Independent SME Fleet Motoring News

Company Car and Van

Independent SME Fleet Motoring News

KIA EV4

by Andrew Walker

Whilst Chinese EV’s are in the news Koreas finest, Kia have been adding to their own electric range with the EV4, the brands first European built model. The EV4 sits below the EV6 whilst reflecting it’s Sportback style also adds a Fastback version too. First up the Sportback.

Model choice & battery

The EV4 is offered in three trim levels. Entry level Air , GT-Line & GT-Line S. Air is the only model offered with the standard range 58.3 kWh battery, whilst all three are available with the long range 81.4 kWh battery. The new Fastback model is only offered in GT-Line & GT-Line S paired with the 81.4kWh battery.

Drivetrain & performance

All versions are front-wheel drive with a single motor producing 150 kW or 201 bhp with 283 Nm of torque. Acceleration from 0-62 mph takes 7.5 seconds in the standard battery, then 7.7 seconds with the long range battery, both coming with a top speed of 105 mph.

The EV4 uses the 400V version of Kia’s E-GMP-derived platform, so is a little slower to charge than those fitted with the 800V set-up. Choose the Fastback & this will accelerate to 62mph in 7.9 seconds, going on to a top speed of 105mph

Battery & range

Entry level Air with the standard battery will travel 273 miles, whilst the larger battery versions go further. In Air trim,  388 miles, whilst in the heavier GT-Line & GT-Line S the range falls to 362 miles. The EV4 Fastback offers a driving range of up to 380 miles.

Charging Speeds

The standard range battery will take just 29 minutes to charge from 10-80 % using DC fast charging. At home on a 7.4kWh wallbox a full charge will take 8 hours. Choose the long range battery & these times are 31 minutes & 11 hours respectively. As ever if you can get a home charger, plug in at night when rates are cheaper, in our case for 5 hours at 9p/kWh & you can add 37kWh overnight for just £3.33.

Prices hatchback

Air from £34,695
GT-Line from £37,695
GT-Line S from £43,895

Specifications

Kia were quick to point out that all versions are well kitted out so if you stick with entry level Air it comes with 17” alloys, the 12.3” digital driver display which is joined to the 12.3” central touchscreen & 5.3″climate screen to make one smooth infotainment bar. Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, SatNav, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, dual zone climate, a reversing camera, adaptive cruise control & keyless entry further illustrate this.

Move up to GT-Line & this will add a wireless charging pad,  19″ alloys, sportier styling thanks to the bumpers, additional gloss black trim, two-tone artificial leather upholstery & ambient lighting. GT-Line S goes further still & includes an opening sunroof, 8-speaker Haran Kardon sound system, a smart powered tailgate, LED headlights with adaptive beams & heated & ventilated relaxation front seats.

Outside

Squint & it’s clearly a smaller EV6 & in our opinion looks sharper in it’s smaller clothing. The front features Kia’s familiar Tiger Face, with Kia’s Star Map light signature. The hatch sits quite low to the ground & with active air flaps at the front these combine for  a low drag coefficient of 0.27 CD.

The smooth sides & on our test car GT-Line S the black B & C pillars make the windows appear frameless. At the rear wide tail lights stretch down each corner & partially across the boot with a sloping rear window & spoiler finishing things off.

Inside

The EV4 uses the same dashboard design as the EV3, so you’re greeted by a familiar one screen set-up, a column-mounted gear selector which also includes the starter button. In the centre binnacle though there’s no sliding mini-table, rather a storage space & the short-cut buttons & air vents are also different. Talking of the shortcut buttons, the touch sensitive panel dashes cream finish means that it’s quite difficult to read these especially if it’s sunny. As it goes darker they are back-lit so Home, Map, Search, Media & Setup are revealed.

Quality

We drove the GT-Line GT-line S models & although the dash front & door arm rest finishes are soft touch & tactile, there’s no hiding the fact that if you look more closely the lower down plastics are mostly hard, including the centre armrest bin, door pockets & B pillar trims.

