Kia is steadily revamping its electric car range – and this rather striking looking addition is the Kia EV3. It’s an all-new compact SUV designed to sit alongside the Niro EV in the brand’s range, where it’ll become a direct competitor for the Volvo EX30.
Kia hasn’t yet confirmed UK prices and specs for the EV3, but the brand says the car was specifically designed to combat the EX30 – and Kia’s financiers are hoping to hit the same £34,000-ish price point as the Volvo by the time the EV3 reaches Europe at the end of 2024.
The EV3 is the new entry-point for Kia’s electric car range, acting as the opposite bookend to the seven-seat EV9 SUV. Despite its more affordable price-tag it draws plenty of inspiration from Kia’s flagship model, sporting the same vertical headlights, similarly boxy styling and kindred boomerang-shaped tail lights.
Scroll down to learn everything we know about the new Kia EV3, including details on its technology, range figures and power output. Plus, we tell you when you’ll be able to buy one in the UK and how much you can expect to pay for it.
What’s it like inside?
It’ll be reasonably familiar to current Kia EV owners. The dashboard features a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch touchscreen, complete with a shortcut bar beneath it that allows you to jump to common functions such as the sat-nav and media menus.
Kia is also keen to point out that, because the EV3’s infotainment screen is positioned towards the centre of the cabin, both the driver and front passenger can access it easily.
You get a similar number of steering wheel buttons as the Kia EV9 – and they allow you to control everything from the car’s infotainment system to its cruise control and driver assistance technology. There’s also a driver monitoring system and an AI voice assistant that can perform commands such as setting navigation instructions or playing media.
All this technology is familiar – we’ve seen it on the likes of the Kia EV6 and EV9. However, the EV3’s cabin layout is a little more innovative than both those cars. For example, there’s a sliding table mounted on the centre console that’s wide enough to hold a laptop or tablet. It even has a storage bin underneath it that Kia says is large enough to hold small backpacks.
Kia also has Volvo licked in the storage department. The EV3 has a massive 460 litres of boot space with the rear seats in place, which is 142 litres more than you get in the EX30. Plus, the Kia also features a 25-litre storage bin under its bonnet to hold its charging cables.
The EV3’s interior has been pieced together from sustainable materials, too. The seats and door cards are trimmed in recycled fabric, while recycled PET plastic is used for items such as the seats, headliner, door armrests, floor mats and boot board.
What’s powering the new Kia EV3?
The EV3 is built on the Hyundai Group’s modular E-GMP underpinnings. Versions of the platform are found under cars such as the Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6.
Like the recently updated EV6, the EV3 is powered by Kia’s fourth generation battery technology. However, because the EV3 car was designed to be a little more affordable, it’s available with a smaller, less expensive battery pack.
The entry-level EV3 standard features a 58.3kWh battery, which Kia hopes will give the car a maximum range of 255 miles. Above that, there’s the EV3 Long Range – and it gets the same 81.4kWh battery found in the revised EV6, which Kia expects will boost maximum range to 373 miles.
Whichever version of the EV3 you opt for, though, you’ll get the same electric motor, at least from launch. It’s a single motor mounted on the front axle delivering 204hp and 283Nm of torque. Mounting the motor at the front creates more cabin space than it was at the rear, as in the EV6.
Kia says the EV3 can sprint from 0–62mph in 7.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 105mph. If that’s not enough poke for you, Kia will also launch a performance-focused, four-wheel drive EV3 GT in 2025 with an extra motor on the rear axle and a lot more power.
Charge times for the EV3 are quick, but not class leading. A 10 to 80% charge takes 31 minutes for both the 58.3kWh and 81.4kWh versions of the car at a suitably quick rapid charger. To achieve that, the larger battery can accept a slightly higher DC charging speed of 128kW, while the smaller battery is capped at 102kW.
Any clever technology worth mentioning?
Oh yes. The EV3 is available with Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) charging, which means buyers can use the energy in the car’s battery pack to power appliances such as laptops, small fridges, coffee machines and hairdryers – perfect for family camping trips.
It’s also available with a massive 12.0-inch head-up display and remote smart parking assist, which allows owners to park their cars from outside the vehicle to make it easier to squeeze into tight spaces. Plus, Kia designed a digital key for the EV3, which can be loaded onto your smartphone or smartwatch. It works using the same technology as virtual contactless payment cards.
What does this mean for me?
If you’re in the market for an affordable compact electric SUV, the pool of cars you’ll be able to pick from has just expanded. Kia is confident it can match the same price point as the Volvo EX30 by the time the car reaches the UK.
In fact, US prices for the car have already been teased ahead of the EV3’s market launch – and Kia’s North American customers will pay around $35,000 (around £27,500) to have the car on their driveways. That means a UK starting price of around £34,000 is entirely realistic.
However, Kia’s aggressive pricing strategy for the EV3 puts the electric version of the Niro in an uncomfortable position. The two cars are competing in the same market segment – and the EV3’s £34,000 starting price would undercut the Niro by more than £3,000.
The EV3 will be available to order from August 2024 at the latest, with first deliveries expected to arrive by the end of the year.
Luke Wilkinson is Deputy Editor of Parkers. He has worked as a car journalist for five years, and spends his time writing news, reviews, features and advice pieces for both Parkers and its sister site CAR magazine.
