There are cars that impress you with outright performance, cars that win you over with technology, and others that simply make everyday life that little bit easier. Every so often, though, a car manages to bring most of those things together. The Kia EV5 might be one of those cars.
Having spent time with a Kia UK press car, specifically the Kia EV5 GT-Line S 81.4kWh AWD MY26, I have come away thinking this could be my favourite all-rounder of the year.
That does not mean it is the fastest electric car I have driven, nor the most luxurious or the most dramatic. What it does incredibly well is combine comfort, practicality, technology, a proper SUV driving position and just enough performance in a package that is very easy to live with.
And increasingly, I think that is what matters most.
A proper-looking electric SUV
One of my favourite things about the EV5 is simply the way it looks. A lot of modern electric SUVs have become increasingly rounded and aerodynamic, sometimes to the point where the word SUV feels slightly generous. The EV5 takes a different approach.
It looks square, chunky and upright, with pronounced wheelarches, a broad nose and Kia’s distinctive lighting signature. Kia itself describes the silhouette as boxy yet dynamic, and I think that sums it up rather well.
There is an obvious family resemblance with the much larger EV9, which is no bad thing. The difference is that the EV5 feels far more manageable once you get into a town centre, supermarket car park or narrow Sussex road.
At 4,610mm long and 1,875mm wide, it is still a substantial family SUV, but it does not feel cumbersome.
That matters because I have always liked the sense of occasion you get from something like an EV9, but you are constantly aware of its size. The EV5 gives you much of that same commanding SUV feeling without making you question whether you are going to fit into every parking space you approach.
From behind the wheel, you sit high enough to get that almost “king of the road” feeling I like from a proper SUV.
Which Kia EV5 did I drive?
My test car was the newer Kia EV5 GT-Line S AWD with the 81.4kWh battery. This is worth pointing out because much of the information published when the EV5 initially arrived in the UK related to the front-wheel-drive model.
The original UK EV5 was launched with an 81.4kWh battery and a 160kW, or 214bhp, front-mounted motor. The newer AWD model adds a second motor and increases combined output to around 195kW, or 265hp, turning the EV5 into a noticeably more powerful proposition.
It still does not feel like one of those electric cars designed primarily to rearrange your internal organs every time you touch the accelerator. That is actually part of its appeal.
The performance feels appropriate rather than excessive. There is more than enough power for overtaking, joining a motorway or quickly getting away from a junction, but the EV5 never forgets that its primary job is to be a comfortable family SUV.
What is the Kia EV5 like to drive?
I drove the EV5 across a mixture of roads, including dual carriageways, motorways and some of my usual B-roads around the South Downs in Sussex. The more time I spent in it, the more I liked it. On faster roads, it is an exceptionally easy car in which to cover distance. The driving position is comfortable, visibility is good and the cabin remains pleasantly calm.
There is plenty of power when you need it, but there is none of the nervousness that you occasionally get in very powerful electric cars where every small accelerator movement seems to produce a surge of torque.
The EV5 feels measured. It is equally enjoyable away from the motorway. The low-mounted battery helps to keep the centre of gravity down, and that broadly matches how the car feels from behind the wheel. It handles considerably better than you might expect from something this upright.
Around the sweeping roads of the South Downs, I found myself enjoying it rather than simply tolerating the corners until the road opened up again. There is enough weight and accuracy to the steering to give you confidence, while the AWD system gives the car a reassuring sense of traction. I would not call it a sports SUV, and it does not need to be one. What impressed me was how well controlled it remained while still maintaining the comfort that makes the EV5 so pleasant for longer journeys.
What is the suspension like?
The EV5 is ultimately set up with comfort in mind. There is some noticeable body movement if you start pushing it harder down a particularly uneven country road, but in normal driving the suspension does a very good job of isolating you from poor surfaces. For me, the balance works. You get the elevated driving position and substantial feel of an SUV without an unnecessarily hard ride.
That makes the EV5 particularly appealing if you regularly cover longer distances but still want something that feels confident and composed on more interesting roads.
Kia EV5 drive modes
The EV5 offers several driving modes, including Eco, Normal, Sport, My Drive and Snow. These primarily alter things such as accelerator response and power delivery rather than completely transforming the character of the car.
I spent most of my time in Normal mode because it suits the EV5 well. Sport sharpens things up if you are joining a quicker road or simply fancy making use of the extra AWD power, while Eco calms down the accelerator response to help maximise efficiency. Snow mode should also prove useful during poorer winter conditions. The drive modes are easy to understand and, importantly, they do not make the car feel unnecessarily complicated.
Regenerative braking and i-Pedal
Behind the steering wheel are paddles that allow you to adjust the level of regenerative braking. This is one of those EV features I really appreciate because different situations suit different levels of regeneration.
You can reduce it and allow the car to coast more freely on open roads, or increase the level in town. Kia also provides its i-Pedal one-pedal driving mode, allowing you to do much of your everyday driving by simply varying the pressure on the accelerator.
