2024 Kia EV5: Australian details for midsize electric SUV

Set to launch here in June, the Kia EV5 medium SUV will be the brand's most affordable EV yet, with prices likely starting “in the 50s” according to Kia Australia boss Damien Meredith.

Given an entry point in the $50K bracket, the base Kia EV5 electric SUV would appear to offer tremendous value compared to its entry-level rivals – the Tesla Model Y ($65,400), Toyota bZ4X ($66,000), Subaru Solterra AWD ($69,990) and Ford Mustang Mach-E ($72,990), not to mention Kia’s own EV6 Air ($72,590).

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“We’re pretty confident we can get a really, really, really, really good price,” said Mr Meredith regarding the EV5’s price positioning. “So we think we can probably get in the 50s [for the EV5 Air] – that’s our target.”

To be offered in three variants (Air, Earth and GT-Line) in both standard- and long-range forms, the entry-level EV5 Air will feature a single electric motor, front-wheel drive and a 64.2kWh lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) battery sourced from China’s BYD for better fast-charge capability and ease in charging to 100 percent, without degrading the battery over time.

Producing an expected 160kW/310Nm, the front-drive EV5 Air should be good for 0-100km/h in 8.5sec, a claimed NEDC range of 490km (more accurate WLTP figures are yet to be released) and 102kW maximum DC charging speed.

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The official charging data quoted for this powertrain in Thailand (which also sources its EV5s from Kia’s Chinese production facility) states 10-80 percent in 36 minutes.

The long-range EV5 will also be front-wheel drive, featuring the same 160kW/310Nm front-mounted electric motor but a larger 88.1kWh LFP battery for 36 percent more range (665km NEDC), though a marginally slower 8.9sec 0-100km/h time.

It features a 141kW maximum DC charging speed and can go from 10-80 percent in 38 minutes.

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The dual-motor EV5 AWD – expected to be offered only in flagship GT-Line form, and not arriving here until the fourth quarter of 2024 – adds a 70kW/170Nm electric motor to the rear axle for combined outputs of 230kW and 480Nm.

This lowers the EV5’s claimed 0-100km/h time to a brisk 6.1sec without impacting too much on its NEDC range (620km), or its charging speed compared to the 88.1kWh long-range.

Benchmarked against the Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID.4 (due in Australia around July/August this year), the EV5 medium SUV is intended to be a more comfort-biased, pragmatic alternative to the sportier, coupe-shaped EV6 liftback – giving Kia the advantage of two distinct mid-sized EV models, rather than simply two bodystyles.

Based on a development of Hyundai-Kia’s existing E-GMP bespoke electric-vehicle platform (dubbed N3 eK), the Chinese-manufactured EV5 features modularised front and rear chassis components that are different to E-GMP models, as well as more cost-effective 400-volt electrical architecture to make the EV5 less expensive to produce.

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Measuring 4615mm long, 1875mm wide and 1715mm tall, riding on a 2750mm wheelbase, the EV5 sits smack-bang in the heart of medium SUV territory.

In comparison, the forthcoming Volkswagen ID.4 electric SUV (which is rear-wheel drive in its base form) stands 4584mm long, 1852mm wide and 1636mm tall, riding on a 2765mm wheelbase.

Kia’s existing EV6 – launched in Australia in February ’22 but with a mid-life facelift due later this year – is similar in length (4680-4695mm) and width (1880-1890mm) to an EV5 but is much lower (1550mm) and rides on a significantly longer wheelbase (2900mm) for a dramatic difference in its visual proportion.

Kia Australia says the five-seat EV5 is very much an SUV whereas the EV6 is more of a regular passenger car – “the EV6 remains very much a driver’s car and feels more like a Stinger successor than it does an SUV, despite FCAI’s categorisation,” said Roland Rivero, Kia’s general manager product planning.

This puts Kia in an enviable marketing position with its mid-sized offerings – the new Sportage GT-Line Hybrid flagship ($55,420) being similarly priced to an entry-level EV5 Air, and the top-spec EV5 GT-Line AWD likely to be priced in the vicinity of the entry-level EV6 Air ($73K), meaning a progressive line-up of complementary products.

Indeed, according to Dean Norbiato, Kia Australia’s General Manager Marketing: “Karim Habib, who is head of global design, very much sees the EV9 as setting the family look and feel that’ll extend through EV5 and then EV3 [a compact electric SUV].

He doesn’t want them to be brother and sister – he wants them to be cousins, [so] they have their own identity, but it is very much an SUV-first look.”