Kia EV5 review

Kia’s range of electric cars have been going from strength-to-strength over the last few years, but there was a glaring hole in the line-up: the lack of a proper electric family SUV. That has now been addressed with this new Kia EV5. 

As you might expect, given Kia’s very sensible naming structure, it fits between the Kia EV4 and 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 like a winner on paper. However, considering it goes head-to-head with the likes of the Renault Scenic, Skoda Enyaq and Tesla Model Y, as well as more recent entrants like the Smart #5 and MG S6, it’s going to need to do something pretty special to come out on top in its class.

What’s New?

- November 2025: First UK deliveries take place

- September 2025: Orders open. Choice of Air, GT-Line, GT-Line S trims

- July 2025: EV5 debuts with 81.4kWh battery, 214bhp electric motor. Range of up to 329 miles

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 enough punch on tap for when you’re accelerating to motorway speeds or making an overtake. 

Even so, you might be curious to know that its 0-62mph sprint of 8.4sec is  slower than any version of the MG S6, Skoda Enyaq or Renault Scenic. The Tesla Model Y is a lot quicker, completing the same sprint in less than seven seconds. 

Is it agile and is the ride comfortable?

To call the EV5 agile would be an overstatement. You see, it has little sporting intention or ability. The handling is safe, secure and predictable, with a good amount of grip to lean on, but that’s about the end of it. 

If you’re after sporty handling, the Kia EV6 and Tesla Model Y are better. Both of those cars have sharper front ends and, being rear-wheel drive, you have the sensation of being pushed out of corners, rather than pulled. They also exhibit less body lean when cornering.  

As for comfort, the EV5 isn’t exactly a class leader here either. Sure, the ride is never harsh or violent over bumps, but it always feels as if it’s on its tip-toes. In other words, the ride feels quite jittery, especially on patchy stretches of country road. 

The EV6 and Model Y feel more settled, but for a truly smooth, comfortable ride, take a good look at the Smart #5. 

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

The EV5 is indeed quiet, rarely whipping up much road or wind noise, even at higher speeds. You’ll barely notice the electric motor whirring away, either. 

Paddles behind the steering wheel let you cycle between various levels of brake regeneration, and includes an adaptive regenerative braking setting – a first in a Kia EV. When activated, 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 Enyaq and Scenic, which makes 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) battery as the Kia EV3 and EV4, but here, it has an official range of up to 329 miles. That’s decent, but not as far as the Skoda Enyaq (359 miles) or Renault Scenic (381 miles). 

The EV5 has a maximum charging rate of 130kW, meaning it’ll take around 30 minutes to charge from 10-80% from a fast-enough DC charger. That’s slightly slower than the Enyaq and way behind the Kia 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 it to take 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 are eerily similar inside. That’s not inherently a bad thing, though, because they all have simple layouts and solid build quality. 

Of course, you’d be hard pressed to call them luxury cars, and the EV5 is no different. It has squidgy materials in all the right places – and 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 hasn’t got the classy feel of the Smart #5.

In addition to a suite of handy physical buttons, there’s 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, and the EV5 suffers from the same problem: the steering wheel obscures your view of that section of the dashboard.

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 easier, 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 Skoda Enyaq’s and reacts quickly enough to your prods. Even so, the Renault Scenic’s Google-based infotainment system is 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 Android Auto/Apple CarPlay 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 unit.

“It’s slightly annoying that Kia is pushing forward with the air conditioning touchscreen… that you can’t actually see.” – 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. 

Rear space is also impressive, with plenty 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 regularly carry 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. 

What’s more, unlike the Scenic, you can also recline the EV5’s seats, giving occupants a little more head room. You just can’t slide the rear seats back and forth, like you can in the Smart #5. 

How much room does it have for luggage?

For the driver and front passenger, you’ll find 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. 

Meanwhile, the EV5’s boot has 566 litres of space, which is more than the Renault Scenic but less than the Skoda Enyaq, Smart #5 or 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. 

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 Enyaq or Scenic come with a frunk, but those found in the #5 and Model Y are much larger, with both managing to swallow a carry-on sized suitcase in our tests.

“While I found that there’s enough space to cater for the average family, a few rivals are even more accommodating.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

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

As a cash purchase, the Kia EV5 Air costs less than the Tesla Model Y RWD and around the same as the Skoda Enyaq SE L 60, but more than the Renault Scenic Techno or MG S6 Single Motor SE. 

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 and adaptive cruise control. 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 in turn you get 19in wheels, adaptive LED headlights, heated outer rear seats, an electric tailgate, vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities and the electric driver’s seat with adjustable lumbar support. 

Top-spec GT-Line S costs a fair premium, 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 Enyaq and Scenic.

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 package 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 have awarded the EV5 its full five-star rating. What’s more, the list of standard safety kit includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind spot monitoring, driver attention monitoring and safe exit assist, which prevents you from 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 want an easy-to-use interior

-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  

-You’re after class-leading ride and/or handling

-Being able to charge really quickly is important to you

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