Kia EV4 – Is this the Best Electric Hatchback?
Welcome back to the channel. Today we’re with the Kia EV4 hatchback and I’m wondering is it the best electric hatch on the market at the moment? Number one. Number two with this car with the EV6 a couple years ago. This is the Earth trim. Yes, it’s Earth 3, so it’s a high mid-tier trim, but I’m just wondering, is this the sweet spot? I like the no glass black. I prefer the interior, but this has a couple of creature comforts that Earth 2 doesn’t have, like heated seats. So, is this the best EV4 of the EV4s that are available? And is it the best electric hatch in the market? We saw it briefly in Spain on the International Drive. Today, we’re going to have a look around the outside, the inside, and take it out for a drive for a more in-depth review of the Kia EV4 in Earth trim. The upper level trim has a couple of things that you will notice on the outside. Very much the Pixel lights. The star map is the same. The daytime running light is the same. But on the earth 2 trim, this is individual bulbs, h hallogens rather, sorry, uh, LEDs, but not as a matrix like that. Otherwise, on the front, the down the bit at the bottom is different to GT trim, but it’s the same on both of the Earth. So, gloss black very much down the bottom. I think better for keeping, better for scratches. Um, and it has it does have an element of gloss black in underneath. Parking sensors, reversing camera only if I’m not mistaken. Gloss black down on the wheel cladding. 19-in wheels on Earth 3. Earth 2 gets 17in matte black down along the side. Pop out door handles and all on the Earth 2 trim as well with the body color door mirrors, which I prefer again to the gloss black. You do get a glass black A-pillar. No sunroof. Matte black. Matte black. The glass black band. It’s a lovely hatch. Made in Europe. Uh only available in Europe, I believe. So, those of you that have tuned into an EV4 video and you’re looking for the saloon, it’s a separate video up on the channel. Glass back Shark finer. Yeah, I like it. What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Charging is on the front right hand side. So it is good for a supercharger 11 kW on AC 10 to 80% in 30 minutes. So there it is. Yeah, I like the look of this car. I I’m really liking this animated design that we’ve got going on down here as well. So well done on that EV4. Um this is built on the 400vt eGMP architecture, not the 800vt. Comes in two different battery sizes, a 58.3 and the earth trim and an 81.4 that’s 430 and 6 about 625 respectively on the AGMP. This has the the Earth 3 trim here in Ireland has the bigger battery only. I’ll go through the stats with you inside. Um, vehicle to load 3.6 and it also has vehicle to grid at 10 kW. Drag coefficient of 0.27. It’s a 150 kW electric motor 0 to 107.4 seconds. Frontwheel drive boot on the this upper level trim uh is 435. We do have a window wiper unlike its recent competitor from Leap Motor, the B10 EV4. No other badging on it, but you will know the difference in it because it has that matte black cladding down on the GT trim is I think the GT trim does get a badge, but the the regular earth doesn’t. And then reversing light at the bottom, but a power tail lift on this earth. So, it’s getting a lot of creature comforts. And that’s your boot. 40 60 split like loads. And some storage space in underneath for charging cables, etc. Uh shopping bag hooks. Yeah. Good. And that floor can be lifted up. So if you wanted a uh more of a seamless flat floor, pop out door handles are a nice touch. That is my jacket in the way there. So, let’s go in. Seats are the same height. Um, on Earth 3 in Ireland, we’re getting heated seats in the rear. So, that’s why I’m saying power tail lift, heated seats, heated steering wheel, but you’re getting this nice bright interior with that neo green stitch uh highlight tinted windows in the rear going nearly all the way down and some ambient lighting in it as well. door pockets, two USB type-C’s, that nice two-tone and that lighter headliner with a armrest with cup holders. Now, because it’s a hatch, it is doesn’t have obviously the height, but feet are there. I’m 6’2, 188 cm. And then head height for me, I’m touching headrest before I’m touching rest or headrest. I’m touching headrest before I’m touching ceiling by about 3 cmters. But yeah, nice. And in the rear is on the key seats is the USB type-C’s vent, some