Kia EV5 review

While Kia’s line-up of electric cars might have been going from strength-to-strength over the last few years, it does seem like there’s one glaring hole in the range – a proper family SUV. That’s where this new Kia EV5 comes in. 

As you might expect, given Kia’s very sensible naming structure, it fits in the range between the upcoming Kia EV4 and the slightly sportier Kia EV6. It essentially acts as an electric alternative to the very popular Kia Sportage.

Big shoes to fill, but with more interior space, design straight from its other electric siblings and a decent range, it looks compelling on paper. When you consider that it goes head-to-head with the likes of the Renault Scenic, Skoda Enyaq and Tesla Model Y, it’s going to need to do something pretty special to come out on top.

How fast is it and which motor is best?

Choosing which Kia EV5 to go for couldn’t be easier, because there’s only one version – the Long Range 2WD. 

With a 214bhp electric motor powering the front wheels, there’s plenty of power on offer when you put your foot down, and you won’t struggle getting up to motorway speeds or when overtaking. 

Even so, while fine for everyday driving, its official 0-62mph sprint of 8.4sec is still slower than any version of the Skoda Enyaq or Renault Scenic, and way slower than the Tesla Model Y, which will do it in less than six seconds.  

Is it agile and is the ride comfortable?

While you wouldn’t say that the EV5 is all that agile when compared with the Kia EV6 and Model Y, its suspension manages to find a sweet spot between control and comfort. You see, while it’s firm enough to stay upright over undulations, it still smoothers potholes with ease. 

It’s more comfortable than both the Enyaq and Model Y, proving more settled at both low speeds around town and on the motorway. 

On a twisty road, the EV5’s steering gives you enough feel to know what the front wheels are up to, and its suspension is firm enough to stay composed through fast corners. Even so, it doesn’t control body lean as well as the EV6 and Model Y, and ultimately feels generally less engaging to drive.  

Is it quiet and how easy is it to drive smoothly?

So far, we’ve only tried the EV5 with its largest 19in wheels, but even then road noise was well contained at both town and motorway speeds. You’ll hear some wind noise as speeds increase, but it’s far from intrusive. 

Paddles behind the steering wheel let you cycle between various levels of brake regeneration, including an adaptive regenerative braking setting for the first time. Whichever you use it feels natural and easy to modulate as you smoothly slow down. 

Better still, when you actually need to use the brake pedal, it’s far more feelsome than in the Scenic and Enyaq, making slowing to a stop really easy.   

What’s the range and efficiency like, and how quickly can it charge?

Every EV5 comes with the same 78kWh (usable capacity) battery as the Kia EV3 and EV4, but this time has an official range of up to 329 miles. That’s decent, but not as far as the Skoda Enyaq (359 miles), Renault Scenic (381 miles) or Tesla Model Y (387 miles). 

Unlike its sportier Kia EV6 sibling, which gets 800V charging technology, the EV5 uses 400V and that means that it charges slower. Indeed, with a maximum charging rate of 130kW, it’ll take around 30 minutes to charge from 10-80%, slightly slower than the Enyaq and Model Y but way behind the EV6 (18 minutes).

While we don’t have figures for 7kW home charging just yet, plugging into an 11kW charger will get you from 10-100% in 7 hours and 20 minutes, so expect longer than that. 

“I found the EV5’s adaptive brake regeneration setting really natural, applying the brakes smoothly whenever I approached a junction or when following another car” – Dan Jones, Senior reviewer

What does the interior look like and is it well made?

If you’ve ever sat in any of the more recent of Kia’s EVs, including the EV3 and EV9, you’ll feel right at home in the EV5. You see, all three cars share the exact same interior, which majors on simple design and solid build quality. 

It isn’t the most luxurious of interiors, though, despite having squidgy materials in all the right places. Upgrading to either GT-Line or GT-Line S trim adds some even nicer materials, including two-tone artificial leather rather than cloth, but it still isn’t quite as appealing as the Skoda Enyaq inside. 

The minimalist design means that you won’t find many physical controls in the EV5, outside of some simple (but very welcome) fan and temperature buttons. As you might expect, that means you get lots of screens, including a crisp 12.3in digital driver display, a 12.3in touchscreen for the infotainment system and a smaller 5.3in touchscreen for the climate controls sandwiched between them. 

The latter is something that you’ll now find in all of Kia’s EVs, meaning it has the same issues – your view of it is blocked by the steering wheel. 

Is the driving position comfortable and is it easy to see out?

If you like SUVs for their lofty driving position, you’ll like that the EV5 seats you higher above the road than the sportier Kia EV6 and about the same as the Skoda Enyaq. 

The seating position itself is comfortable, too, lining you up perfectly with the pedals and steering wheel. To help you further tailor it to your preferences, entry-level Air trim comes with a manually-adjustable driver’s seat but misses out on adjustable lumbar support. The seats are quite supportive, so that’s not a huge issue, but if it’s important to you, you’ll need to go for GT-Line or above, which also adds electric adjustment and a memory function.

Thanks to the raised driving position, you have a great view out over the bonnet and thin pillars mean that you can see out easily at junctions. Likewise, the view over your shoulder is pretty good too, with large rear windows and cutouts in the rear pillars helping to remove any blindspots. 

To make parking a doddle, every EV5 comes with front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera. Top-spec GT-Line S gets even more kit, including side parking sensors, a 360-parking camera and technology that lets you drive the car forward and backwards from parking spaces, using the key while standing outside. 

