We’re finally getting behind the wheel of Kia’s new, affordable, $35,000-ish electric crossover. Ask us stuff about it.
- The Kia EV3 is the newest, smallest and most affordable member of Kia’s dedicated EV lineup.
- It’s expected to go on sale sometime in 2025 in the U.S. with a price tag of around $35,000, although we’re waiting on final specs.
- The EV3 could be the affordable electric option that everyday families have been demanding.
The electric vehicle debut I’ve been possibly the most excited about in 2024 isn’t the fastest one out there. It’s not the flashiest, nor is it the one with a scorching-fast charging time. But it is due to be one of the cheapest and most high-tech ways to get a ton of range without breaking the bank.
I’m talking about the 2025 Kia EV3, which has been on sale in its native Korea for a few months and is due to hit American shores sometime next year. This week, I’ll be in Seoul to personally find out what it can do. What do you want to know about the EV3?
It was almost a year ago now that I was in Seoul for Kia’s inaugural EV Day event, where it announced its big global push to make electric options for everyone across multiple price points. Key to that was the EV3, unveiled there in concept car form; just a few months later, Kia brought out the production version. (The Koreans are moving fast at this stuff.) While Kia and its parent company the Hyundai Motor Group have had some huge wins in the EV sector, the EV3 is a whole new ball game.
That’s because of the appealing price tag. In Korea, the EV3 starts at the equivalent of $10,000 less than the larger Kia EV6, and here in America, it’s been projected to be around $35,000—and it could come in even below that. It’s also heavily rumored to be built in Mexico, which would not only cut that price tag but should make it eligible for U.S. EV tax credits.
And since buyers everywhere still complain (often rightfully so) that EVs are too expensive, that price tag makes this compact crossover a very big deal. It could well become a huge, volume-seller EV for Kia, the kind of car that Ford is years away from making and that Tesla has waffled on amid its focus on AI and robotaxis. This car could be a lot of people’s first electric vehicle purchase.
That’s also because the specs put it way ahead of the cheap stuff we’ve experienced so far. This is no Nissan Leaf; it offers two battery options—a smaller 58.3 kWh pack and an 81.4 kWh pack—with the latter expected to deliver around 300 miles of range in the U.S. Official specs are forthcoming, but there’s no reason to believe it won’t deliver on range as well as winners like the EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Granted, there are some tradeoffs to get to that affordable price point. The EV3 only has a 400-volt electrical system, so it probably won’t fast-charge at the blazing speeds of the EV6 and Ioniq 5. It’s also front-wheel-drive, so I’m not expecting it to be much of an athlete. (A dual-motor all-wheel-drive option is expected.)
Still, it debuts a number of enhancements from the EV6 and EV9, including a massively updated regenerative braking and i-Pedal system, a novel HVAC system that cuts energy use and a bigger battery pack than we’ve seen on its siblings so far.
Maybe it’s not gonna blow the doors off a Tesla Model 3 Performance, but if it’s good, it will end up in a lot of people’s driveways, so I’m excited for this one. As I get ready for a 14-hour flight from New York to Seoul, tell me: what do you want to know about it? Expect a full report and video soon here at InsideEVs.
