Kia EV3 2025 Review

Kicking off from $47,600 plus on-road costs, the 2025 Kia EV3 line-up comprises of four variants: the base Air Standard Range, Air Long Range ($53,315), Earth Long Range ($58,600) and flagship GT-Line Long Range ($63,950).

Every single one of them rides on a 400-volt version of Kia’s fantastic e-GMP architecture and comes with a 150kW/283Nm electric motor powering the front axle, however, the battery that sustains said motor can vary.

The Air Standard Range is the outlier here in that it features a 58.3kWh battery pack, gifting it a claimed 436km of range, whereas the Long Range trio packs an 81.4kWh unit good for between 563km and 604km depending on the variant.

Inside the cabin of all grades, you’ll find an expansive panoramic display housing a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 5.3-inch climate control interface and a 12.3-inch infotainment system, below which resides a line of integrated shortcut buttons, air vents and a quartet of physical climate control toggles.

Headline gear on the Airs includes 17-inch alloy wheels, cloth upholstery,?Kia?Connect, wireless smartphone mirroring and charging, a two-spoke steering wheel, a six-speaker sound system, sat-nav, dual-zone climate control, LED exterior lighting and vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities.

The Earth builds on this with bigger 19-inch alloys, artificial leather seats, a powered tailgate, the choice of two interior colourways, a heated steering wheel and heated and ventilated front seats, while the GT-Line goes further with a unique body kit and wheel design, a head-up display, sunroof, eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and an extendable centre console table.

Every variant comes with Kia’s latest i-Pedal 3.0 single-pedal driving system, smart regenerative braking system and Highway Drive Assist 2, not to mention all the usual active safety suspects like multi-function AEB, lane keeping and follow assist, driver attention warning, blind spot collision assist etc – there’s nothing missing.

Kia openly says the EV3 was designed to look like a miniature EV9, but to our eyes, it’s a whole lot prettier than its much bigger brother, though perhaps not as handsome as the slow-selling Niro EV.

It’s a similar story in the cabin in that the 2025 Kia EV3’s interior is clearly inspired by, but better executed than the EV9’s, even if the latter monsters it for space, and unlike the middling EV5, all the materials actually feel and smell like Kia hardware.

Even in the base Air grade with its manual seat adjustment, it’s easy to get comfortable behind the wheel and navigate the dashboard, with the same true of the screens.

In town, the EV3 drives exactly as you would expect a compact electric Kia to drive – it’s comfortable, quiet, refined, easy to see out of, efficient and easy to get along with.

Kia Australia’s chassis tuning wizard Graham Gambolt has (once again) done a great job of instilling the EV3 with a comfortable-but-not-soft ride both in the suburbs and on the open road, combining with the low centre of gravity EVs are renowned for to deliver just enough dynamic talent to be engaging on a twisty road.

As mentioned before, however, this is all largely par for the course for a modern Kia – what stood out for us was the EV3’s sheer efficiency and its brakes.

In town, this 1800kg-plus electric SUV returned single-figure energy consumption figures even in the default (normal) drive mode and scarcely used more than 15kWh/100km on the open road, even when enjoying the twisties.

At one stage, our projected range was as high as 645km in the Air Long Range, and that was after some 26km of driving, which is phenomenal for an affordable EV from a brand-name manufacturer – we can feel an efficiency challenge coming on…

Jump on the anchors in a hurry and the EV3 pulls up alarmingly quickly for something without any overt sporting pretentions, let alone something approaching two tonnes – an emergency stop from 90km/h in damp conditions had the brakes smelling warm immediately afterwards, but the EV3 stayed on-course and stopped in an impressively short distance.

Other positives include a versatile and usable boot, reasonable build quality, that impressive pricing and what seem to be tamed driver aids that don’t come down on you like a tonne of bricks for a minor indiscretion.

There are a couple of blemishes on the 2025 Kia EV3’s positive scorecard, however, and we’ll cut straight to the chase.

While the suspension set-up is very good for the most part, the rebound of the rear dampers is still too aggressive – Kia Australia backed it off compared to the Euro tune – and can sometimes make the back end feel a little pogo-like over speed bumps and bigger hits at cruising speeds.

Accommodation in the second row also isn’t quite as generous as you might expect – but by no means unacceptable – and there’s no spare wheel, neither of which are dealbreakers, but they’re still important considerations for those considering the EV3 as a compact family bus or silent long-haul cruiser.

Other minor niggles include the sizeable performance gulfs between certain variants, to the tune of almost half a second when comparing 0-100km/h times. The climate control interface is obscured by the steering wheel, and there’s a QR code on the dash that ultimately details Kia’s sustainability-sourced interior materials, which is just way too on the nose for this author, especially since it can’t be removed.

The short answer here is yes; if you’re in the market for a new compact EV, you should buy a 2025 Kia EV3.

It’s phenomenally efficient, handsome, well-packaged, good to drive, stops on a dollar (we’re Australian), backed by Kia’s usual seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty (150,000km for the battery) and impressively affordable compared the immediate competition – Hyundai Kona EV, Volvo EX30, Renault Megane E-Tech and Zeekr X.

Yes, the bigger BYD Atto3 beats it on price, but it can’t touch the little Kia for quality, refinement, packaging, range or driver enjoyment.

The EV3 isn’t perfect, but it is very good and undoubtedly a front-runner of the electric small SUV segment.

In this author’s opinion, at least, based on this first drive, the EV3 is considerably better than its EV5 stablemate, which really only offers more space – the EV3 has it licked in every other regard.

If it were our money, we’d be dropping the cash on either the Air Long Range, which pairs a respectable kit list with that monster 604km range and the line-up’s best ride quality, or the better-equipped Earth Long Range in the name of scoring a few extra toys and goodies.

2025 Kia EV3 at a glance:
Price: $47,600 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 150kW/283Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 58.3kWh/81.4kWh lithium-ion
Range: 436-604km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 14.9-16.2kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested