Kia EV5 Full Review

Kia’s EV5 aims to replace the family SUV with electric practicality, strong range and serious tech — but as I discovered, it’s not always keen to show off its clever features when you need it to

The EV5 is Kia taking its best-selling formula – the Sportage – and rethinking it for the electric era, not just swapping out the engine for a battery, but genuinely reworking the whole idea of what a family SUV should be when you start with a clean sheet, and if they’ve got this right then this could end up being one of the most important EVs on sale right now, because it slots along the combustion-engined powered Sportage as the electric equivalent. And the Sportage is a best-seller for Kia.

EV5 slots into Kia’s growing EV line-up above the EV4, but more importantly, it feels like a proper-sized SUV — not one of these slightly confused crossovers that can’t decide what they are, but something big, upright, and genuinely practical, the kind of car you look at and think, yes, that’ll handle the school run, the weekly shop, and a motorway slog without breaking a sweat.

And it is, undeniably, a modern thing – packed with tech, loaded with clever features, and sprinkled with the sort of party tricks that are supposed to impress your mates and make you feel like you’re living a couple of years ahead of everyone else – the kind of stuff that, on paper at least, sounds brilliant.

Which I would have loved to show you, properly, on camera – but as it turns out, this particular EV5 has a bit of a personality, because the moment I hit record, all that clever tech suddenly became a bit camera-shy.

It’s built on Kia’s dedicated E-GMP electric platform, which means:

• Flat floor
• Better packaging
• More interior space
• A completely different driving feel

And while the name might suggest that it sits below the EV6 in the range, it really doesn’t feel that way at all, because although the EV6 is technically longer, lower, and styled to be more coupe-like and sporty, the EV5 comes across as the bigger, more substantial car, being taller, chunkier, more upright, and ultimately far more usable in day-to-day life, so rather than playing the role of the junior model, this actually feels like the grown-up, family-first EV in Kia’s line-up – the one designed less to impress on a quick glance and more to make sense over time.

Prices and Model Range

Model	Price (UK OTR)	Drive	Range (WLTP)
EV5 Air	~£39,000	FWD	Up to 329 miles
EV5 GT-Line	~£42,000–£43,000	FWD	Up to 313 miles
EV5 GT-Line S	£47,145	FWD	Up to 313 miles

As tested here, the GT-Line S pushes close to £47k, placing it firmly in Tesla Model Y / VW ID.4 / Skoda Enyaq territory.

Design – Proper SUV Presence

There’s no getting away from it, this is a big, bluff, proper SUV, not one of those crossovers that’s trying a bit too hard to look rugged while secretly being something else, but a genuinely squared-off, chunky machine with real presence. It’s the sort of car that looks like it owns the bit of road it’s sitting on, and while Kia calls this design language “Opposites United”, which does sound like something you’d hear halfway through a philosophy lecture, in reality it just boils down to bold lines, squared arches, an upright stance and strong shoulders.

At the front you get the latest “digital tiger face” with Star Map LED lighting, and although I’m not entirely sure I can see the tiger anymore, it is certainly distinctive, while down the side the slab-like surfaces are broken up just enough with creases and detailing to stop it looking too monolithic. At the rear it all comes together in a clean, upright and purposeful finish that suits the car’s character rather well.

Practicality – Family First

This is where the EV5 really starts to make sense.

Boot Space

Configuration	Capacity
Seats up	566 litres
Seats down	1,650 litres
Frunk	44 litres

There’s also:

• Split-folding seats
• Dual-level boot floor
• Storage hooks and compartments
• Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) plug in the boot

Yes, you can literally plug in appliances and power them from the car. Camping trip? Sorted.

Rear Seats – Space Galore

Thanks to the EV platform, rear space is genuinely impressive, with loads of legroom, a completely flat floor, good headroom, and even three-zone climate control making it feel properly accommodating for passengers rather than an afterthought. There’s also a clever sliding tray and storage system in the rear centre console, along with heated rear seats on higher trims, which adds to the sense that this has been designed with real-world family use in mind. One slightly odd quirk, though, is that the front passenger seat automatically moves forward when you open the rear door, which is handy for access, but a bit less so if someone happens to be sitting in it at the time.

Interior & Tech – A Rolling Gadget Show

Inside, the EV5 is very much a tech-heavy environment, but thankfully it doesn’t feel overwhelming or overcomplicated, because Kia has struck a sensible balance between digital and physical controls, with a clean, horizontal layout that brings together a 12.3-inch driver display, a 12.3-inch infotainment screen, and a 5.3-inch dedicated climate panel, giving you nearly 30 inches of screen real estate across the dash without it feeling like you’re staring at a laptop on wheels. More importantly, they haven’t gone full touchscreen madness, so you still get proper buttons and controls where it actually matters, which makes everyday use far more intuitive and far less frustrating than some rivals that bury everything in menus.

What’s particularly interesting is how the car starts to behave more like a personal device than just a vehicle, especially with features like fingerprint recognition, which allows the EV5 to identify who’s driving and automatically load their seat position, mirror settings, and preferred infotainment layout, effectively turning the car into something that adapts to you rather than the other way around. Add to that the digital key functionality, AI voice assistant, and the sheer depth of configurable settings, and you begin to realise that this isn’t just about having lots of tech for the sake of it, but about creating a more personalised, connected experience, even if, as I discovered, some of that cleverness occasionally decides it’s not quite ready for its close-up.

Key Features

Feature	Availability
Heated & ventilated seats	GT-Line S
Panoramic roof	GT-Line S
Head-up display	GT-Line S
Harman Kardon audio	GT-Line S
Fingerprint recognition	GT-Line S
AI voice assistant	All models
Vehicle-to-Load (V2L)	All models

The “Camera-Shy” Problem…

This car has some genuinely clever features, including an AI voice assistant – in fact I got it to write a poem about itself!