storage down here, some hard plastic, and in fairness to it that has down along the side. Sometimes with these hard plastic stuff can fall out the side, but it does have uh holders down along the side there as well, so stuff can fall down the side. You can see the mesh headrests. Very nice. Yeah, very good. Nice big chunky door handles. Easy to get in and out of as well. on the door. Heated seats, heated steering, big chunky door handle, left right window adjustment, lock unlock, your four windows with all uh up auto auto down and up on the front two and then your rear lock and unlock on level three. You’re also getting electronically adjusted seats. Again, those two-tone over my right knee parking uh automatic tailgate opening, ESC off, your gear selector with your power button down here, drive, reverse, neutral, and then park at the end. Lovely matte black steering wheel with physical buttons. Cruise control and drive modes on the left hand side. Cuz it’s the Earth trim, it’s two-spoke, which again I actually prefer. mode, volume, audio on the right hand side, GSR2, your wipers on the right, indicators and lights on the left, re regen braking, your 30-in screen that goes all no head-up display, but again, I’m not missing it. Kia have done a lovely job of 13.5 in, 13.5 in, sorry, 12.5 in, 12.5 in, and a 5 in in the middle with the HVAC. And then that expands if you want. Once you set it, you forget it. It It’s but it’s still there if you do want it. You have some shortcut haptics in the middle. An actual physical roller. Again, these lovely air vents with the neo green modes for air temperature. Dual zone climate control with the fan speed there. Your power. You can change whether it’s power and power and data. Regular just power. And then 12 volt is in hidden in there. a really good USB charger. It’s sitting up higher, so it should vent better. Um, and it has a little indicator light when it goes on. Down here, then is some If you want space, you’ve got the space. If you don’t, they zoom out. And then a floating armrest. Again, matte black. Lovely. Look at I’m pawing it. And there’s nothing. No fingerprints. Hill descent, parking sensors, parking cameras, and then automatic hold. Some storage here from your EDC and then more storage behind it and lots of storage in underneath. Glove box is in there. Lovely. What are the differences on the spec sheet that we’ve gotten? So, it comes in six different colors. This is my favorite blue flame. White, gray, white, and deluxe white. Oh, yeah. It comes in a in a solid white. Pearl wolf metal gray, black pearl, and blue. They’re the 17in on the Earth 2. The Earth 3 is the ones we’re on. And then the GT line comes in 19 as well. So Earth 2, let me straighten that up. Uh gets the standard range battery and the longrange battery 440 or 625. And then in Ireland prices is at 39,000. The walk up to earth 2 with the big battery is 43275. And then if you want some of the uh fancy bits like on earth 3 electronic tailgate heat pump comes on the big battery and all the big batteries uh is 46195 0% APR and you have GT longrange then at 51250. These obviously are Irish prices and then standard spec in Ireland. There are the battery sizes. 19in alloys, dynamic lights, electronic folding mirrors, um, indicator, heated doors, windows, trailer package, wiring, cube headlights. That’s the one I’m talking about. Rear window privacy glass. You can pause there if you want to have a look. This one’s slightly downer range because it has some of the extra nicities, driver assistance systems there then as well. as well as well head unit is bit of glass black up here your reading light your SOS nice rear view head room for me in the front three or 4 cm any other notes that I’ve forgotten but I think this is the one I’d go for not a fan of that sometimes that gloss black GT line uh you’re going to be getting over the air updatable overtheair updatable streaming apps that’s going to be happening soon. You’ve got your iPedal um digital key if you want it. Customizable screens. We talked about it being 150 watt kow motor 0 to 107.4 seconds. And it’s McFveren strut on the front and multilink on the rear uh with some coilover units. S frequency frequency dampener 3 SVD3. Uh we would have had it on Kia EV3 as well. Speaking about driving it, let’s take it out for a drive. What’s it like driving the key EV4 hatchback? Starts off button, then into