Kia EV3 Review

Kia has developed a knack for making its electric cars feel fresh without turning them into design exercises that are difficult to live with. The EV3 is a good example of that approach. It takes a lot of the visual cues from the larger EV9 and shrinks them into something far easier to manage around town, while still looking more distinctive than most small electric SUVs.

It also hits a sweet spot in Kia’s EV line-up. The EV6 remains the more style-led crossover and the EV9 is a proper large SUV, but the Kia EV3 is the car that feels most obviously aimed at mainstream buyers who want one electric car to do everything. That means the brief here is broad: enough rear-seat space for family life, enough boot room for everyday use, enough range to avoid constant charging anxiety, and enough quality and tech to feel modern rather than merely worthy.

In practice, the Kia EV3 delivers on most of that. Its cabin is roomy, the driving position is excellent and the boot is one of the stronger offerings in this part of the market. The long-range battery also gives the Kia EV3 a genuine selling point against many similarly priced alternatives, because up to 375 miles on the official cycle is a serious headline figure in this class.

Where it is a little less convincing is in the finer details. The driving experience is competent rather than exciting, and some of the active safety systems can be irritating enough that you will quickly learn the shortcut to quieten them down. The entry Air trim also feels notably plainer inside than the GT-Line versions.

Even so, the overall shape of the Kia EV3 package is very strong. It is stylish, practical, decently priced for what it offers and backed by Kia’s long warranty, which makes it one of the more compelling small electric SUVs available right now.

For most buyers, the Kia EV3 GT-Line with the long-range 81.4kWh battery is the version to go for. It gets the richer interior finish, stronger equipment count and more complete design treatment that suit the EV3 best, while the larger battery makes it much easier to use as a one-car household EV.

The standard-range Air still has a place. If your driving is mostly local and you want to spend the minimum, it remains a sensible option. But the long-range car is the one that really unlocks what is good about the Kia EV3.

GT-Line S adds some desirable luxury features, but it also pushes the price a long way beyond the point where the EV3 starts to feel like straightforward value.

The current Kia EV3 range starts at £31,555 for the Air Standard Range once the current £1,500 Government Electric Car Grant is applied. The long-range Air is £34,555, the GT-Line is £37,955 and the GT-Line S starts at £43,005 with the grant applied.

That means the Kia EV3 is not bargain-basement cheap, but it does look competitive against key rivals once you factor in the battery sizes, range and equipment. 

The Skoda Elroq is the clearest rival and the one most buyers should compare with the Kia EV3 first. It offers a similarly family-friendly brief, a slightly more conventional cabin and a touch more boot space, while still feeling like a modern electric SUV rather than an electric hatch with raised suspension.

The Volvo EX30 is also a key rival if you want something more overtly design-led and premium-leaning, though it is tighter in the back and less practical overall. The Volkswagen ID.3 and Cupra Born remain obvious alternatives if you are happy with a hatchback rather than an SUV.

The Renault Megane E-Tech is also worth a close look, and the Peugeot E-2008 is a rival if you prefer something a little more compact and style-led. The Kia EV3’s edge is that it blends SUV presence, rear-seat space and long-range usability better than most of them.

The Kia EV3 is impressively spacious for a compact electric SUV. Front-seat room is generous, the driving position is lofty without feeling van-like and there is loads of useful storage around the cabin.

Rear-seat space is another plus. There is enough room for adults to sit comfortably, and the flat floor helps make the back seat feel more open than in several rivals. The Kia EV3 is noticeably roomier in the back than a Volvo EX30 or Jeep Avenger Electric.

Boot space is strong too. At 460 litres, the Kia EV3 offers a genuinely useful luggage bay for this class, and the square opening makes it easy to load awkward items. There is also a small 25-litre frunk under the bonnet, which is handy for cables.

For context, the Kia EV3’s 460-litre boot is much bigger than a Volvo EX30’s 318 litres and a Smart #1’s 323 litres, and only just behind a Skoda Elroq’s 470 litres. That makes the Kia one of the more practical EVs in this part of the market.

The Kia EV3 measures 4,300mm long, 1,850mm wide and 1,560mm high in Air trim. GT-Line and GT-Line S are fractionally taller and longer at 4,310mm and 1,570mm high.

Either way, the Kia EV3 feels compact enough to manage in town, but large enough inside to work as a genuine family car.

The Kia EV3 uses the same broad digital approach as other recent Kia EVs. It combines a 12.3-inch driver display, a 12.3-inch central touchscreen and a 5.0-inch climate display into one wide panel running across the dash.