Once you become accustomed to it, particularly in traffic, it can make the car incredibly relaxing to drive.
The driver’s seat is excellent
One of the biggest compliments I can give the EV5 is just how comfortable it is. The driver’s seat in my GT-Line S test car was excellent. You get plenty of adjustment and a driving position that makes it very easy to settle in for a long journey. My test car also had a massage function, which quickly became one of my favourite features.
Massage seats are one of those luxuries that can initially sound unnecessary, right up until you spend a few hours on the motorway and realise how welcome they are. The GT-Line S also adds ventilated front seats alongside the heating you would expect. If I were regularly travelling long distances, the seat alone would be one of the reasons I would consider the higher specification.
The interior feels very well thought out
The EV5’s interior is not trying to reinvent the car cabin for the sake of looking futuristic. That is another reason I like it. There is plenty of technology, but crucially, it feels usable.
Across the dashboard you effectively get three displays, with a 12.3-inch digital instrument display, a 5.3-inch climate-control screen and a 12.3-inch infotainment display. One of my favourite details is that dedicated climate screen. I am increasingly frustrated by cars that bury everything inside an infotainment menu. Temperature controls are something you use constantly, so having the climate information permanently visible makes far more sense.
Kia has also retained useful physical-style controls beneath the screen rather than relying entirely on touch-sensitive surfaces. The displays themselves are clear and straightforward, and I did not feel that I needed a lengthy familiarisation period before setting off. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included too.
Blind-spot cameras are one of Kia’s best features
One technology feature I particularly like is Kia’s Blind-Spot View Monitor. Indicate and a live camera image of the corresponding blind spot appears in the driver’s display. It sounds like a relatively small thing, but once you have driven a car with it, you really notice its absence when you get into something else. It is especially useful on busy multi-lane roads and motorways where cyclists, motorbikes or other vehicles can disappear alongside the car.
The GT-Line S also brings a 360-degree surround-view camera, front, side and rear parking sensors and Remote Smart Parking Assist. For a relatively substantial SUV, those systems make parking noticeably less stressful.
Driver assistance without constant interference
One of my regular frustrations with modern cars is overly aggressive safety technology. Nobody is going to argue against systems designed to prevent accidents, but some manufacturers have created systems so intrusive that you spend the first minute of every journey trying to switch them off. The EV5 gets the balance surprisingly right.
There is the expected collection of systems including Lane Keeping Assist, Lane Following Assist, Highway Driving Assist, Smart Cruise Control and Intelligent Speed Limit Assist. What matters is that I did not find them excessively irritating. That might sound like faint praise, but in 2026 it genuinely counts as a positive.
Harman Kardon audio
The Harman Kardon eight-speaker premium sound system fitted to GT-Line S deserves a mention too. It sounds excellent. There is plenty of clarity and enough bass without everything becoming muddy, and it adds to the feeling that the EV5 is particularly well suited to long-distance driving. The quietness of the cabin also helps you appreciate it properly, particularly on longer motorway journeys.
An electric sunroof that actually opens
This may be disproportionately important to me, but I love a sunroof. A lot of modern electric cars give you a huge fixed glass roof that looks impressive but does not actually open. My GT-Line S had the large glass roof with an electric sunshade and, importantly, a section that can actually tilt and slide open. On a bright day, being able to open the roof properly makes the cabin feel considerably more airy. It is one of those traditional luxury-car touches I am glad has survived the move to electric cars.
Clever details you notice after living with it
Some of the best features in the EV5 are not necessarily the things that make the brochure headline. There is a little hook in the front cabin that I ended up using to hang a carrier bag for rubbish. That is such a simple thing, yet it is exactly the sort of feature you appreciate when actually living with a car. There is also plenty of storage throughout the cabin, including a large centre console area.
It reinforces the impression that somebody has actually thought about how a family might use the EV5 rather than simply designing an attractive dashboard and working backwards.
Is the Kia EV5 spacious?
Yes, and this is another area where the EV5 makes a very strong case for itself. The wheelbase measures 2,750mm, helping provide plenty of room for passengers, and the flat floor gives rear-seat occupants plenty of usable foot space. The rear seats can fold almost flat, creating a long and largely continuous load area. It feels like a genuinely practical family car rather than an EV that sacrifices usability for styling.
How big is the Kia EV5 boot?
Kia quotes 566 litres of boot space with the rear seats in use, expanding to 1,650 litres when they are folded. There is also a 44-litre front storage compartment, or frunk, which is useful for charging cables and other bits you might not want rolling around in the main boot.
The boot itself is a good shape and the opening is wide, but there is one thing I noticed immediately: the loading height is quite high. If you are regularly lifting heavy suitcases, dogs or bulky items into the back, that is worth bearing in mind. The boot floor can be adjusted, though, giving you some flexibility between creating a flatter floor and maximising luggage depth. Overall, it is a very usable luggage space.
