Kia EV4 Review (Video)

---

---

---

Robert from Everything Electric Cars has quite a positive video review of the Kia EV4. Lucky him, he got to drive it in Spain. It is Kia’s first C-segment hatchback, and it’s fully electric, not a hybrid.

The standard-range version has a 58.3 kWh battery pack and the long-range version is 81.4 kWh. The range for the larger battery pack is about 391 miles (WLTP); for the smaller battery it is about 273.

The EV4 has 400-volt architecture and it charges quickly: about 30 minutes for 10 percent to 80 percent.

The car has the tech to do vehicle-to-home, vehicle-to-grid, and vehicle-to-load. Not all EV manufacturers make cars with these capabilities.

The standard-range version is about £34,000 and the long-range is about £39,000. If I understand the UK Electric Vehicle Grant eligibility, the standard version qualities for several thousand pounds off the list price.

Robert says it’s a great car because of the excellent build quality, spaciousness, and range.

I really appreciate his questioning of why anyone would buy a new plug-in hybrid, petrol, or a diesel vehicle instead of the fully electric EV4. A huge number of British people die every year due to exposure to toxic air pollution. “The researchers estimated that 48,625 adults die prematurely each year in the UK due to particulate matter pollution.”

People who buy and drive fully electric vehicles are doing their part to clean up the air and reduce premature human deaths, not to mention all the human diseases connected to toxic air pollution. Of course, fossil fuels are also the main contributor to climate change.

Robert drove the car in Spain, so how many premature deaths are caused by toxic air pollution there each year? The answer is: “According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), toxic air causes an estimated 23,000 premature deaths in Spain each year. The health costs associated with air pollution in Spain are estimated at a minimum of 50 billion dollars a year, equivalent to 3.5% of the Spanish GDP.”

One of the most excellent features of fully electric vehicles is the regenerative braking and one-pedal driving, which the EV4 has. (Not all EVs have one-pedal driving.)

Finally, Robert noted the EV4 could compete with the Tesla Model Y, which is an important point because many people either no longer want to buy a Tesla after Elon Musk’s foray into politics and his social media conduct or they are uncertain if they should buy one.

Video Comments

---

“Funny, I actually charged at that location on my way to Cordoba with a Fiat 500e rental with my mom. I’m from Malaga and could never imagine what joy it is to ride across the landscape with an EV, and fast charge at some 200 year old restaurant’s front garden.”

---

“Thanks for another really well made review Robert. We bought our EV6 about a year ago and it is still completely amazing, but if the EV4 had existed then we might have chosen otherwise. Your comments on how Kia/Hyundai are just getting EV design right align with my observations.

The build quality of our EV6 is excellent and a year on, we are still finding things the car can do that we hadn’t expected. I live in Australia’s Capital City where the average daily commute is less than 20km so nearly all drivers here would hugely benefit from an EV4, or probably almost any EV.”