Simon Harris delivers his final verdict on our Kia EV4 long-termer.

P11D price (BIK): £39,380 (4%)  Range: 362 miles  Claimed efficiency: 3.9mpkWh  Test efficiency: 3.3mpkWh

Final Report:

The sub-zero starts of late January and early February have given way to longer, warmer days and perfect conditions for EV battery efficiency.

A comparison is the percentage of range used during my 85-mile commute to the office. In the winter, I was using 31% of my battery on the mainly motorway journey (with the usual couple of congested, low-speed zones), and more recently I’ve seen this reduce to 25%. 

That fits in with the rule of thumb 20% reduction in total range between winter and summer, and range predictions in the Kia have been fairly reliable. You know that you’ll be penalised with harsh acceleration, so it pays to drive smoothly. I’ve never really taken the car out of ‘eco’ mode as the performance from the 204hp motor is more than adequate when under the restraints of the energy-saving programme.

This particular sector of the market is becoming more crowded. Volkswagen Group has three contenders – the VW ID.3, the Cupra Born and (although they pretend it’s an ‘SUV’) the Škoda Elroq. Stellantis has the Vauxhall Astra, Peugeot 308 and, soon, the Leapmotor B03. Other Chinese models in the segment include the MG4 and BYD Dolphin, while the Renault Megane and Nissan Leaf are familiar contenders.

Novelty value less than a year into the lifecycle of the EV4 helps, but according to Solera Cap HPI, the EV4 is among the best performers in the class to retained percentage of its value, comparable to the Volkswagen Group products, and streets ahead of the soon-to-be-updated Stellantis rivals. 

The last five months in the EV4 have been comfortable, smooth and predictable, and for anyone looking for their first electric car, you can’t ask for more than that.

Report 4:

As the UK electric vehicle market undergoes a fierce price war, manufacturers are under immense pressure to discount heavily to keep metal moving.

Living with our Kia EV4 GT-Line over the past few weeks has got me thinking about exactly where those cost-cutting compromises are being made under the skin.

On paper, our mid-spec GT-Line looks like a premium long-distance cruiser, packing a substantial 81.4kWh battery.

However, unlike its larger siblings, the EV6 and EV9, the EV4 does not utilise Kia’s celebrated 800V ultra-rapid charging architecture. To hit its competitive price point, it relies on a more conventional 400V setup.

When you are staring down the barrel of a massive 81.4kWh pack, the EV4’s maximum peak DC charging rate of 127kW can feel frustratingly sedate during a time-sensitive motorway pitstop. You quickly realise that a larger battery capacity is a double-edged sword if the intake pipe is not quite wide enough to match.

The public infrastructure can compound this frustration. On one recent journey where I had a little more time on my hands, I pulled up to a standard 50kW rapid charger. Unfortunately, a van plugged into the opposite connector caused my charge rate to plummet to a painful 25kW.

Thankfully, the upside to that big battery remains its sheer endurance. Enforced by some long traffic jams and lower-speed running in recent days, I have seen individual journey efficiency creep above 4m/kWh.

The sleek, aerodynamic hatchback profile works beautifully on the motorway, too. The car recently passed 7,000 miles, and I can still complete the vast majority of my weekly duties using cheap overnight electricity on my home tariff. Consequently, the lower public charging speed becomes less of an issue on a daily basis.

Report 3:

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I’m a fan of contrasting, or light interior colour schemes, and I’m happy that many more car manufacturers are experimenting with lighter colours.

They can often break up dour, dark interiors (often associated with ‘sporty’ variants), and can give the whole car a more pleasant ambience. This is also the case with our Kia EV4 test car, in the mid-specification GT Line grade.

There’s a light steering wheel centre and a matching inner fake-leather panel on the upper side of the wheel. This coordinates with matching door arm rests and centre arm rest storage cover. And the whole mid-panel of the dashboard from east to west is finished in the same colour material.

It makes the EV4 more likeable and somewhere you feel happy spending time on the road.

