When Volvo first unleashed the small EX30 I was particularly eager to drive it, being a fan of small cars with bold, distinctive styling as well as functional, minimalist interiors.
And while I did indeed like the Volvo upon driving it, there were a few disappointments. The driver assists were too naggy and, more annoyingly, inconsistent, and while the interior was magnificently minimalist, it did rely a bit too much on the infotainment touchscreen for functions that are simply better with a physical button.
This all came back to me about ten minutes after firing up the Kia EV3 at the international launch and heading out into the early morning traffic in the South Korean capital city of Seoul. Mainly because it quickly became apparent that the EV3 was the car I was hoping the Volvo would be.
Indeed, you get the very strong impression that Kia engineers took a long, hard look at the Volvo EX30 and decided exactly what they could do better - the interior layout is still nicely minimalist and uncluttered, but has enough of a sprinkling of buttons and physical controls so as not to be as obtuse as the Volvo, while the various driver assists are considerably less intrusive and insistent.
In fact the first thing you notice about the EV3 on the road when comparing it to other similar cars (and particularly its EV6 and EV9 family members) is the vast improvement in the way the driver aids and safety assists go about the business of aiding and assisting.
There has been a welcome evolution in the way Kia EVs handle the business of active safety: where the EV6 and EV9 insist, the more recent EV5 politely suggests. And the EV3 is even more subtle again in both the way it warns and intervenes.
Quiet and infrequent chimes replace constant beeps and other digital shouts, while the steering assist is delightfully subtle and still does an excellent job of keeping you in your lane, without actively fighting you.
The EV3 is the first car to feature Kia’s new “i-Pedal 3.0” one-pedal driving system. Where most older one-pedal setups were either an on or off affair, with some offering several levels of braking, newer systems have gone further by offering a clever adaptive feature that will adjust the level of one-pedal braking depending on circumstance - such as, if it sees a car ahead of you, it will subtly ramp up the braking effect of lifting off the throttle.
Styling-wise, Kia has nailed it again with the EV3, successfully scaling down the chunky lines and short overhangs of the EV9 and EV5 for the EV3’s smaller frame.
Kia’s latest i-Pedal system is an evolution of that automatic feature of previous systems and, as well as using the car’s various sensors, is now also linked to the satellite navigation (as opposed to just the GPS positioning data), so it can alter its assistance even more accurately.
This all sounds very complex, but the result is brilliantly simple, with the EV3 adjusting the way the throttle pedal works to suit where and how you are driving, totally removing the need to switch the amount of assistance manually (or switch it off altogether out on the open road where it is just annoying…).
Styling-wise, Kia has nailed it again with the EV3, successfully scaling down the chunky lines and short overhangs of the EV9 and EV5 for the EV3’s smaller frame and, in doing so, has given it a clean, yet bold and distinctive look. And those wheels are absolutely awesome too.
However, possibly the most impressive part of the styling is invisible, with Kia unleashing a slew of aerodynamic tricks to bring the EV3’s drag coefficient down to 0.26Cd, which you definitely wouldn’t expect from its chunky, upright, squared-off shape.
The EV3 launches in two initial configurations - the standard car and an up-spec GT-Line - both powered by a 150kW/283Nm electric motor on the front axle with the choice of a 58.3kWh standard battery or an 81.4kWh long-range battery. Kia says the smaller battery will provide a WLTP-tested range of up to 436km, while the larger unit will see up to 605km.
On the road the EV3 boasts a simply superb ride that makes it feel like a car that costs several times what the EV3 will likely land here at.
While the EV3 will initially only be available in front-wheel drive configuration, the company says AWD versions are in the works, as is a sporty GT model.
Although the EV3 sits on the same dedicated electric platform as the EV9, it misses out on that car’s 800-volt charging architecture, instead making do with a 400-volt system to keep costs down. However, this is still good enough to see some pretty decent charging times, with Kia claiming a 10 to 80% fast charging time of 29 minutes for the standard battery and 31 minutes for the long range.
This tracked with our experience in the real world, with the standard range car we drove at the launch taking six minutes to top up to 80% from the 64% it finished the day on.
All EV3s come standard with a massive 30-inch panoramic display that consists of three screens seamlessly combined across the dash - a 12.5-inch instrument unit behind the steering wheel displays all the expected gauges and instruments, while a 12.5-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash handles infotainment functions. Nestled neatly in between the two is a 5-inch HVAC information screen that creates the illusion of a single, uninterrupted display.
It looks fantastic and is impressively logical to use, with a sensible smattering of physical buttons for the key controls supplementing it, while the rest of the EV3’s interior is equally impressive, with a blend of fabrics and plastics that feel of an impressively high quality and are beautifully put together.
If Kia gets the local pricing right, the EV3 will tick a lot of boxes for a lot of people. And quite possibly be Volvo’s worst nightmare.
On the road the EV3 boasts a simply superb ride that makes it feel like a car that costs several times what the EV3 will likely land here at (we don’t have any confirmed local prices yet, but we can make a few broad assumptions based on local EV5 pricing) and it handled Seoul’s many and varied speed bumps with impressive composure.
From a standing start the standard range car will hit 100km/h in 7.5 seconds, while the slightly heavier long range model will do it in 7.7 seconds, which is par for the course in a segment that is far more concerned with serenity than searing performance, and the EV3’s power delivery is linear and nicely urgent through the low and mid range, making going for that gap in traffic an effortless and predictable thing to do.
We didn’t get a chance to try the EV3 on a winding back road on the launch, but its exceptional performance on urban roads, busy city streets and open motorways suggests things will be fine there as well, albeit not likely terribly sporty. It will, however, be interesting to see how the air of refined quietness holds up when assaulted by our coarse chip seal roads when it lands locally.
Speaking of which, while dates are yet to be confirmed, the EV3 is most likely to be arriving here early next year. If Kia gets the local pricing right (and they usually do), the EV3 will tick a lot of boxes for a lot of people. And quite possibly be Volvo’s worst nightmare.
