Kia EV3 Revealed, Looks Like A Baby EV9

Befitting a company that’s known for its worthy, sensible offerings, Kia hasn’t messed about when naming its range of bespoke electric cars. There are no slightly hard-to-decipher marketing buzzwords going on here – no EQ, ID, e-tron or Ioniq. It’s simply ‘EV’ for electric vehicles, and then a number denoting where the car sits size-wise in the range.

In the UK, we’ve had the swoopy, Tesla Model 3-rivalling EV6 and the enormous, electric locomotive-rivalling EV9, and now they’re joined by the most junior member of the family yet: the EV3.

As with seemingly every other new car these days, it’s a small crossover. In fact, its dimensions are remarkably close to those of the Niro, another little Kia crossover that’s already available as a full EV. That car can also be had as either a ‘self-charging’ or plug-in hybrid too, though – the EV3 is electric and electric only, based on the modular E-GMP platform that underpins pretty much every bespoke EV from Kia, Hyundai and Genesis.

It’s available in Standard or Long Range versions, the former getting a 58.3kWh battery and the latter benefitting from an 81.4kWh unit. For now, it’s just available with a single-motor front-wheel drive setup. It produces 201bhp and 209lb ft of torque, enough for a 7.5-second 0-62mph time and a 106mph top speed. In Long Range form, WLTP range is estimated at an impressive 373 miles. The EV3 also has ‘vehicle-to-load’ capability, meaning it can basically be used as a giant battery to power smaller electric devices.

We had a preview of the EV3 in the form of a concept version last year, and on the outside, the production car doesn’t differ drastically. It’s a bit less blocky, but still looks broadly the same, i.e. like a shrunken, rounded-off EV9. Go for the current range-topping GT-Line and you get contrasting black trim on the lower body and chunkier bumpers front and rear. Drag coefficient is kept nice and low at 0.263Cd.

The interior, apparently heavily inspired by nature, features an almost 30-inch wide screen, incorporating a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, a five-inch screen dedicated to the climate controls, and another 12.3-inch item for the infotainment. Luckily for touchscreen-o-phobes, there are hard-key buttons on the wheel and shortcut buttons beneath the infotainment display for various functions. One nature-inspired interior element that doesn’t carry over from the concept is the mushroom-based upholstery (no, really), but basically all the fabric and plastic in the interior is recycled.

The EV3 is set to go on sale in Korea in July, to be followed by a European debut later in the year, when we’ll hear more about specs and pricing.