KIA EV5

The long range battery will take 31 minutes to charge from 10-80 % using DC fast charging. At home on a 7.4kWh wall box a full charge will take 11 hours. As ever if you can get a home charger, . https://www.rolecserv.com/ev-products/evo   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.

The EV5 uses the same dashboard design as the EV3, so you’re greeted by a familiar one screen set-up, steering wheel & the column-mounted gear selector which also includes the starter button. In the centre binnacle it’s almost a mirror of the larger EV9 with large twin cup holder & charging pad with large padded armrest revealing storage beneath. The touch-sensitive menu bar gives you access to the shortcut buttons; Home, Map, Search, Media & Setup & you also get separate climate switches below these.

We drove the GT-Line & the dash front & door arm rest finishes are soft touch & tactile. If you look more closely the lower down plastics are mostly hard, including the centre armrest bin, door pockets & B pillar trims. But, compared to many similar sized EV’s it’s better & feels built to last.

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.

The cabin feels cavernous & with the cars upright shape all passengers get welcome head & legroom & in the rear there’s plenty  of room for three adults to sit side by side. Rear passengers also have a fold-down armrest with twin cup holders & rear front back seat pockets too. Best of all is the centre console storage drawer that you can pull out to reveal a lidded compartment that’s easily accessible from the back seats.

Up front is some under-bonnet storage which can only be opened from inside. The boot itself comes with a flat boot floor & space beneath for your charging cables. Space itself is 566 litres or with the very heavy rear 60:40 seats folded 1,650 litres. We utilised these for a rare round of golf & the EV5 comfortably swallowed my clubs & trolley.

Kia’s set-up is familiar & pretty good with 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 CarPlay or Android Auto is offered & a wireless charger sits between the front seats. The screen image quality is excellent & the menus are easy to understand.

Our only gripes are that the short-cut menu bar below  needs a bit of a push to access your option & the car safety features are located in the top left corner of the screen, so are harder to reach from the drivers seat when you want to alter these.

Maximum range is 329 miles on the WLTP combined cycle.  To help you travel further, Kia does have a number of battery saving aids to help you get the most from your EV5. Firstly there’s driving modes; Eco, Normal & Sport.  Which brings us to the i-Pedal. Alongside the driving modes are several levels of regeneration; Zero, 1, 2, 3 & then the i-Pedal. Being someone who wants to get as much range out of my electric cars battery as possible, we spent our week driving almost always in Eco mode. If you select the i-Pedal, this offers the highest level of regeneration & reduces your need for the brake, perfect for the city. Venture onto 40mph + roads & Level 2 or 3 gives you a bit more zip, whilst on the motorway, Level 3 or Zero, allows you to drive the EV5 unhindered. Having said that we utilised iPedal, even on the motorway & it really isn’t intrusive at all.

The EV5 comes with a 0-62mph time of 8.4 seconds &  a 102mph top speed. Later in 2026 a dual-motor all-wheel drive car with 261bhp will join the range, cutting the 0-62mph time to 7.3 seconds & a range topping GT will be quicker still offering 302bhp & a 0-62mph time of just 6 seconds.

Length 4,610mm

Air from £39,345
GT-Line from £42,465
GT-Line S from £47,145

Without a doubt the latest electric Kia is super-easy to drive & combines a high level of comfort with a decent suspension set-up that cleverly masks the EV5’s weight. What the EV5 doesn’t do though is offer any excitement at least in the GT-Line version. We’d surmise that the S & GT model will rectify this. Handling is well, predictable with light steering & decent road manners.

For a family of five it’s perfect with a light, airy cabin, comfortable easily adjusted seats & enough tech to go around.All around visibility with plenty off glass is excellent. The reversing camera’s are great inclusion as the EV5’s larger at 4,610 mm than you’d expect. The steering wheel gear lever is also easy to get used to & we love Kia’s regeneration system which you can alter on the fly by simply pulling on the steering wheel paddles with your fingers.

Our main local test routes are the M56 & M53 & an 85 mile round trip along these proved how good the EV5 is on fast roads. As with rival EVs, tyre road noise does rear it’s head due to the lack of an engine to drown it out, whilst the motor does it’s works quietly in the background.

For family safety more good news is that Kia’s Highway Driving Assist tech is fitted to every EV5, allowing the driver to sit back & relax whilst the car doe the work for you. The on-board tech will assist you in maintaining your speed, keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front as well as staying in your lane & will even change lanes automatically when the appropriate turning indicator is activated. In town some of these can be deactivated but on the motorway these are a real plus.

When we climbed aboard in early April with temperatures sitting at about 10 degrees our test car was illustrating a maximum range of 243 miles in Eco mode. So some way away from the claimed of over 300. In our week & 250 miles traveled we averaged 3.0 miles/kWh so equating to a real world range of 250 miles. Warmer weather will most likely se the range climb much closer to 300 miles.

All versions of the EV5 come in under the £50,000 luxury car tax bracket, with company car drivers enjoying a Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rate of 3%.

Pros

Very spacious, easy to drive & to use. Intuitive infotainment, well built, comfortable & 3% BIK

Cons

Verdict