Here’s What Makes The Kia EV3 The Affordable EV The World Has Been Waiting For
Electric vehicle (EV) prices have been getting lower over the past few years, but they’re still (mostly) a costlier purchase compared to an internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalent. But as time passes by, more and more affordable but highly capable EVs are reaching price parity with an ICE vehicle–albeit sometimes aided by government incentives.
Case in point, the new Chevrolet Equinox EV, which has a base price of less than $35,000, but with government incentives, will have a similar base price to a gas-fed compact crossover. At the same time, it also has a range of more than 300 miles, which is the range that most Americans will start to consider an EV as a primary car.
But there’s another EV that’s set to compete with the Chevy in both price and capability–one whose creators have already built a solid reputation for building EVs that aren’t just affordable, but also come with ingenious features and design that rewrite the vehicle ownership experience rulebook. That would be the new Kia EV3, a subcompact crossover EV that’s now been confirmed to come to the United States. It has all the good things that we’ve come to expect from an EV developed by the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), but in a more compact and affordable package that’s full of charm.
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In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturer websites and other authoritative sources, including Bloomberg and Kia.
Great Price, Hella Nice
Set to be Kia’s most affordable EV offering, the EV3 will also face a bit of sibling rivalry due to the existence of the Niro EV. Kia executives during the virtual press conference mentioned that, at least in Europe, it will sit in a similar price category as the Niro EV, so expect a similar positioning here in the United States. Unlike the Niro EV, however, the EV3–being built on HMG’s E-GMP dedicated EV platform, comes with all the ingenuity we’ve seen in EVs like the EV9 and EV6, but scaled down to an affordable model that isn’t short on charm.
Kia Estimates A Price Between $35,000 And $50,000
The Kia EV3 is slightly smaller than the Kia Seltos, making it a subcompact EV. Dimension-wise, it’s about the same size as the posher Volvo EX30. Kia has said that the EV3 will be priced between $35,000 and $50,000. How it can achieve that price will be dependent on a few things. First, the EV3 has two battery sizes–a 58 kWh battery and an 81.4 kWh battery for the Long Range models that have a claimed WLTP range of around 350 miles. To achieve an affordable price, there’ll be the obvious strategy of offering just the necessities, along with the smaller battery, but there’s another way that Kia could achieve an affordable price for the EV3.
HMG is building a factory and battery plant in Savannah, Georgia that is dedicated to its EVs. The EV9 will eventually be built in that factory, and if it also satisfies other criteria such as local supply chain and battery sourcing rules by the time the EV9 hits American production lines, it will also be eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit. Here’s to hoping that the Kia EV3 will be built in the United States in order to officially kickstart Kia’s road to democratizing its EVs to the mainstream public.
It Comes With HMG’s EV Expertise
And yet, despite being the EV that Kia says will transition millions of people into the EV age, the affordable EV3 is still filled with all of the ingenuity we’ve come to love out of HMG’s EVs that are built on top of the E-GMP platform. Despite having an affordable price tag, the EV3 will still come with ingenious features like the bidirectional charging capabilities that transform the EV3 into an external power source for a house, your camping gear, or another EV.
Furthermore, HMG’s EVs are also pretty efficient–even more so than the Equinox EV–the most efficient Ultium-based GM EV. Finally, thanks to the packaging advantages of the E-GMP platform, the interior of the EV3 is well thought out, as you’ll see later.
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EVs That Are More Than Just Transportation
The reason why HMG’s EVs are so unique and well-received is because of how the South Korean conglomerate has rethought the vehicle ownership experience thanks to the freedom of packaging provided by going the pure electric route. Unique packaging methods have allowed HMG to engineer EVs that aren’t just vehicles to transport you from A to B, but also ones that are in sync with your lifestyle.
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The EV3 As A Living Space
HMG’s EVs that are based on the E-GMP platform have been developed to be not just a car interior, but also be an extension of your living room. This begins with the packaging advantages of the E-GMP platform. With the wheels pushed as far out as possible, the EV3 has a lengthy 8.8-foot wheelbase despite its diminutive footprint. Therefore, the interior is extremely spacious for its size. Plus, without the need for a transmission tunnel of sorts, Kia was able to utilize the interior to create features that truly make the EV3 a living room on wheels.
For instance, those at the front benefit from a table that slides underneath the center console. When retracted, it’s just like your typical center armrest, but when fully extended, it can act as a place for you to eat or work when the vehicle is charging. Furthermore, as part of the vehicle’s bidirectional charging capabilities, the EV3 has a power outlet at the rear seats, enabling you to charge your laptop or whatever electronic equipment you plan to use.
Finally, the interior design is friendly and welcoming–just like your living room, thanks to the use of welcoming color choices and design flourishes that take advantage of the generous interior space that’s been carved out of the E-GMP platform.
Tech To Keep You Entertained
There are plenty of tech features available in the Kia EV3 that are designed to keep you entertained, both while on the move and when you’re charging. Immediately obvious is the twin 12.3-inch screens that are running HMG’s latest Connected Car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) operating system, which has a minimalist layout and a well-structured interface. However, for the implementation in the EV3, the ccNC infotainment system comes with an interface that can be personalized with various themes that you can download at the Kia Connect online store.
Finally, charging is not necessarily the most exciting thing on the planet, especially since, as a way to keep the car affordable, the EV3 doesn’t come with the 800-volt architecture that the E-GMP platform was originally famous for. Therefore, a 10 to 80 percent charge will take around 31 minutes with the 81.4 kWh battery. That’s still longer than filling up with fuel, which is why the ccNC infotainment of the EV3 is the first Kia to come with LG’s Automotive Content Platform (ACP) that’s powered by the company’s webOS.
ACP made its debut in the facelifted Genesis GV80, and what ACP enables in Kia’s ccNC infotainment is the introduction of various content and streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube, Baby Shark World for Kids, Stingray Karaoke, Play.Works and LG Channels. These features will only work when the car is stationary, which will be very useful when the vehicle is charging. It’s a good thing, then, that the EV3 is available with a Harman Kardon premium sound system.
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The Kia EV3 Boasts A Lot Of Oomph And Pizzaz
While the EV6 brought Kia to the radar of EV buyers, the EV3 will undoubtedly play the more crucial role of bringing more people into the EV era. Its pricing will be affordable, that’s already a given at this point, but what else can you expect from Kia’s game-changing EV?
No Shortage Of Style
Granted, many of the features we mentioned here could be limited to the higher trims, but Kia’s still known for value despite moving upmarket. Therefore, even with the lower trims, expect a high number of standard features such as full LED lighting.
The EV3 is fundamentally a stylish car from the get-go, so even when fitted with rudimentary halogen headlights (theoretically only) and hubcaps, we’d argue that the EV3’s futuristic styling will still look nicer than a lot of other cars out there, even when removing all of the modern exterior features we expect from a car these days.
The First Kia EV With An AI Assistant
The EV3 will also be the second Kia model to come with the brand’s AI Assistant. This debuted in the K4 sedan, and what this enables is a human-like interaction with the voice assistant of the EV3. Like many vehicles these days, the AI Assistant constantly learns your speech habits, which means that it will better understand your speech as you own the vehicle in the years to come. Furthermore, the AI in the voice assistant has the ability to learn your preferences, such as when planning trips through the AI Assistant or when asking it to play a certain song or movie.
