries start at the end of the year, buyers will have the choice of three trim levels – Air, GT-Line and GT-Line S – and two battery packs.
The line-up starts with the Air running the Standard Range battery at £32,995 or £35,995 with the Long Range battery. The £39,495 GT-Line comes with the Long Range battery as standard, as does the flagship GT-Line S – yours for £42,995. Both batteries packs power a single motor that drives the front wheels and is good for 201bhp and 209lb ft of torque.
The Air may kickstart the range, but it’s loaded with safety, infotainment and techy kit. Highlights include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 17-inch alloys, LED headlamps heated front seats and steering wheel, parking sensors and reversing camera, regen braking paddle shifter and one-pedal iPedal functionality, OTA updates, and more acronym-laden safety features than you need – or possibly want.
Moving up to the GT-Line gets you niceties such as bigger 19-inch alloy wheels, GT styling pack and glossy black exterior trim and wireless phone charging. The kitchen-sink GT-Line S gets a punchy eight-speaker Harmon Kardon Premium sound system, head-up display, memory seats, 360-degree surround view for parking, sunroof, heated rear seats and the ability to park remotely. Handy for tight carparks. What about heat pumps, you say? That’s a £900 option that’s only available on the GT-Line S model.
Range and charging
The 58.3kWh Standard Range battery has a 267-mile WLTP range, while the significantly bigger 81.4kWh Long Range battery pack should be good for 372 WLTP miles between recharges on Air models with its 17-inch alloys, and 347 WLTP miles on GT-Line and GT-Line S models which wear bigger 19-inch wheels.
Both versions feature 400V architecture, down from the 800V on the EV6 and EV9 to cap costs, and the resulting 102kW and 128kW maximum charge rates for the Standard Range and Long Range batteries are pretty modest compared to the 235kW rate for the EV6. That translates into around 31 minutes for a 10-80 per cent charge. As in its bigger EV6 and EV9 kin, vehicle-to-load and vehicle-to-grid functionality is standard.
What’s the interior like?
The cabin design mixes these radical design elements with a huge dollop of family-friendliness. It successfully manages to be both attractive and versatile in equal measure. First take is the spaciousness. The combination of front wheel drive (a first for Kia’s dedicated E-GMP Electric Global Modular Platform), long 2,680mm wheelbase (coincidentally the exact same as the Sportage), flat rear floor and slimline dashboard delivers almost decadent levels of room in all key areas. The use of dark coarse-weave fabrics, matt metal finishes and flat plastics work with the muted colour palette to create a relaxed and welcoming Scandi vibe.
Much of the tech hardware, including three-as-one screen that spans the low dash, has been shipped in wholesale from the EV9 – keeping both a gimlet eye on costs while ensuring EV3 drivers get more than enough top-drawer safety, infotainment and connectivity features.
Visibility is a mixed bag. Ahead and to the sides you have an excellent view of the road and its users, but that letterbox rear screen sandwiched between roof spoiler and upright rear hatchback means compromised rear visibility when on the go. Good job the high-res reversing camera is standard in the UK.
Sustainability is another key message. The cabin is leather free, there’s no chrome as with the exterior, and each EV3 uses 28.5kg of recycled plastics, the origins of which can be found by using the little QR code found on the dashboard. You also get big buttons – remember those? – for key climate controls. Hurrah. The two-level boot can swallow 460 litres – about 100 litres more than most of the EV3’s closest rivals – and flipping forward the 60:40 split rear seats boosts that to 1,250 litres. There’s also a neat 25-litre frunk to house your charging cables.
How does it drive?
For two days we drove our EV3 Long Range – in the domestic equivalent trim to the GT-Line S we’ll get in the UK – through the best and worst of Seoul’s traffic. It was an ice-cold, calm and relaxed haven from the capital’s 35C heat, humidity and general bedlam. The Kia doesn’t rewrite the ride and handling rulebook, but then it doesn’t put a foot wrong either. It rides with a relaxed and easy-going gait, comfortably cushioning occupants from intrusions even when tackling some of Gangnam’s craggier blacktop. It’s likely the spring and damper rates will be recalibrated for European-bound models, so we very much hope that plump and softly sprung composure isn’t lost in translation. The steering, as you’d expect, is light, direct and at 2.75 turns lock-to-lock, quick enough to make short work of gap-chasing and tight carparks. The brakes are also onside, too. There’s immediate bite from the left pedal, and that confidence-inspiring response grows when you lean harder on them, slowing up the 1,885kg hatchback with ease.
Just as well, because the EV3 is also appealingly brisk, with that addictive elastic-snap of electrified acceleration at urban speeds, and plenty of overtaking pep when you up the pace. Models with the Standard Range battery will zip to 62mph in 7.4 seconds and, while the heavier Long Range models are barely any slower at 7.7 seconds. Both versions are reigned in at 106mph.
It’s only the steering wheel’s odd squirm and writhe under flat-footed acceleration that betrays the EV3’s front-drive format. For the most part it handles with a pleasing neutrality, all that low-down weight resulting in a flat cornering attitude. But its high levels of refinement and sophistication mean you’re more likely to revel in it’s quiet comfort than get the whip out. This is a car that tolerates, rather than enjoys, any kind of exuberant driving antics – selecting Sport simply reduces steering assistance and sharpens the throttle response.
But you know what? That’s okay because this is a family car, not a hot-hatch, and it’s combination of performance and dynamics is perfectly judged for its target audience. So if tyre-smoking fun is your bag, then you’ll have to wait for the rumoured twin-motor all-wheel drive version that’s in the pipeline.
Before you buy
The EV3’s pricing takes the fight straight to VW (the smaller-batteried Air undercuts the £35,700 entry-level ID.3 Pro Essential), Volvo (the base EX30 Core model starts at £32,850), and Cupra (you’ll need £35,495 for the Born V1) and Jeep (£34,999 for the Avenger Longitude).
Company car drivers will benefit from the two per cent BIK rate for EVs in 2024/25 and three per cent for the 2025/26 tax years. Interestingly, the EV3 doesn’t replace the electric Niro in the UK. Kia believes there’s sufficient space between the EV3 and the Niro so they will appeal to different buyers
Verdict: Kia EV3
The EV3 is a deeply impressive piece of kit, it really is. It nails it’s family transport remit with unerring accuracy. Dynamic and distinctive design, a spacious and intelligently-configured cabin, brisk performance and an absorbent ride quality, plenty of kit, decent range and all at a price that’s closer to affordable than most of its rivals. This is Kia effectively showing VW how to do a family car – it’s the ID.3 that VW should have delivered from the get go.
Chinks in the armour? Some may not find its looks appealing, and taste being personal, that’s fair enough. Its charging rate is nothing exciting. Rear visibility could be better. We wish that a heat pump was standard. And when you climb up the specification and battery ladders, the top-spec GT-Line S with Long-Range battery is a chunky £42,995. But these are chinks in what is a very sophisticated, smart and versatile family car. We like the EV3 a great deal, and with good reason.
Specs are for a Kia EV3 GT-Line S