It looks slick and works well. The touchscreen is quick to respond, the graphics are crisp and the menu structure is easy enough to learn. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, and Kia has sensibly kept physical controls for the most-used climate and audio shortcuts.

That means the Kia EV3 feels modern without becoming frustrating, which is not something every EV can claim.

The Kia EV3’s interior quality depends quite a lot on trim. Air is functional rather than plush, and some of its harder plastics make it feel more basic than the design suggests.

GT-Line and GT-Line S improve matters considerably with better trim finishes, more interesting materials and a more premium feel overall. That is why the mid-spec version makes the most sense for many buyers.

All Kia EV3s use the same front-mounted 201PS electric motor, but there are two battery options.

The standard-range car is quick enough for everyday driving, and the long-range versions do not feel meaningfully slower in real-world use. The EV3 never feels especially urgent by EV standards, but it has enough instant response to make town driving effortless.

Sport mode sharpens things up, but even then the Kia EV3 is more brisk than genuinely fast. Normal mode is the best fit most of the time, because it gives you clean responses without making the car feel over-eager, while Eco is useful if you are trying to stretch the battery on a longer run.

The Kia EV3 is at its best around town and on faster main roads. Its soft suspension deals well with potholes, sunken drain covers and rougher urban surfaces, and the light steering makes it easy to place. For a compact SUV on relatively large wheels, it does a neat job of rounding off the sharper edges of poor road surfaces.

On a B-road, the EV3 is tidy and predictable rather than genuinely entertaining. It turns in cleanly enough and there is decent grip from the front axle, but it does not communicate very much through the steering and it never really eggs you on. A Renault Megane E-Tech, MG4 or Peugeot E-2008 all feel keener if driver engagement matters to you.

That softer suspension set-up does pay off once you get back onto a motorway or a broken suburban road. The EV3 settles down nicely at a cruise and generally feels more comfort-led than sporty, which suits its family-car brief well. There is a little vertical movement over larger undulations, but it rarely feels loose or floaty.

Refinement is generally strong. At lower speeds the Kia EV3 is very quiet, and there is little in the way of motor whine. At motorway pace, some wind rustle starts to build around the mirrors and A-pillars, and there is a touch more road noise from coarser surfaces than in the very best EVs, but overall it remains a relaxed long-distance companion.

The regenerative braking system is easy enough to get used to. The paddles behind the steering wheel let you adjust the strength of the regeneration, and holding the left paddle engages a one-pedal mode for town driving. It is a useful feature rather than a gimmick, and it means you can tailor the EV3’s responses depending on whether you are threading through traffic or coasting along more open roads.

The one area that still frustrates is the driver-assistance calibration. Lane and speed warnings can be over-eager, and while Kia has made the most annoying functions easier to mute than some rivals, it is still the sort of car that can feel slightly over-protective until you have set it up the way you like.

The Kia EV3 now has two Euro NCAP ratings: four stars in standard form and five stars when fitted with the optional safety pack. That is a more nuanced result than the original pasted draft anticipated before testing took place.

For the standard car, Euro NCAP recorded 83 per cent for adult occupant protection, 84 per cent for child occupant protection, 78 per cent for vulnerable road users and 78 per cent for safety assist. It is still a solid result, but the distinction between standard and safety-pack cars is worth noting.

Official combined energy consumption runs from 14.9 to 16.2kWh/100km depending on version. In the real world, colder weather and motorway use will reduce range significantly, but the long-range car should still be one of the more usable compact EVs for longer trips.

The standard-range battery charges at up to 100kW DC, with a 10 to 80 per cent top-up in 29 minutes on a powerful charger. The long-range battery can take up to 135kW DC, and the same 10 to 80 per cent top-up takes 31 minutes.

AC charging on a 16A supply takes 5 hours 20 minutes for the smaller battery and 7 hours 15 minutes for the larger pack.

Kia continues to cover the EV3 with its seven-year / 100,000-mile warranty, which remains one of the best manufacturer offers in the business.

Service intervals are every 20,000 miles or 24 months, whichever comes sooner. That is usefully spaced for an EV family car.

Insurance groups run from 32E for the Air Standard Range to 38D for the GT-Line S with heat pump. That means the Kia EV3 is not a cheap EV to insure, though it is still easier on this front than some key rivals.

Electric cars now pay the standard VED rate from year two onwards, and the Kia EV3 is no exception. That means £200 a year from the second year of registration.

The more expensive GT-Line S versions sit below the more than £50,000 Expensive Car Supplement threshold for zero-emission cars, so there is no extra charge to worry about on any current EV3.