The Kia EV5 Is The Boxier, Cheaper Alternative To The EV6. With One Catch.

Kia’s not going to stop until there’s an EV for every number, is it? It’s no bad thing—small numbers mean small cars, big numbers mean big cars, and we all know where we stand. (Polestar: Please take note.) The latest EV5 is… in the middle, I suppose. And it’s a slot that could do rather nicely for the Korean firm if the car’s any good.

The EV5 is a mid-sized SUV, which means it’ll fit just about anywhere without too much issue, and it looks pretty good, too. It’s skipped the swoopy features of the EV6, and the alarmingly out-there look of the EV4, sticking with the more traditional two-box SUV layout. It’s still very much a Kia, though, which means you get some truly funky light signatures to help it stand out from other, less exciting boxes on offer.

Kia’s digital light signature is a huge highlight here. Front and rear are, by virtue of being on a big car, massive, yet the lamps aren’t overdone or in your face. They help what could easily be a visually boring car look pretty cool. Being cool in the family car space is a tough thing to do, and Kia’s just about nailed it. 

As its EV lineup grows and grows, there’s a worry that Kia’s firing out too many cars too soon, and could eat its own sales, but by keeping things a little less wacky… perhaps it won’t be a problem. In the same breath, why should you go for an EV5 over an EV6? They’re of a similar size, do broadly the same thing, and can be had for similar money depending on spec. The question is: Do you want your car to look like a spaceship? If you don’t, and want something easy to live with, the EV5’s got your back.

[Full Disclosure: Kia loaned me an EV5 for this review.]

Gallery: See Photos Of The 2026 Kia EV5

Specs and features

A Kia EV’s only gonna have one thing underpinning it, the e-GMP platform that lives under what feels like everything the brand makes. In the U.K., that means there’s an 81.4 kWh battery lurking under the floor, delivering 214bhp and 218lb ft to the front wheels only. In the U.S., you’re out of luck, as the China-built EV5 isn’t heading in your direction. 

Kia says the British spec will manage 313 miles (503 kilometers, WLTP) on a charge, giving an average of 3.8mi/kWh. Obviously, that was measured under test conditions, so your mileage will vary. Given the right charger, you can take up to 127kW on board, giving a neat 30-minute 10-80% fast charge time, a bit slower than the EV6 takes to do the EV5. But the boxy Kia is pleasantly quick, getting you from 0-62 mph in 8.4 seconds and on to 102 mph.

In GT-Line S spec, the standard toys are plentiful. At the press of a button, you can heat or cool your or your passenger’s colon, as well as warm your hands on the wheel. A pano roof helps keep the cabin bright, though the ability to hide cloudy weather at a moment’s notice is always welcome (and needed in the U.K.).

If you’ve been anywhere near a modern Kia, the infotainment system in the EV5 will be familiar to you. There’s a 12.3-inch touch screen with a dazzling array of options you’ll mostly ignore in favor of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. That said, its built-in GPS works well, giving clear instructions and offering up-to-date mapping and traffic info. It’ll also tell you where the nearest charge points are, how fast they are, and how many of them are being used when you set off. On the handful of occasions it was needed, it worked flawlessly. 

The EV5 has a handsome, airy cabin.

Photo by: Alex Goy / InsideEVs

Driving Experience

While Kia does a fine line in silly fast, dynamically capable GT spec cars, the EV5 GT-Line S isn’t here to blow your socks off with a ‘WATCH THIS’ 0-60 time. Yes, it’s brisk enough to make good progress, but that’s not the point of the EV5. It’s designed to be A Car for people who need A Car. Don’t expect ultra-flat cornering or track-ready performance here.

In the city, it’s smooth and comfortable, the ride easily able to soak up endless potholes without doing your spine in. The car’s 4,612-pound curb weight can’t be ignored, though. It’s a big, heavy car, with a big, heavy battery, and no amount of suspension trickery can hide that. Bigger bumps ‘n lumps will cause the ride to get jiggly and, occasionally, crashy. Physics is going to do that.

Its steering is neatly smooth, and as a consequence, doesn’t come with finger-tingling feedback. That’s just fine here. Threading the needle in stop-start traffic isn’t something that needs millimeter precision; you need to turn ‘n go, and it does that just fine. 

