I've been driving the Kia EV5 for a month now.
I want to be careful about how I write this because I'm aware of how easy it is to fall into new car enthusiasm — that honeymoon period where everything feels fresh and impressive and you're not yet frustrated by the things that will eventually frustrate you.
So I've waited. I've driven it in the rain, on Cornish lanes, on the motorway, on short trips and longer ones. I've used the software, wrestled with the app, sat in it in a supermarket car park waiting for someone while it rained outside. I've lived with it the way you actually live with a car.
Here's what I actually think.
THE RANGE AND REAL WORLD PERFORMANCE
I have the top spec EV5 GT Line S. The official range figure for the EV5 is 313 miles. After a month of mixed real world driving — mostly local Cornwall roads with the occasional longer run — I'm consistently seeing 270 miles of real world range. That's 86% of the official figure, which for anyone who read Issue 2 will know is actually pretty good. Considering I’m constantly faced with national speed limit rural roads, I expected real world figures to be worse.
What strikes me most is how predictable it is. The range estimate on the dashboard is honest. It doesn't flatter you and then quietly disappoint. When it says I have 180 miles left, I have roughly 180 miles left. After years of EVs that would show you one number and deliver another, that consistency feels like a genuine step forward.
Cornwall is not a flat county. The hills that defeated older EV range estimates seem to bother the EV5 noticeably less — the regenerative braking recovers meaningful energy on the way down, which partially offsets what the hills cost on the way up. On particularly hilly routes the net impact is less than I expected.
THE TECHNOLOGY AND SOFTWARE
This is where the EV5 surprised me most.
Kia has clearly decided that the software experience matters. The Kia App is genuinely useful rather than the afterthought it feels like on some manufacturers' systems. I can check the charge level from the house, pre-condition the cabin temperature before I get in on a cold morning, and schedule charging to take advantage of cheaper overnight electricity tariffs. All of it works reliably, which sounds like a low bar but isn't.
The interior screen setup is large, clean, and responsive. The navigation is competent. The over the air update system means the car can improve without a dealer visit — Although I haven’t received any as of yet so can’t quite comment if that goes smoothly!
The driver assist features are excellent. Lane keep assist in conjunction with radar cruise control is exceptional and I am rarely on a dual carriageway without it on. Switching onto a motorway and Highway Drive Assist activates. With the car able to even change lanes itself, the technology really is spectacular and directly competes with Tesla’s autopilot. At some point I will run a separate article on the technology.
If I have one gripe, its the haptic buttons under the screen which I seem to constantly touch when interacting with the display, this then sends me to another menu that I never wanted.
As with all modern EV’s, much of the infotainment system is controlled with the touch screen, this is annoying when you are driving and can be an unwanted distraction. The iDrive system on my non EV BMW 520d touring feels safer to use but this is something to get used to with modern cars.
THE CHARGING EXPERIENCE
This is the area where the difference from my Tesla years is most felt — and it cuts both ways.
The EV5 is not a Tesla. It doesn't have access to the Supercharger network. That means joining the rest of us on the public charging network — Osprey, Pod Point, Gridserve, BP Pulse, and the rest of the alphabet soup of providers that make up charging in the UK outside of Tesla's walled garden, which however has been broken down for some large superchargers allowing non Tesla’s to benefit.
The honest truth is that the public network has improved significantly in the past two years. Fast chargers are more available, more reliable, and easier to use than they were. The EV5 supports up to 150kW DC rapid charging which means a meaningful top up in 20 to 30 minutes at a compatible charger.
But it's not seamless in the way Tesla was seamless. You sometimes need multiple apps. Occasionally a charger is out of service. The experience requires a slightly different mindset — more planning, less assumption. Coming from Tesla that adjustment is real, even if manageable.
On my first long road trip with the EV5, I arrived at a charger with 18% battery and the only charger that could reach my charge port was broken. My charge was too low to reach the next stop safely so I resorted to parking sideways in a not so graceful manor just to get the cable to reach. The cars navigation system thought that both chargers were working so there really wasn’t any way of planning for this.
At home, on my 7kW wallbox, the EV5 charges overnight from low to full without any drama whatsoever. That remains the foundation of the whole ownership experience.
THE DRIVING FEEL AND COMFORT
I'll be direct: the EV5 is the most comfortable car I've owned.
The ride quality on Cornwall's famously uneven roads is noticeably better than any of my previous EVs, partly because of it’s SUV stance on the road but also the fabulous suspension that Kia adapts uniquely to each country. It absorbs the kind of road surface that used to have me wincing in the Tesla’s. The seats are genuinely excellent on longer journeys. The cabin is quiet — properly quiet — in a way that makes motorway driving feel significantly less tiring than it used to. The relaxation seats are excellent to move you around on long journeys and put the car into sport mode and the seat bolsters wrap around you to hold you in place.
The driving position is commanding without being bus-like. The steering is well weighted. The instant torque that defines EV driving is present and satisfying without being aggressive — it pulls cleanly and confidently rather than trying to impress you.
After a month I get out of this car feeling less tired than I used to. That's not something I expected to notice but I have, consistently.
THE HONEST SUMMARY
Four EVs in six years gives you a reference point that most reviewers don't have. I've driven the early days of mainstream EV ownership when the technology was promising but rough, and I'm driving the current state of the art.
The EV5 feels like a car made by a company that has genuinely listened. Not just to what EV buyers say they want, but to what they actually experience day to day. The range is honest, the software works, the comfort is real, and the charging — public network limitations aside — is manageable.
Is it perfect? No. The public charging network still has rough edges. And at nearly £50k for my model it's a significant investment.
But one month in, driving it through Cornwall every day, I'm impressed. Genuinely, specifically, not-just-new-car-enthusiasm impressed.
I'll check back in at six months and tell you if that's still true.
Matt
Charging Up
chargingup.uk
P.S. Do you own or are you considering a Kia EV? Hit reply — I'd love to know what questions you have about the EV5 that I can answer from real experience.