• Driving range of up to 375 miles
• Impressive efficiency figures
• Seven-year warranty included

What are the running costs?

Kia offers the EV3 with two battery sizes – 58.3kWh or 81.4kWh. The smaller unit is only available on the entry-level Air model, and allows for a claimed 270-mile range. The majorty of buyers are expected to choose the longer-range 81.4kWh battery, with Kia claiming up to 375 miles.

Kia – and sibling firm Hyundai – usually have some of the most realistic range figures, and even on our fairly spirited test drive we averaged 4.0 miles per kilowatt hour, which would give a driving range of 325 miles – an excellent figure for a car of this type.

Though the EV3 doesn’t have the best maximum rapid charging speed on paper (up to 102kW on the small battery and 129kW on the big), an excellent charging speed curve means both models will only need around half an hour to get the battery from 10 to 80% charge. As a result, Kia claims the EV3 offers ‘more miles per minute’ than its rivals.

The EV3 also has a longer range than all of them, too – most of the Stellantis EVs can only just crack 250 miles from a charge, while the EX30 dips just under 300 miles. The new Skoda Elroq is the closest thing in this class, which has a claimed 360-mile driving range but costs slightly less than the EV3.

Servicing and warranty

One of Kia’s selling points remains its long warranty, which lasts for seven years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes sooner. It’s one of the longest and most comprehensive available on any EV.

We’re yet to have servicing schedules and costs confirmed for the EV3, but if it mirrors those of the brand’s other models, it’ll only need servicing every two years or 20,000 miles.

Reliability

It’s too early to say how reliable the EV3 will be – we’ll report back when cars arrive in the UK and we have real feedback from owners.