My next-door neighbour hates electric cars. She says she is hap-hap-happy with her Audi TT coupe and will be keeping it until the very last day she can pump tasty unleaded from the fuel station at the bottom of the hill.
At the opposite end of the street is a Tesla with a very smiley driver, happy to be home charging and commuting, and in-between is a Toyota CH-R hybrid.
So, which way to go and why? For me, as yet, it’s hybrid for most people, petrol or diesel for long-distance driving, and an EV for short-haul work.
As yet, I’m not ready to swap one of my combustion friends for a new EV. But, if I was forced to pick, which one would I take?
Right now, the answer is the Kia EV3. It’s a ‘goldilocks’ car from the Kia family, compact and cost effective, with decent range and the sort of features that work for most people.
Kia now has a wide spread of EVs, seven in total, from the EV3 at the bottom end and with pricing from less than $50,000 up to the giant family-sized EV9 SUV at close to $100,000. Their technology varies as much as the pricing but things are improving all the time, especially on the range front.
In the case of the EV3, there is a claimed minimum range of 436 kilometres, rising to more than 600 if you want to go all-in. Kia has three equipment grades for the car – Air, Earth and GT-Line – with either a standard or long-range battery pack.
But what makes the EV3 so good is not just about numbers.
It’s an honest little runabout that is nice to drive and not just a battery box loaded with the ‘bells and whistles’ used by many start-up Chinese brands to lure buyers. It’s also not relying on the zap-bang impact of EV acceleration.
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told “This EV is so fast” I would be retired and cruising the Mediterranean. But that’s not the point.
Acceleration so brutal it can re-arrange your internal organs – I’m looking at you, Porsche Taycan, and you, MG IM5 – is not what cars are about. Once you’ve done it once, and impressed your friends, the real advantage of an EV is the quietness in the cabin.
Now I’m looking at the EV3. It is roomy in the cabin, has plenty of boot space, and is both quiet and efficient.
The basic range is good enough for most people for weekly commuting work, and in a city like Sydney or Melbourne – where stop-start driving and moderate hills work to boost the ‘regenerative braking’ effect – it’s possible to run closer to 500 kilometres. The advantage comes because the electric motor that drives the car can also run in ‘reverse’ to charge the battery when slowing, instead of relying on the conventional brakes.
Officially, the EV3 is a small SUV and that puts into a hotbed of competition, combustion and electric, with Chinese contenders now hitting the value button – including the electric BYD Atto 3 – other brands – Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and the rest – banking on their proven strengths.
What sets it apart is the design work, local suspension tuning and a seven-year warranty. All three of those things should also work in its favour when it hits the secondhand scene, where EV prices are looking miserable after just three years of ownership.
The cabin of the EV3 is roomy, it has big-and-bright infotainment screens, the seats are comfy and well shaped, and access – so important to older drivers – is good. The car also rides well, where most heavy EVs can crash through potholes and bounce over undulations, and it corners quietly with confidence.
At this point it’s important to contrast the EV3 with its own stablemate, the EV5. The bigger car was a disappointment even before it arrived, with Kia Australia forced to delay its introduction to get on top of quality problems from a Chinese factory, and dynamically it is ordinary. Very ordinary, despite the best efforts of the local tuning group.
Some shoppers will be put off by the lack of physical buttons for minor controls, but the design bonuses include a very clear view of the road ahead and a ‘frunk’ – front trunk in the USA – for extra storage in the nose, where the engine would live in a combustion car.
Kia Australia claims a seven-hour charging time from a conventional home three-pin plug, obviously dropping rapidly for fast chargers to around 30 minutes for a top-up to 80 per cent of battery capacity.
So the EV3 ticks the boxes for first-time EV buyers, with a sweet little package from a proven value brand. For me, it’s sensible and safe – not just the 5-star ANCAP score – for someone looking for a good place to begin a battery-electric journey.
KIA EV3
Price: From $47,600
Motor: single electric motor, 150kW/283Nm
Gearbox: single-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Safety: 5-star ANCAP
Range: from 436
The tick: A