Video: Leah Carroll. Words: Donal Byrne.
There are a number of reasons why two Korean car manufacturers now hold two of the top five sales positions in the Irish market.
Firstly, neither Hyundai nor Kia are afraid of bold design statements, and secondly, both offer quite exceptional interiors and tech. Thirdly, their electric cars, in my experience at least, offer ranges that are impressively close to what the companies say they will deliver. The same can't be said for many of their competitors.
The arrival of the new Kia EV4 and a Fastback version of the same car sees yet more creativity in design, with lots of defined lines and sharp edges, and the interior won’t have anyone complaining of cramp. It’s a car whose sales trajectory will be closely watched by those competitors.
The car will be up against VW's ID3, Skoda’s Elroq, and Peugeot’s e-308, but only the Cupra Born really comes near the styling of these cars.
There is a total of 31 inches of screen space on the dashboard, divided into three areas - a 5.3-inch screen for the climate display, 11 inches for the infotainment system and 12.3 inches for the driver information display.
The screen area is very well proportioned; it doesn’t dominate the cabin space as is the case with some Chinese competitors, and the graphics are crisp. There’s an AI voice assistant, and glitches with a facility to play things like YouTube and Netflix are being ironed out. This will be available at some stage, but will be charged on a subscription basis.
Both the 4 and the Fastback versions are elegant in their design and proportions, especially the Fastback.
While the Fastback is only available with a long-range battery, the 4 offers a choice of either a 58.3 kWh unit or a longer range 81.4 kWh one, as offered in the Fastback. Kia claims the smaller battery will deliver 456 kilometres of range and the bigger battery 633 kilometres.
The usual caveat about claimed ranges applies until we see what they deliver in real-world conditions. The cars come with an advanced EV route planner to keep you informed about range and charging options while on the road.
I’ve only had the opportunity to drive the car briefly, but came away with the sense that doing a lot to tune the suspension for European roads - the car is built at Kia’s Slovenian factory - will pay off well with prospective customers.
Prices start at €39,940 (the €40,000 price mark is critical for this compact SUV segment) for the entry-level Earth 2 version with the 58.3 kWh battery. The longer range battery is available for €3,335 extra on the same car. The Fastback, available only with the long-range battery, comes in €46,175. There’s also a GT-Line version for €51,250.
Standard equipment includes 17" alloy wheels, LED headlights, those display screens, heated front seats, smart cruise control, a marvellously inventive live camera in the wing mirrors for blind spot detection and automatic high beam adjustment.
The car hasn’t been safety tested by EuroNCAP yet, but it would be quite a surprise if it didn’t perform well, as the latest Kia cars have done. There’s a comprehensive suite of safety features, with everything from lane correction to a driver drowsiness camera monitor and emergency braking as standard.
A longer drive should be an interesting one, so we’ll bring you a final verdict in the not-too-distant future.
