Styling
We can't make up our minds whether the Kia EV4 is a wonderful, boldly distinctive piece of styling, or rather if it's just a little awkward to behold. It's certainly better resolved, as this hatchback, from an aesthetic perspective than the truly weird Fastback alternative, but it doesn't seem to have the same immediate kerb appeal of some of the preceding EVs from the company, such as the
EV6 and
EV9. Still, there's something vaguely Citroen-ish about the proportions and appearance of the EV4, so we don't hate it. Also, in GT-Line specification as per our test car, the Kia comes on some attractive 19-inch alloys, but the aero-optimised rims (seen in the pics here) on the base Air are unusual, to say the least.
Interior
In terms of build quality, ergonomics and equipment, this is another beauty of a Kia cabin. Everything is laid out in an intuitive fashion, even if the climate controls are on a 5.3-inch touchpad that's sandwiched in between the two main 12.3-inch displays (one for the infotainment, another serving as the instrument cluster), and sometimes the left-hand part of the steering wheel's rim can obstruct some of the readouts on the climate panel. The rest of it all looks good and operates smoothly, and Kia (like related firm
Hyundai) has the fabulous ADAS-deactivating shortcuts, in the form of long-pressing a pair of buttons on the steering wheel to quickly deactivate two of the most annoying pieces of electronic safety-related gear (lane keep assist and audible speed warning).
Although it, like the Ioniq 9 on test just the week before, also hid the driver monitoring way down in submenus of the infotainment, with the irk here being that the system in the EV4 seemed even more hysterical about chiming in almost every time you so much as glanced away from the road ahead - the irony not lost when the stupid little eye symbol starts flashing when you're trying to operate, say, a digital pad of climate controls tucked in behind the steering wheel, instead of just some sensible physical switches and dials down on the centre console. Harrumph.
Practicality
For a car less than 4.5 metres long, a wheelbase which contributes more than 2.8 metres of that stretch is highly impressive - and is the primary reason the Kia EV4 is so roomy in the back. Flat floor, loads of leg- and headroom, and comfy seats to boot, sitting in the second row is no hardship in the hatchback. In-car stowage and storage is all handy as well, while the boot's decent at 435 litres, although the Fastback has a bigger cargo bay at 490 litres if you just want pure capacity gains. Mind you, strangely enough, the Fastback...
isn't actually a fastback; its bootlid is hinged beneath the rear screen, so the alternative EV4 is in fact a saloon. Therefore, we'd stick with this hatch version, as its fully opening tailgate and slightly more cohesive aesthetic qualities make more sense, in our opinion.
Performance
There's just the one powertrain for the EV4 presently (although a dual-motor, 292hp EV4 GT is on the way), which is a solitary front-mounted 150kW motor. As this equates to 204hp, the Kia is clearly no road rocket... but it turns out to be pleasingly sufficient. With almost 300Nm of torque on tap, the EV4 effortlessly feels capable of the quoted 7.9-second 0-62mph time, and that's even more admirable given the huge battery pack bestows a chonky 1.9-tonne kerb weight on the Korean car.
It's the crispness of the throttle and the agreeable calibration of the brakes (four levels of regen on offer, including a full one-pedal mode) which make the EV4 such a delight to control, but not only is it strong for straightforward performance on the roads, it's also superb for electrical consumption and real-world range. Almost every time we drove the car on slower local lanes that boosted its efficiency returns, it was showing pretty much four miles/kWh (which is fantastic) and could occasionally head towards the giddy heights of five miles/kWh. However, nearly 260 miles of mixed-roads motoring yielded a still-brilliant 3.5 miles/kWh, so realistically around 275 miles to a charge ought to be easily attainable for any driver, all year round.
About the only fly in the ointment is that, unlike its bigger EV relations, the EV4 is only 400-volt architecture, so the maximum charging speed is a somewhat below-par 127kW, resulting in a 31-minute 10-to-80 per cent top-up at the absolute best. Mind, it took us half-an-hour to get 56kWh into it at a 120kW InstaVolt DC unit, so it doesn't seem too tardy at the plugs. It also has 11kW AC capabilities if you have three-phase home electrics, meaning seven-and-a-quarter hours to get it from a low state-of-charge to 100 per cent, although it'd be more like 11 hours, give or take, on a typical 7.4kW domestic wallbox.
Ride & Handling
This is a little like the
MG4, in that the Kia EV4 doesn't immediately dazzle you with some pin-sharp dynamics and the impression that it's a sports-car wolf in practical family EV sheepy clothing - but, the more and more you drive it, the more and more you appreciate the fluid way the Korean car goes down the road.
The steering, in particular is nicely progressive and sweetly weighted, so that you soon build a fast rapport with the EV4 and know what its front wheels are up to at any given moment. The body control is not rigidly absolute, but what little lean, pitch and dive there is in the set-up is quickly quelled and minimised, so that you can confidently lean on the reserves of grip and the tidy front-to-rear balance of the car, and get it scurrying down a twisting road at a decent lick of pace. Sure, the EV4 GT-Line is never thrilling, but there's a confirmed
fast GT version already in the pipeline so this regular mainstream model can leave that sort of driver-engaging nonsense to its impending stablemate.
On top of the surprisingly satisfying handling, the EV4 obviously aces the whole ride comfort and rolling refinement task. The way it oozes across lumpen road surfaces is excellent, with only the very largest of imperfections in the tarmac upsetting its composure (this occasional thumping a direct corollary of those stylish 19s in the arches), and in terms of the way it obliterates tyre, wind and suspension noises, long before any of them can permeate the passenger compartment, the EV4 is quite remarkable. So it's a very easy-going, supple and rewarding EV to drive - as you'd expect of Kia and its electric models, of course.
Value
Kias are not normally poor value for money, and of course the EV4 happily conforms to convention. Even a higher-spec GT-Line like this one is the right side of 40 grand, while items like heated front seats and a heated steering wheel too, plus the full Apple CarPlay/Android Auto-bolstered infotainment system with a wireless smartphone charging pad, radar cruise control, full LED exterior lights and the 19-inch alloys, among more, are all standard fit. Do we wish that the buttons for the warming elements in both wheel and front seats weren't on the doorcards, though? Possibly. But at least they're not on the central touchscreen, so we won't complain about that detail too much.
Verdict
Without blowing us away, the Kia EV4 GT-Line nevertheless put on a quietly assured and competent showing that makes it a simple car to recommend to people who are looking for fuss-free, all-electric transport for family use. Probably the biggest stumbling block to its success comes in the form of
those looks, because if you don't fully gel with them then you might conceivably look elsewhere for your electric vehicle. But if you do approve of the EV4's contentious visuals, and you're not seeking any hint of visceral driving thrills from your day-to-day transport, this Kia does so many things to such a high standard that you'd find it very hard to actively dislike the car in even the smallest way.
