What’s this new car all about then?
Back in September last year we were deeply impressed by Kia’s latest entrant into its fast-growing EV family, the EV3 small SUV, when we drove it in Korea at the global launch.
A compact SUV that had some fairly obvious Volvo EX30 parallels, the EV3’s mini-EV9 looks were perfectly scaled down to suit a smaller footprint, it was packed with tech, felt brisk and agile on the road and was impressively comfortable.
But there was still a question mark hanging over it, as there always is when you drive a car at a global launch on roads in its home country - how well will all of this translate to New Zealand? The EV3 boasted a composed and compliant ride over Korean highways, but these are generally all smooth concrete, with only the occasional expansion joint to test the primary ride.
Likewise it felt nicely settled on what few narrower B-roads we did get to try, but then these were also at much lower speeds. Basically, all you could really say for certain about the EV3’s ride and handling was that it is excellent if you live in Seoul.
So quite how the EV3 would handle the transition to our notoriously sink-prone and patched up coarse chip seal roads over rugged, hilly landscape was a very interesting question to leave hanging.
How much is it?
The EV3 is coming to New Zealand in three initial forms; Light, Earth and GT Line models.
The entry level Light short range kicks the line up off at a remarkably sharp $55,290 and packs a 58kWh battery with a WLTP range of up to 436km, while the $62,220 long range model packs an 81kWh battery and ups the range to an impressive 605km.
The Light comes standard with cloth seats with manual adjustment, a leather steering wheel, 17-inch alloy wheels, a big 12.3-inch digital cluster that combines seamlessly with a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a V2L (vehicle-to-load) three pin electrical outlet in the rear and an external V2L adaptor, with the EV3 being the first Kia to offer this as standard equipment and not an option.
Every model of EV3 also comes with a full suite of safety features and driver assists, parking sensors front and rear, a backing camera, automatic LED headlights and DRLs and rain-sensing wipers.
The short range model can charge at up to 100kW on a DC fast charger, while the long range version can take speeds of up to 128kW.
The $69,220 Earth model is only available with the 81kWh long range battery and 128kW DC charging, and adds 19-inch alloys, blind-spot monitoring, rear collision avoidance and a surround view monitor to the safety suite, while also bringing a 12-inch colour heads-up display, rear privacy glass, chrome door garnishes, artificial leather upholstery, a powered driver’s seat, a heated steering wheel and front seats and a wireless phone charger.
The GT Line tops the range at $75,220 and also only comes as a long range model. Adding a different style of black alloy wheels, the GT Line is also differentiated by body-coloured door garnishes, gloss black exterior highlights, projection-style LED headlights and LED taillights.
Inside, the GT Line scores an 8-speaker Harmon Kardon audio system, ventilated front seats, a leather sports steering wheel, ambient interior lighting, a sliding centre console table, a powered tailgate and a heat pump system.
Due largely to the Earth and GT Line’s larger wheels their ranges drop to 563km.
What’s it like to drive?
In answer to that hanging question above, I am extremely happy to report that the EV3 has handled the transition from smooth Korean highways to broken chip sealed roads even better than I expected.
Of course, Kia does put particular effort into ride and handling in this part of the world, with an engineering team stationed in Australia to tweak and refine the suspension for roads more like ours (but still not quite the same), and the payoff for this effort with the EV3 has been one of the best yet.
All EV3 models use the same 150kW/283Nm electric motor mounted on the front axle, lithium-ion NMC batteries and run on Macpherson strut suspension at the front with a multi-link setup at the rear.
It is this suspension package that has been the focus of the local engineering team and the EV3 has a wonderfully supple ride over the gnarly roads that snake along the coast out of Maraetai, where the launch was held.
The ride quality over the rough and often broken chip seal was excellent, with the EV3 smoothing out the vast majority of imperfections, and shrugging off larger bumps with a casual indifference. While there was a tad more tyre roar than I would have expected, it isn’t intrusive and wind noise is almost entirely absent.
Handling is predictable in the extreme, with gentle understeer being the most dramatic thing that happens when you push hard, while the steering is slickly accurate, albeit entirely without any feel whatsoever. But then, let’s face it; this is a small urban SUV.
What’s the pick of the range?
The entry level Light was the only model available at the local launch, so that is all we have driven so far, but a quick perusal of the spec sheet doesn’t really show anything that I personally would necessarily want over and above the Light’s standard equipment.
Oh, except for a wireless phone charger - wireless Android Auto without a wireless phone charger is largely a waste of time, given the rate it chews through the battery…
Given that all EV3s are FWD and use the same powertrain, then we can safely assume they will all ride and handle the same, so there isn’t much to decide on there. But the step from the long-range Light and the Earth isn’t huge and the extra gear on offer could make it the Earth the sweet spot. That will all change soon, however, as AWD models are in the pipeline, as is a hot GT model.
What other cars should I consider?
Given the EV3 is a replacing the Niro EV in New Zealand, an interesting competitor (if you’re not quite ready for the jump to a full EV yet) is the Niro PHEV which similarly comes in Light, Earth and GT Line models ($55,690, $57,690 and $69,690 respectively).
However, if it is full EV you are after, then there are a few to choose from, with the likes of the BYD Atto 3 ($51,990 to $60,990), MG4 ($38,990 to $59,990) and Omoda E5 ($47,990 to $54,990) all hanging around in the same segment at a similar price point and making compelling alternatives, while if you wanted to head up the higher end of the range there are the likes of the Mini Aceman ($63,990 to $69,990), Jeep Avenger ($69,990), Smart #1 and #3 ($64,990 to $84,990) and Volvo EX30 ($74,990 to $84,990) which, again, are all solid choices.
