Behind the wheel of Kia’s electric mid-size SUV, the EV5. The first Kia to be built in China with the battery interestingly supplied by electric car giant BYD. There’s three trim grades Air, Earth and GT-line, I’m driving the mid-grade EV5 Earth at $68,990 drive-away, a 230kW dual electric motor all-wheel-drive with a long range 88.1kWh battery and a quoted range of 500km. The drive experience proved rewarding, my consumption around town running at 18.6 kWh/100km providing a range of 473km – charge time on my 11kW home charger from 10 to 100 percent just over 8 hours or overnight. I must admit the Kia EV5 Earth SUV grew on me the more I drove it – the styling subjective, but I personally got to like it over time, the interior a highpoint, great seats, the test cars Nougat Beige interior colours appealing in a dashboard design that is intuitive and different. Biggest gripe, the overly active and intrusive lane keep assist, speed limit recognition and drive attention warnings and I’m surprised Kia Australia has not addressed this annoyance. Overall, though, all things considered the EV5 Earth all-wheel drive is a very rewarding electric SUV.

IMAGE CREDIT / KIA AUSTRALIA

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