Kia has announced the UK price list for its new electric EV5 SUV, which is now available to order in the UK.
The EV5 is be built on the same foundations as the Kia EV6 crossover – The Car Expert’s ‘Car of the Year’ in 2022 – but while the EV6 uses the brand’s 800V battery architecture, the new EV5 will make use of a less powerful 400V unit. This will reduce Kia’s production costs – and the car’s price list as a result – but this SUV to charges at a slower rate than its acclaimed crossover counterpart.
The SUV, which sits below the larger EV9 in Kia’s battery-powered model range, is powered by a 81kWh battery and 215hp electric motor pairing that can reportedly muster up to 329 miles on a single charge. Using a 150kW DC charging station, the battery can be topped up from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes.
Kia adds that the EV can complete a 0-62mph sprint in 8.4 seconds, with top speed electronically capped at 102mph. Kia had initially announced back in October 2023 that the SUV range could include a cheaper 58kWh powertrain, but this has been dropped from the manufacturer’s UK plans, at least for the car’s launch.
The EV5 has a ‘Tiger face’ exterior design which bears some resemblance its larger EV9 sibling, and the similarities continue inside. A continuous dashboard display combines a 12-inch digital instrument cluster with a 12-inch infotainment touchscreen that both sit either side of a five-inch segment display that provides driving information.
Kia has decided to keep physical buttons to a minimum, with the large majority of vehicle functions controlled through the display. This has freed up room on the centre console for additional storage space and a table.
Key trim level features
Entry-level ‘Air’ (from £39,295)
- LED headlights and tailights
- 18-inch alloy wheels
- Rear privacy glass
- Rain-sensing windscreen wipers
- Heated front seats
- 12-inch digital instrument cluster
- Five-inch climate control touchscreen
- 12-inch infotainment touchscreen
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Rear-view parking camera
- Lane-keeping assistance
- Blind spot monitoring
Mid-range ‘GT-Line’ (from £42,595)
- All features of the ‘Air’ trim that are not replaced
- 19-inch alloy wheels
- ‘GT-line exterior styling pack
- Adaptive LED headlights
- Motorised boot lid
- Heated rear seats
- Interior ambient lighting
- Wireless smartphone charging pad
- Electrically-adjustable front seats
Top-spec ‘GT-Line S’ (from £47,095)
- All features of lower trims that are not replaced
- Sunroof
- Ventilated front seats
- Harmon Kardon sound system
- Side parking sensors
- Digital key and fingerprint recognition
- Remote parking assistance
- Head-up display
- surround-view parking camer with blind-spot view
Compared with the ICE-powered Sportage SUV – one of the UK’s best-selling new cars – the EV5 is slightly taller and longer, with seven centimetres of extra length between the front and rear wheels.
The boot offers up to 566 litres of boot space in the rear – extending to 1,650 litres with the rear seats folded – and an extra 44 litres of ‘frunk’ space below the bonnet. The car also comes with 16 litres of cubby space below the centre console.
Now available to order – with the first customer deliveries expected later this year – the EV5 is now priced at around £39k as standard.