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There’s remote parking via the key, and all sorts of smart automation, the kind of stuff that sounds brilliant on paper and should make life easier in practice. But try to demonstrate any of it on camera and, for some reason, the whole thing seems to develop a case of stage fright, with voice commands becoming hit and miss and the remote parking, which worked perfectly earlier, suddenly refusing to cooperate, as if the car somehow knows it’s being watched and has decided it’s not in the mood to perform.To be fair, when they work, they’re good. But consistency still isn’t quite there yet.

Key Specs

Specification	Value
Battery	81.4kWh
Power	214bhp
Torque	295Nm
0–62mph	8.4 seconds
Top speed	102mph
Drive	Front-wheel drive

Performance & Driving

On the move, the first thing that strikes you about the EV5 is just how easy it is to drive, because despite its size and presence it never feels intimidating, with a light steering setup, good all-round visibility, and a driving position that gives you that reassuring, slightly elevated SUV feel without making you feel detached from the road. It’s the sort of car you settle into very quickly, whether you’re threading through town or cruising on the motorway, and the overall refinement is strong too, with only a hint of wind noise from that tall, bluff body shape and a bit of road roar, but nothing intrusive or tiring over longer journeys. The driver assistance systems are also impressively capable, with adaptive cruise and lane control that will happily take a lot of the strain out of motorway driving, although, as ever, you do need to keep an eye on it because it can occasionally feel a little too keen to intervene.

Around town and in slower driving, the EV5 leans heavily into its EV credentials, particularly with its regenerative braking system, which includes a proper one-pedal mode that will bring the car to a complete stop if you want it to, and once you get used to it, it works very well, especially in stop-start traffic where it helps claw back energy and, interestingly, can even stabilise or slightly improve your projected range. There are multiple levels of regen to choose from, so you can tailor it to your preference, although I did find that at very low speeds, particularly when manoeuvring in tight spaces, it can feel a little abrupt, in which case it’s worth dialling it back or switching it off. There’s also an auto-hold function, which in theory should make life easier, but in practice I found it could be a bit sticky, so I tended to leave that off and rely on the one-pedal setup instead.

When it comes to performance, the EV5 does exactly what you’d expect from a car like this, with 214bhp and front-wheel drive delivering brisk rather than thrilling acceleration, but more than enough for everyday driving, whether that’s joining a motorway or making progress on a B-road. It picks up speed cleanly and smoothly, and while there’s a bit of front-end scrub if you push it harder out of tighter corners, it’s never unruly or difficult to manage, just a reminder that this is a relatively heavy, family-focused SUV rather than something designed for spirited driving. The artificial sound generator adds a bit of sci-fi theatre under acceleration and braking, which you may or may not enjoy, but it does at least give the car a bit of character.

As for ride and handling, the EV5 strikes a decent balance, staying composed over most surfaces and dealing with rough roads better than you might expect given its size and weight, although you are always aware that this is a big, substantial car, with some body movement over undulations and sharper bumps. That said, it never feels unsettled or uncomfortable, and there’s a reassuring solidity to the way it goes down the road, a kind of granite-like quality that gives you confidence in the structure beneath you. Push it harder and you’ll feel the mass, and the brakes, while effective, do need a firm press to really haul it up, but ultimately this isn’t a car that encourages you to drive quickly for the sake of it, it’s one that’s designed to carry you, your passengers, and everything else in comfort and calm, and in that role, it does a very good job indeed.

Range & Efficiency

Range and efficiency are solid on paper, with a claimed figure of up to 313 miles and as much as around 440 miles in city driving, although in the real world you’re more likely to see something in the mid-200s in mixed use, which is perfectly respectable for a car of this size. Where it gets interesting is with the regenerative braking, because in full one-pedal mode the system is effective enough that your range can actually stabilise or even creep back up in urban driving, with energy recovery that’s both noticeable and genuinely useful rather than just a token feature.

Charging

Charging Type	Time
DC fast charge	10–80% in ~30 mins
Max DC rate	127kW
AC home charging	~7 hours

Not class-leading, but perfectly usable.

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ADAS & Safety

When it comes to safety and driver assistance, the EV5 is very well equipped, bringing together adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, lane centring, blind spot monitoring, a 360-degree camera system, and even remote parking, all working together to make driving easier and more reassuring, particularly on longer journeys and in tighter urban environments.

The semi-autonomous driving functions are smooth and impressively capable for the most part, although there are moments where the system can feel a little overenthusiastic with its steering inputs, so it’s best treated as a helpful co-driver rather than something you can fully rely on.👉 Although sometimes a little too eager to steer.

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Verdict – Should You Buy One?

The Kia EV5 is a fascinating car, not because it’s trying to be flashy or sporty or reinvent the wheel, but because it quietly focuses on replacing the traditional family SUV with something that makes sense in everyday life, and in many ways it succeeds by being spacious, practical, comfortable, and easy to drive, while also feeling solidly built and genuinely usable. It’s packed with useful tech that enhances the experience rather than overwhelming it, although there are moments where that same technology can be a little inconsistent, and with prices climbing quickly and charging speeds that aren’t quite class-leading, it isn’t without its compromises.

So what you end up with is a car that is big, practical, and loaded with technology, most of which works very well and makes living with it straightforward, even if it occasionally has its off days, particularly when you want to demonstrate it on camera. And if this is the direction family EVs are heading in, blending usability, comfort, and just enough cleverness without going overboard, then it’s fair to say the future is shaping up rather nicely.

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