Is the dashboard and infotainment system easy to use?

The infotainment touchscreen is positioned high up at the centre of the dashboard, making it easy to see and well in reach whether you’re in the driver’s seat or the front passenger’s seat. 

The system itself is very similar to that of the EV3 and EV9, meaning that it’s more intuitive than the Enyaq’s infotainment system and reacts quickly enough to your prods. Even so, the Renault Scenic’s Google-based infotainment system is even better still, and arguably one of the best in the class. 

Even in Air trim, the EV5’s infotainment comes with a good amount of standard features, including wireless Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto smartphone mirroring. Stepping up to GT-Line adds wireless phone charging into the mix, while top-spec GT-Line S also upgrades the standard six-speaker stereo to a much better eight-speaker Harman Kardon stereo.

“It’s slightly annoying that Kia is pushing forward with the air conditioning touchscreen, that you can’t actually see. Especially give the EV6’s intuitive multiple control display” – Dan Jones, Senior reviewer

How much space does it have for people?

A pair of six-footers will have loads of space when sitting in the front of the EV5, with more than enough head, leg and shoulder room to get comfortable. 

Front storage is impressive, giving you decent-sized door bins that’ll take an 800ml bottle of water, a pair of cupholders, a spot to store your phone and a large tray beneath the floating centre console. 

Rear space is also impressive, with more than enough space for tall adults to get very comfortable behind equally tall occupants upfront. Indeed, head and leg room is more generous than you’ll find in the Kia Sportage. There’s even more leg room in the Kia EV6, though, so bear that in mind if you have long-legged friends. 

The width of the interior means that three adults should be able to fit fairly comfortably when sitting in the rear, while a completely flat floor ensures that the middle seat passenger has plenty of foot space. 

The rear seats split and fold in a 60/40 configuration, which isn’t as versatile as the 40/20/40 split in the Renault Scenic, but you do at least get a ski hatch to help make loading long items easier. Unlike the Scenic, though, you can also recline the EV5’s seats, giving occupants a little more head room.   

How much room does it have for luggage?

With a boot that offers 566 litres of space, the EV5 has more space than the Scenic but less than the Skoda Enyaq and Tesla Model Y. Even so, you’ll easily be able to fit a family of five’s holiday luggage or a big food shop through the wide opening. 

Better still, an adjustable boot floor comes as standard, giving you the option of either storing the cables underneath the floor or dropping it down, should you want more space or need to load tall items in. 

Every EV5 also comes with a 44 litre frunk under its bonnet, which gives you an alternate location to store the cables or a laptop bag. Neither the Scenic or Enyaq come with a frunk, but the one that you get in the Model Y is much larger, managing to swallow a carry-on sized suitcase, in our tests. 

“Not only is there loads of space in the rear, but I found lots of handy and thoughtful storage spaces, including a fairly deep tray that pulls out from the back of the centre console” – Dan Jones, Senior reviewer

How much does it cost and what equipment do you get?

As a cash purchase, the Kia EV5 Air will cost you less than the Tesla Model Y Rear-wheel drive, around the same as the Skoda Enyaq SE L 60 but more than the Renault Scenic Techno. 

Despite being the entry-level trim, it still gets plenty of standard equipment, including 18in alloys, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, privacy glass, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, automatic air conditioning, adaptive cruise control and all of the bits that we’ve already mentioned. It’s probably all you’ll ever need. 

Stepping up to mid-spec GT-Line adds a few thousand pounds onto the price tag, but still manages to undercut the Model Y RWD. To the equipment list it adds 19in wheels, adaptive LED headlights, heated outer rear seats, an electric tailgate, vehicle-to-load (V2L) and the electric driver’s seat with adjustable lumbar support. 

Top-spec GT-Line S costs a fair amount more, but adds ventilated front seats, a glass sunroof and all of the bits that we’ve already mentioned. It’s pretty pricey, though, compared with the Scenic and Enyaq.

Is it reliable, and how long is the warranty?

We don’t have reliability data for the EV5 as a model, on account of it being so new, but Kia as a brand did quite well in the 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey. Indeed, it placed 8th out of the 30 included manufacturers, that’s one below Tesla, but above Skoda (16th) and Renault (20th).

As with the rest of Kia’s models, the EV5 comes with a seven-year/100,000-mile standard warranty. For comparison, the Scenic comes with a three-year/100,000-mile warranty and the Enyaq a much less impressive three-year/60,000-mile offering. 

How safe is it, and is it easy to steal?

The safety experts at EuroNCAP are yet to test the EV5, but you can be safe in the knowledge that it comes with plenty of standard safety equipment. That list includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind spot monitoring, driver attention monitoring and safe exit assist, which prevents you opening the door into traffic. 

Every EV5 comes with a Thatcham category 2 alarm and immobiliser, to protect it against thieves.  

“It’s impressive how much standard equipment you get with even the EV5 Air, but it’s a bit of a shame that a heat pump is an optional extra and only available with GT-Line S trim” – Dan Jones, Senior reviewer

Buy it if...

-You value good reliability and a long warranty

-Rear space is of particular importance to you

-You like to get lots of standard equipment 

Don’t buy it if…

-You want an EV with the longest range possible  

-Agile handling is close to the top of your priority list  

-Being able to charge really quickly is important to you   

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