Photo by: Alex Goy / InsideEVs

There are three levels of regen to play with, and an i-Pedal one-pedal driving mode on top. It’s not intrusive, though if passengers aren’t used to harsh regen settings, they may take a while to get used to it.

On the highway, it’s… fine. Highway driving is a bore at the best of times, and the EV5 handles it well. The seats are comfy, the sound system is good, and the heated seats can be set to ‘roast.’ There’s some wind noise and just a hint of road noise to contend with. It rides on 19-inch wheels and is shaped like a stylized brick, so that sort of thing’s to be expected.

There are a handful of drive modes to play with if you’re in the mood. Most of the time, the Normal setting is just fine, though if you’re worried about range, you can set it to Eco and the EV5 will give you an extra mile here and there while dulling the throttle response a touch. If you’re in a hurry, you can fire up Sport mode. It ups throttle response, turns the 12.3-inch instrument binnacle angry red, and eats your range. While it’s nice to have, it seems… pointless. 

The boxier shape makes the EV5 a bit more practical than the pinched-roof EV6.

Photo by: Alex Goy / InsideEVs

You can have fun in it when things get twisty if the mood takes you. Torque and power are keenly and smoothly delivered, and while the steering isn’t razor-sharp, you can push it enough to raise a smile. The weight does make itself known, though.

Tech and Charging

The EV5 doesn’t get the fancy 800-volt electrical architecture that its bigger brothers, the EV6 and EV9, are blessed with. Instead, it’s 400-volt all the way. That means charging’s a little slower, and it’s not quite as advanced under the skin. The plus side of it is that the price is kept a little lower. This sort of car doesn’t need the full bells and whistles treatment.

If you’re waiting for a ‘but,’ here it comes… But that does come with a caveat. Using high-powered public chargers, the EV5 didn’t hit its promised 127kW charging speed. Sometimes it took 40-50kW, others a punchier 100kW, but that was it. It was a little frustrating. With a home charger that issue broadly becomes moot anyway, but I expect cars to hit their advertised rates.

When it comes to efficiency, it performed well given miserable British weather and the not-WLTP friendly temperatures that go with. Kia’s numbers work out to 3.8 miles per kWh, and it managed around 3.3 over hundreds of miles of mixed driving. Perhaps in California it’d do better, though you’ll rarely see any car hit its WLTP figure in the real world. 

Photo by: Alex Goy / InsideEVs

If you’re a fan of charging devices you’re well catered for. There are a handful in the center console, and USB-C charge ports built into the front seats so rear seat passengers can keep topped up on the move.

Kia’s usual suite of active safety tech is present and correct here. When you hit the turn signal you’ll be shown a road-level view of what’s going on behind you on that side, which is incredibly handy when trying to get around town. Errant moped riders and cyclists are displayed clearly, and will therefore avoid being turned into paste. The back up camera is nice and clear, too, which should avoid any accidents. It has the requisit bings and bongs to warn you when you’re exceeding the speed limit or straying out of your lane, too. They’re not overly intrusive and you can turn them off if you’d like.

One thing that takes a while to get used to is the gear selector. Twist the end of the column-mounted stick forward to go forward, back to go backward, but if you’re trying to pull off a tight reverse or parallel park it’s quite easy to get overwhelmed and flick it the wrong way. This is almost certainly a PICNIC (Problem In Chair, Not In Car) issue, but it’s something to look out for when you’re getting to grips with the car. 

Photo by: Alex Goy / InsideEVs

Pricing and Verdict

In the UK, the EV5 kicks off at £39,345 ($52,503 at current exchange rates), and the GT-Line S spec on test was £47,145 ($62,911), which is perfectly reasonable for a big five-seat SUV with a decent range. (Prices are not directly comparable between markets due to different tax and import concerns, along with competitive considerations.)

The EV5 is therefore both hard and easy to recommend. On the one hand it’s a practical, handsomeish SUV with lots of toys, and decent efficiency you can put your trust in. On the other… it’s a tool. A thing to get families around in comfort and not too much more. It’s about as close Kia’ll get to making something no frills in this class, but it does so with its usual style. It’s firmly in the ‘it’s a decent car’ category, and it’s damn high up in it. 

Alex Goy is a freelance journalist based in London. He likes British sports cars, tea, and the feeling of the mild peril that only owning a British sports car can bring to your day.

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