Infotainment
All versions are fitted with the excellent twin 12.3″ displays & 5.3″ climate display, that’s partially obscured by the steering wheel.  These are cleverly mixed with some physical controls allowing the driver to access climate for example, without using the touchscreen.
This set-up & screen icons will be familiar to existing Kia customers & are very logical. As with most new cars, you have to access the screen to turn off lane departure & speed limit warning for example, every time you re-start the car, which is frustrating. Otherwise, the system is easy to work & to use. Wireless Apple CarPlay & a wireless charging pad make connecting your iPhone a doddle. The touch-sensitive panel beneath the screen is a great inclusion, but it requires a proper hard prod to register your input choice, which isn’t as easy as it could be.
Cabin practicality
The EV4 interior is very practical indeed. Up-front there’s a floating centre binnacle with a lift up armrest & storage underneath & a cubby in front of this. Both the glove box & door pockets are a useful size, with twin front & rear USB’s on the seat sides offered as well.
Front passengers get welcome head & legroom & in the rear the seat is large enough for three adults to sit side by side. No transmission tunnel means that you get excellent rear foot space. Rear passengers also have a fold-down armrest with twin cup holders & rear front back seat pockets too.
A caveat in the rear is that if you specify the sunroof, it does eat into rear headroom, so when I sat in the rear at my diminutive 1.72m, my head almost brushed the roof lining.
Cabin comfort
The EV4 comes as standard with a reversing camera & blind spot monitoring, which is good because visibility out of the narrow rear window isn’t brilliant. GT-Line S models also feature a 360-degree camera. It’s better news from the front with the large glass area making it easy to see out. The seats are very comfortable & the head rests are soft like pillows which we really liked.
Boot
The EV4’s boot offers 435 litres, with a height adjustable boot floor as standard, beneath which you can store your charging cable. Fold down the rear sears & this increases to 1,415 litres. A low load lip is also good news.
Safety
Our GT-Line test car  & all Air models come with front & rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, Forward Collision Avoidance, Highway Driving Assist, Lane Keep Assist, Lane Follow Assist, Smart Cruise Control, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, Blind Spot Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Safe Exit Warning & Driver Attention Warning. GT-Line S
blind-spot view monitor, a 360-degree surround view monitor, Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist & Remote Smart Park Assist 1.0.
Driving
The starter button is hidden away on the bottom of the steering wheel mounted gear stalk. Simply press this with your foot on the brake & the motor starts & away you go.
You can choose from five driving modes. Eco, Normal & Sport, My Drive plus a Snow option. Each does what it says on the packet, although Sport isn’t really sporty, rather altering the feel of the steering & accelerator pedal.
Which brings us to the i-Pedal. Alongside the driving modes, the EV4 has several levels of regeneration; Zero,1, 2, 3 & then the i-Pedal. This allows you to add some regenerative braking to the drive via the steering wheel paddles. Again it’s a familiar set-up found on other electric Kia’s, Hyundai’s & Genesis models & is easy to understand & also to use. The strongest setting does offer one-pedal driving , but you’ll need to select this each time you get into the car.
Ride
The ride felt better than what we experienced in either the EV6 or EV3. Could that be the Berkshire tarmac we drove on or is it because Kia have improved this as the EV4 is newer ? We’d like to thank the latter & it’s significantly better than most of the competition which is a plus.Softer suspension seems to be the key & we found it always seemed to adjust to the road accordingly.
The steering’s okay if a little vague at lower speeds & as with other EV’s, if you go faster than 50mph this improves especially if you can find some undulating, winding roads as we did in the Chilterns.
The regenerative braking works extremely well but for fun it’s best at the lowest setting, while full i-Pedal is the obvious choice in town.
Motorway
A short sprint between M4 junctions allowed us to asses the EV4 at motorway speeds & it was impressive. There’s not enough acceleration for out & out thrills but you still get plenty of power for safe overtaking. The suite of on board safety features including Adaptive cruise control on all versions, take that Smart Motorway hassle away.  Only a small amount of road & wind noise makes it’s way into the cabin & having already connected wirelessly to CarPlay, this didn’t spoil our  listening.
Pros
Quiet, spacious cabin, easy to use infotainment with plenty of short-cut buttons, offers a smooth ride & practical too. Long Range battery should deliver a decent range.
Cons
Some cheap plastics in the cabin. Drives well but isn’t thrilling. Touch sensitive buttons need a proper push.
Verdict
Dare we say to but the EV4 is the electric car plenty of others wished they could build & that includes European & Chinese manufacturers. The long range version with a 380+ mile range hits the sweet spot for now, with competitors lagging some way behind. We can’t fault the way it rides, the cabin set-up, it’s comfy seats, the decent sized boot nor how it looks which is great ! Accepting that this is a car built to a price point & for comfort, not all out fun also dismisses our negatives, meaning we’ve driven the most complete Kia electric car yet.
A Kia Pride 4.25/5

About Andrew Walker

Andrew 'Max' Walker is a member of the Northern Group of Motoring Writers & has been reviewing cars & vans since 1991. He has supplied stories for Fleet North, MSA Newslink, Health Fleet Management, Local Authority Fleet Manager & various Chamber of Commerce & lifestyle publications. He launched Company Car & Van in April 2010 specifically for SME fleets, who are the backbone of the UK economy. His favourite car of all time is the original Citroen DS & like most motoring writers, he loves to drive a van.