Exciting newcomer aims to establish itself as the ‘VW Golf of EVs’
The Kia EV3, a £32,995 new electric crossover that’s Volkswagen Golf-sized in its footprint, is exactly the kind of car that buyers could default to in the electric car era as they have done to the Golf in the combustion one. The EV3 gets to near price and spec parity with a 2.0 TDI Golf without skimping on battery capacity: your £32,995 gets you a 58kWh battery with 267 miles of range in base (but Golf-levels of kit still) Air trim. An extra £3000 gets you an 81kWh battery with 372 miles of range, also in Air trim. At £35,995, this already looks like a sweet spot in the EV3 range. The EV3, then, can go almost like-for-like in a comparison against a similarly-equipped Golf, regardless of their differing powertrains; you’d buy the Volkswagen because you like it and it happens to be a diesel, and you’d buy the Kia because you like and it just happens to be electric. Both come from top, established brands in the UK with sizeable dealer networks.
