Kia EV4 Sedan: Perfect timing

What is it?

Don’t mention the war.

It’s hard to ignore these words from that other comedian Basil Fawlty, with the electric vehicle light burning brightly over a Middle East farrago of Trumpian intensity.

Fossil fuel is flagging in the power play for car sales, with the Strait of Hormuz on drip feed to oil tankers and cargo carriers, leaving EVs with an inside run against the internal combustion engine mob.

How prescient then that Kia has added a sedan to an already diverse line-up of non-ICE vehicles.

The EV4 Sedan joins the EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6 and EV9, bringing with it the company’s longest range electric vehicle as its top-spec pair.

What’s it cost?

Aerodynamics shape the car’s profile with flowing geometric shapes taking in flush front and hidden rear door handles, which fold automatically.

A clear vertical theme has been applied to the EV4’s front and rear lighting, positioned at the outer edges to accentuate the car’s wide stance.

With a choice of three trim levels – Air, Earth, and GT-Line – these offer a choice of standard and long-range electric power, the latter pair offering up to 612km.

Air is equipped with a Standard Range battery system (456km), while Earth and GT- Line jump up to Long-Range specification.

Prices kick off at an impressive $49,990 for the Air Standard Range, with the Earth Long Range at $59,190, and GT- Line Long-Range topping out at $64,690.

On test was the EV4 GT-Line, which continues with Kia’s signature Opposites United language as well as adding a wind beating drag coefficient of 0.23Cd.

It’s the lowest of any Kia model, thanks to active air flaps in the front bumper automatically balancing cooling and aerodynamic performance according to driving conditions.

GT-Line features Kia Star Map lighting with projection LED headlights each made up of 12 small cubes, six outer cubes delivering low-beam lighting and six inners for high beam.

Also incorporated is an Intelligent Front Lighting system that can split the high beam into 10 sections that can be turned off individually to mask vehicles ahead, while maintaining driver visibility throughout the remaining lights.

All EV4s carry full LED combination lights at the rear.

A chiselled surface incorporates Kia’s traditional Tiger Nose stamp presenting a strong and sleek presence.

This theme is continued along the sides of the vehicle with contrasting gloss black details and 19-inch black and machine-finished alloy wheels.

An Integrated Panoramic Display consists of a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, 5.0-inch climate control interface and 12.3-inch multimedia touch screen.

Kia Connect phone app interface is hooked up, enabling physical control of various functions by remote, including presetting of climate control, plus monitoring and scheduling of battery charging.

Over The Air updates are accessed via the multimedia system, which can be installed and activated remotely without a trip to a dealership.

All EVs feature wireless and wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone mirroring.

GT-Line features an eight-speaker Harman Kardon premium sound system, head-up display, wireless phone charger, ambient lighting, surround view and blind spot monitor.

Vehicle to Load is part of the EV4 package with a connection at the base of the back seat (250V/16A max).

An external V2L adaptor is available for the EV Air as a genuine accessory.

There’s no lack of active and passive safety in the EV4.

Features across the board include Highway Driving Assist 2, Forward Collision Avoidance Assist 2, Driver Attention Warning with Hands on detection sensors built into the steering wheel and a centre side airbag among seven airbags.

EV4 warranty is seven years/unlimited kilometres and seven-years/150,000km for the battery.

What’s it go like?

The interior features cooled, black and white artificial leather front seats with driver-side memory.

Minimalistic details make use of soft-touch material, wide-screen displays and big buttons for frequently used functions.

A column-type shift-by-wire gear selector, along with a flat floor, gives rise to a versatile floating centre console incorporating multiple storage spaces and retractable cup holders.

Despite its sleek exterior the EV4 cabin optimises interior space, especially leg and headroom, for all five seating positions.

Cargo can be carried conveniently in 490 litres of boot space, which expands to carry bulky kit with the 60:40 rear seat folded.

V4 uses Kia’s E-GMP platform, developed from the ground up, for no compromise with its single-motor layout driving the front wheels.

Air Standard Range is powered by a permanent magnet synchronous motor delivering maximum power of 150kW and torque of 283Nm, mated with a one-speed reduction gear automatic transmission.

This is good for a range of up to 436km.

The Air Standard Range battery is rated at 58.3 kWh, while the Earth and GT-Line’s Long-Range step up to 81.4 kWh. Both batteries are of the lithium-ion NCM type.

Quiet, smooth, stable, and oh, spacious, just about sums up the EV4 GT-Line Long Range.

While the Air with Standard Range battery is no slouch, with the maker claiming acceleration from standstill o 100km/h in 7.4 seconds — it’s just 0.4 of a second faster than the bulkier Earth and GT-Line.

Standard Range and Long-Range batteries can be charged via a Type 2 port, with DC from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 29 minutes for the 58.3kWh standard battery using a 350kW fast charger.

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The 81.4kWh battery will do the same in 31 minutes, or seven hours in the home.

Also helping to optimise driving range is the EV4’s incorporation of the latest i-Pedal 3.0 adjustable regenerative braking system along with Smart Braking.

Initiated by an extended push of the left-hand paddle shifter, i-Pedal 3.0 enables one-pedal driving with adjustable levels of regenerative braking, while also facilitating maximum efficiency. Settings will remain after restarting the vehicle.

Not that non-electric features take a back seat, with the EV4 given a ride-and-handling once-over by Aussie engineers to ensure it is fit for purpose on the unique road conditions Down Under.

The result is a steering tune that delivers stable and responsive cornering with good feedback in both Comfort and Sport driving modes.

What we like?

Long range
Spacious interior
Cool front seats
Lowest drag co-efficient of any Kia

What we don’t like?

V2L adaptor an accessory

The bottom line?

The EV4 GT-Line Long Range is a vehicle for the times.

While ICE users are being burnt at the bowser, the Kia sedan, with more than 600km ‘in the tank’, keeps the lid on range anxiety in all but the most isolated public charger-absent spots.