With the EV5, Kia enters the hard fought mid-size family SUV/EV segment. It pleases with its styling, its roomy interior, scores with lots of practical details and its premium finish and ambiance.
It runs on the e-GMP platform which is also used for the EV6 and EV9, but only the front wheels are driven in all the drivetrain versions you can choose from, and Kia did not include 800 V system power, which precludes (ultra)fast charging. Quite frankly, we could live with this, as charging times of the 81,4 kW battery from 10 to 80 % costs just 30 minutes. The EV5 is available in Belgium in 3 versions, Business, Business plus and GT line. All have the same 217 HP motor with the same battery, and WLTP range is a healthy 530 kilometers for the base version, slightly less, down to some 505 km for the top GT version.:
Driving the EV5…
Sliding behind the wheel lets you find soon an ideal seating position. We will tell you more about the interior below, let’s start here with our driving impressions. The motor is of course ultra smooth and silent. Its 160 kW/217 HP power is more than enough to spoil you with dynamic performance. It will accelerate you from 0 to 100 km/h in 8,7 seconds. This is just as fast as an seventies’ Porsche 911… Top speed is for obvious consumption reasons limited to 165 km/h.
The EV5 will not invite you to throw it around corners, but it does not protest to a dynamic driving style either. Under cornering the EV5 does not lean over unduly and the car stays stable, despite the fact that it weights more than two tonnes. The steering is reasonably precise and gives good feedback. The suspension is quite comfortable, will not always smooth out ridges and potholes, but on the whole suits a family car perfectly.
We liked the smooth operation of the driving assistance systems, and it is indeed a pleasure to drive the EV5 long distance on motorways. When we talk about efficiency, we have to admit that the boxy EV5 has its effect on the consumption under high speed driving.
If you cruise at 90 km/h for instance, the available range is some 515 kilometer, when cruising at a more appropriate 110 km/h, considering today’ s European traffic circumstances, the range drops however to 414 km, and all this with an outside temperature of 20°C. When the outside temperature drops to an autumnal 10°C, the range is respectively 489 km and 393 km. If you drive at a constant speed of 120 km/h, with an 10°C outside temperature, the range drops to 350 km… so we would say, enjoy the ride and the music from the excellent sound system. If you drive leisurely on secondary roads, your consumption is very good with averages of 15-16 kW/h and even less. According to WLTP standards, average consumption is 17,8 kW/h.
Charging the battery goes up to 150 kW/h, and as we said earlier, we think charging times are sufficient for most users.
In town driving, the wide turning circle is a bit daunting, but the excellent camera’s compensate for this when maneuvering.
In town we appreciated again the possibilities of energy recuperation the EV5 offers its driver; two paddles on the right and left of the steering wheel arms let you choose the amount of recuperation when you lift your right foot. With a flick on the left paddle you increase the regeneration, on the right you reduce it. It is of course most efficient when you select the step “0”. Because then the Kia will automatically reduce its speed, in a variable manner, according to the traffic situation.
You can also select between different driving modes : eco, normal, sport, my drive and snow. You select them by pushing the large button beneath the centre airbag cover on the steering wheel. On the centre console you find buttons to activate parking camera’s, auto hold, audible parking warning and hill descent control. Indeed, it is a very relaxing car to drive.
Infotainment and practicality
Here the EV5 truly shines. It is indeed a family car. This means there is ample room in the front, but also in the back adults up to 1,90 meter still find more than enough head- and legroom. The interior is also large enough to seat easily three passengers in the back. Luggage space is equally abundant. Close to 500 liters when the rear backrest is up, folded down you have an impressive 1720 liters at your disposal. You still have an extra space beneath the luggage floor to put away sundry or charging cables, and in front you have the typical “frunk” with a volume of some 40 liters.
Practical is also that the EV5 also allows bidirectional charging. It has a vehicle-to-load function, so you can charge your e-bike for example. The hardware for Vehicle to Grid and Vehicle to Home is already pre-installed.
A large panel consisting of two 12,3 inch touchscreens meets your eyes. Between the instrument info and the usual infotainment menu is a separate panel for climate control.
Beside the touchscreens, there are knobs and buttons you can select for the most important functions, and beneath the central touchscreen there is also a nice array of touch buttons to let you find your way intuitively and swiftly.
Of course there is a good amount of practical storage areas in doors and consoles fore and aft.
Conclusion
The EV5 is a very convincing mid range family SUV, with very pleasing styling, excellent room and comfort. Easy and relaxing to drive both in town and on long distances, with more than sufficient performance.
Range is sufficient when adopting a leisurely driving style, and with charging up to 150 kW in line with the competition in its segment.
The Kia engineering and build quality, combined with a long and generous warranty is an extra reason to have a long hard look at this EV5…
Hans Knol ten Bensel
Photographers’ notes: we used two “vintage” cameras here, the small but wonderful Fujifilm X10 and the Nikon D3100 with a 18-105 mm zoom lens. The Nikon was introduced in 2010, now 16 years ago, but its 14.2 MP DX CMOS sensor is capable of great image quality, then and now… The D3100 is equipped with an 11 Point AF System with 1 cross-type sensor in the center, and the camera body is pleasantly light with only 455 grams without the lens.
The now also more than a decade old Fujifilm X10 is a marvel in compactness. It was introduced in 2012. Its retro design aesthetic bears the DNA of the company’s X100 and X-Pro1 models with a magnesium alloy body, sleek rangefinder-inspired design and a wealth of external dials and buttons. I like the high quality glass optical viewfinder, wonderful in sunny conditions, when a digital screen (which it has in the back) is very difficult to read.
The X10 is undoubtedly intended to echo the timeless design of classic film-era cameras, but there is an impressive amount of function beneath the form as well. A mechanical zoom ring around the lens barrel and optical viewfinder will appeal to purists, as will a beautifully-finished metal exposure compensation dial and a hot-shoe for adding either an additional flash, or one of countless compatible third-party accessories.
In addition to using a large (for a compact camera) 2/3 inch sensor, Fujifilm has sought to distinguish the X10 by mating it with a 28-112mm (equiv.) fast F2-2.8 lens. Still a wonderful camera to use… The lesson is: in present times, even decades old prime brand digital cameras are wonderful to use, giving you the joy of photography combined with excellent results. Remember, world press photos where shot in those days also with 12 MP cameras… so what’s the problem?
Hans Knol ten Bensel