drive. It’s such a nice KI are doing a really great job of just putting out some phenomenal vehicles. They’re really on a roll at the moment. And so whether it’s the passenger cars or the commercial vehicles which they’re getting into the PB PV5. Um, yeah, it’s a lovely mix of tech and tactility. And so you have that physical buttons when you want it, but you also have uh Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. It just works and it’s just hard to argue with it. Any faults with the Kia EV4? Driving it is lovely. It’ be nice if it was rear wheel drive, but that’s not going to be a big f full flaw of it. Um, braking is excellent. You’ve got the eye pedal, all the regen levels, automatic handbrake, so that’s good. It’s got blind spot in the mirrors. Um, it’s got light headliner, so I don’t feel I need the panel sunroof for a hatch. 430 L of a boot is good. The ID3 is 385 if I recall correctly. So, yeah, there’s the only thing I think that could be improved in it is the price. I think it’s a small bit rich for the big battery. I’d love to see the big battery under €40,000. Now they’re doing 0% APR at the moment. So, you know, your your monthlies are small on that. Apologies for the low setting sun. We are in end of October here in Ireland. But seats are lovely and the fact on earth 3 trim it’s they’re heated. Road noise is a small bit higher than I’d like it to be. I’d like maybe insulated glass and maybe on the 19s I’d like to try the 17in R2, but otherwise they’ve done a really good job again with Kia gets the power down. Yeah, every time a Kia bringing new car to market, it’s they’re getting better and better all the time. And don’t get me wrong, it’s it’s all within the same family now, whether it’s six or nine or I’m really looking forward to trying five. It’s going to be at the Nevo Electric Vehicle Show in partnership with Bank of Ireland and powered by SSE Electricity in a couple of weeks in Ireland. So, looking forward to that. That is a another look of the Kia EV4. If you haven’t already subscribed to the channel, please do so. Hit the like button, leave a comment, and remember, if you think an EV is for you, leave it to me and I’ll review. Thank you very much for watching.
We take an in-depth look at the Kia EV4 Hatchback in the high-mid-tier Earth 3 trim. Is this the sweet spot in the EV4 lineup, and more importantly, is it the best electric hatchback on the market today?
We dive into the features of this European-exclusive model, including its long-range battery, key creature comforts like heated seats, and its stylish design built on the 400V e-GMP platform.
Join us for a full exterior, interior, and driving review to see if the EV4 is Kia’s next runaway success.
Video Chapters (Timings)
[00:00] Intro: Best Electric Hatchback? & The Earth 3 Trim Sweet Spot Question
[00:44] Exterior Design: Pixel Lights, Front Look, and GT vs. Earth Trim Differences
[01:25] Wheels (19-inch), Cladding, and Side Profile
[02:15] Charging Specs: Front Port, 11 kW AC, 10-80% in 30 minutes
[02:44] Architecture (400V e-GMP) & Battery Sizes (58.3 kWh / 81.4 kWh)
[03:10] V2L (3.6 kW), V2G (10 kW) & Performance Specs (7.4s 0-100 km/h)
[03:28] Boot Space (435L) and Power Tail Lift on Earth 3 Trim
[04:35] Rear Cabin Interior: Heated Rear Seats (Earth 3), Headroom, and Storage
[06:14] Front Door Controls & Electronic Seat Adjustment
[06:37] Cockpit Overview: Gear Selector, Matte Steering Wheel, and Controls
[07:13] Triple-Screen Setup (12.5-inch + 12.5-inch + 5-inch HVAC) & Shortcuts
[08:06] Console Design, Storage, and Floating Armrest
[08:38] Color Options & Irish Pricing for Trims (Earth 2, Earth 3, GT)
[09:37] Standard Spec Highlights (19-inch Alloys, Dynamic Lights, Heat Pump)
[11:04] Driving Impressions! Smoothness and Power Delivery
[11:49] Braking, i-Pedal Regen, and Handling
[12:12] Comparison: Boot Size vs. VW ID.3
[12:20] Final Thoughts on Pricing & Road Noise
[13:39] Outro & Nevo EV Show
Kia EV4 Earth 3 Specs & Highlights:
Architecture: 400V e-GMP
Battery (Long Range): 81.4 kWh
Range (WLTP): Up to 625 km (Earth 3 is slightly less due to features)
Power: 150 kW Electric Motor, Front-Wheel Drive
Practicality: 435L Boot, Power Tail Lift, Heated Rear Seats (Earth 3), and i-Pedal regenerative braking.
Towing: V2L (Vehicle-to-Load) at 3.6 kW and V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) at 10 kW.
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