Kia EV5 range
This is where it is important to distinguish between EV5 versions. The front-wheel-drive EV5 with the 81.4kWh battery can officially achieve up to 329 miles WLTP in Air specification. Higher-specification cars and the AWD model sacrifice some of that headline range in return for equipment, performance and traction.
The AWD version sits at roughly the 300-mile mark on the WLTP cycle depending on exact specification. As always, real-world range will depend heavily on temperature, road type, speed and how enthusiastically you drive.
I would therefore think about the EV5 as a comfortable 250 to 300-mile real-world car in favourable conditions rather than obsessing over one official number. That is more than enough for the vast majority of journeys.
How quickly does the Kia EV5 charge?
The EV5 uses a 400-volt electrical architecture rather than the faster 800-volt system found in cars such as the EV6 and EV9.
Kia quotes a 10 to 80 per cent DC charging time of around 30 minutes when connected to a sufficiently powerful rapid charger. The UK launch specification supported up to 150kW DC charging, with a full 10 to 100 per cent AC charge taking around 7 hours 20 minutes using an 11kW supply. In practical terms, that means an EV5 should be perfectly capable of completing long motorway journeys with relatively short charging stops.
It is not class-leading charging technology, but it is fast enough that I would not consider it a major weakness.
Vehicle-to-load is genuinely useful
GT-Line models also gain Vehicle-to-Load, or V2L. This allows you to draw electricity from the EV5’s battery to power external electrical devices. Depending on what you are doing, that might mean laptops, tools, camping equipment or other appliances.
GT-Line S also includes an interior three-pin socket and V2L adaptor. It is another feature that could sound slightly gimmicky until you actually find yourself somewhere without a conventional power supply.
Is the Kia EV5 safe?
The Kia EV5 has achieved the maximum five-star Euro NCAP safety rating.
It scored 83 per cent for adult occupant protection, 85 per cent for child occupant protection, 74 per cent for vulnerable road-user protection and 80 per cent for Safety Assist. There is also a comprehensive list of active safety systems including autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot assistance, Safe Exit Warning and Highway Driving Assist.
For anybody considering the EV5 as a family car, that is another important box ticked.
Kia EV5 GT-Line S equipment
The GT-Line S is undoubtedly the specification I would want after spending time with it.
Among the equipment included are the tilting and sliding sunroof, Premium Relaxation Seats, ventilated front seats, Harman Kardon audio, head-up display, fingerprint recognition, Blind-Spot View Monitor, surround-view cameras, Remote Smart Parking Assist and additional parking sensors.
That is on top of equipment already included further down the range, such as adaptive LED headlights, electrically adjustable front seats, heated outer rear seats, smart electric tailgate, wireless phone charging, ambient lighting and V2L.
The downside is price. Once you move into AWD GT-Line S territory, the EV5 pushes beyond £50,000, which puts it into some very competitive company.
What are the Kia EV5’s main rivals?
The electric family SUV market is not exactly short of alternatives.
The EV5 potentially competes with cars including the Tesla Model Y, Skoda Enyaq, Volkswagen ID.4, Nissan Ariya, Ford Explorer, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Toyota bZ4X, as well as the growing number of similarly sized electric SUVs from Chinese manufacturers.
Different rivals beat the EV5 in individual areas. Some offer faster charging. Some offer longer official range. Some may be cheaper. Where I think the Kia performs particularly well is in simply bringing everything together.
It feels spacious without being enormous, modern without being irritating, comfortable without becoming wallowy and powerful without turning every journey into an acceleration demonstration.
That is exactly what I want from an everyday SUV.
Is the Kia EV5 better than the EV9?
They are aimed at different customers, but I think the EV5 will actually make more sense for far more people. I love the scale and presence of the EV9, but it is a very big car. The EV5 gives you much of the same Kia SUV character in something easier to park, easier to place on narrow roads and considerably less intimidating around town. Unless you specifically need the EV9’s additional seating capacity and enormous interior, the EV5 feels like the more manageable everyday proposition.
Is the Kia EV5 worth buying?
Having spent time with the EV5 GT-Line S AWD, I find it very difficult not to recommend. There are flashier electric cars, faster electric cars and EVs with more impressive charging figures. But as an all-round family SUV, this gets an awful lot right.
I love the commanding driving position. The seats are exceptionally comfortable. The technology feels useful rather than gimmicky. The blind-spot cameras are excellent. The Harman Kardon system sounds brilliant. There is a proper opening sunroof. The interior is spacious. The boot is useful. It drives far better than its upright shape might suggest and, crucially, it is just incredibly easy to live with.
The high boot lip is probably my biggest everyday criticism, while I would also like to see faster charging given the increasingly strong competition at this price. Neither would stop me wanting one.
In fact, having driven an awful lot of new cars this year, the EV5 may be the vehicle I would find easiest to recommend to somebody who simply asked me: “What electric SUV should I buy?” And perhaps that is the biggest compliment I can give it.