But part of that dashboard panel contains buttons for various controls (home, map, search, media and favourites), and I’ve discovered that on very bright days when sunlight is streaming into the cabin, it renders the backlighting on these buttons invisible. Unless you’ve memorised which ones are which, a bit of trial and error is involved to get into the set-up to switch off the various intrusive warnings.

Apart from these momentary aberrations, the EV4 has been putting in sterling service, having covered 2,000 miles since its arrival with us. Thankfully, despite covering that distance in around six weeks, its 300-plus miles of range in these cooler conditions have meant that the majority of charging has been done at home on my cheap overnight tariff.

Report 2:

After three months and several thousand miles since January, the EV4 GT-Line has transitioned from a design statement to a daily tool. While my first update championed the return of the hatchback as a blow against the ‘SUV-ification’ of our car parc, the reality of living with this sharp-edged fastback through a British winter has been a mixed bag.

The most glaring omission as we move out of March is the heat pump. In the GT-Line, it’s not even an option – you have to step up to the GT-Line S for that privilege. During the sub-zero mornings of February, this meant my efficiency took a hit, averaging a mediocre 2.8 miles per kWh. Without that scavenging hardware, the heater worked overtime to keep the cabin habitable, noticeably trimming the real-world range. However, as spring approaches and temperatures hit double digits, the EV4’s aerodynamic ‘wedge’ profile is finally paying off, with figures now climbing back toward a healthy 3.8 miles per kWh.

The high-tail design also brings a practical quirk: rear visibility. That dramatic rear deck looks striking from the pavement, but through the rear-view mirror, it creates a narrow letterbox view that makes the camera system more of a necessity than a luxury.

On the road, the EV4 feels more planted hatch than lumbering crossover. It’s firmly in the new era of Kia design, and the agile feel rewards a tidy line through corners. It isn’t a sports car, but its lower centre of gravity makes it far more rewarding on a B-road than the EV3. It’s a car that proves you don’t need a high hip point to feel confident in everyday driving.

Report 1:

Are hatches making a comeback? Of course they never went away, but they have appeared to be less visible as the number of taller SUVs has increased in the last 20 years.

And, of course, when it comes to EVs, the expectation of a premium price of SUVs – as well as more convenient packaging for a battery under the floor – has made them a slightly easier way to accommodate the cost of a large lithium-ion battery in the price.

But as the car industry has grappled with demand for more EV range, alongside the impact on cost and kerb weight of adding ever-increasing capacity to batteries, the reality is that the more aerodynamic an EV is, the greater potentially available range there is, relative to a taller, less sleek car with the same hardware.

Enter the Kia EV4, as the brand’s Volkswagen ID.3 and Vauxhall Astra Electric rival, available in hatchback five-door (as supplied to us) and Fastback four-door.

It adopts Kia’s rather angular look for its EV range, and while the jury is out on whether these sharp looking lines are handsome or merely dramatic, but the car certainly stands out.

In entry-level Air specification, and with a 58kWh battery, it squares off against the Astra and its 54kWh battery. Meanwhile, the 81kWh battery version – standard in GT Line and GT Line S grades – gives it extra potential to rival EVs – such as those within Volkswagen Group brands – that are offered with longer range battery options.

The entry-level EV4 Air is priced at around the same level as the Vauxhall Astra Electric Griffin, while our 81kWh GT Line is there or thereabouts with a Volkswagen ID.3 Match Pro S.

The GT Line is fitted with 19-inch wheels, sports styling kit and rear privacy glass, and inside has two-tone artificial leather seats, with heating and electric adjustment in front. A few decent stowage areas make it an acceptable family car, with a small upper and large lower area in the centre console. Luggage capacity is up to 435 litres with the rear sears in place (the boot floor has a movable platform that can be placed at load-lip height or lower), and 1,415 litres with them folded.

Maximum power is 204hp, with a torque output of 283Nm – more than adequate for a family hatchback – and delivers performance more akin to the old Kia Ceed GT.

On a good day, the EV4 is reckoned to achieve 3.9mpkWh on the WLTP combined cycle, but we’re still in the midst of winter at the time of writing, and an indicated range of just under 300 miles, and energy consumption of 3.3mi/kWh is more typical.

But it’s early days, and we expect this to move closer to the official figure as spring advances.