An EV which is actually value for money? I think this Kia EV5 could be it

This Kia EV5 is worth the hefty price tag in part because its interior feels far more premium than Kias ever used to — and about 100 times more premium than a Tesla.

Stephen Corby

3 min read

12:00AMJanuary 16, 2025.

Updated 3:10PMJanuary 16, 2025

The Weekend Australian Magazine

Kia EV5: It is hugely spacious, and apparently very large on the road, it is quiet, comfortable, clever, and it goes like the clappers if you want it to.

It struck me recently, as I was regretting asking my wondrous wife to drive me home in the new Kia EV5 – partly so I could ascertain what she thought of it, partly so that she would stop accusing me of trying to make her vomit – that when I say she and I see the world differently, it is quite literally true.

Her main complaint that day – aside from the allegedly jerky way I’d been driving this temptingly thrusty EV (a claim unhelpfully amplified by my faithless daughter in the rear), my inability to trim 12-foot hedges with mathematically angular accuracy and the fact that I am a slob and a moaning martyr – was that she could not see the front of this admittedly slab-shaped Kia. This made it so difficult for her to judge where the car was on the road that I made the incredibly unwise move of questioning her driving (a move greeted by my daughter with the kind of low “Oooh”-ing sound that humans normally make when they see someone being punched hard in the face).

Clearly we do see things differently, because I am a strappingly tall fellow and my wife could stand up under our dining table without bumping her head, and thus I had no problem seeing, or sensing, where the corners of the EV5 were. I also took umbrage at her suggestion that this mid-sized SUV was “too damn big”, pointing out that it was far closer to Goldilocks in proportions than the far larger Kia EV9 that preceded it.

She was, of course, in no mood to discuss car design with me by this point, although she did shout something about liking the colour – the kind of steely, shiny metallic grey found on robots in science-fiction films – and being impressed by the interior.

I was thus reminded that whatever I think about a car should probably be leavened by the existence of married people everywhere, because a family car like this needs to be bought, and agreed upon, by more than one member of any household unit, and even if I do suffer some kind of mild head injury and wake up wanting an SUV in my life, this one will not be coming to live in our driveway.

My wife did shout something about liking the colour – the kind of steely, shiny metallic grey found on robots in science-fiction films – and being impressed by the interior.

Pondering this point, it also struck me that I have lost almost all notion of what “value” means, in terms of the constantly shifting prices of new cars. Personally, I think anything more than $19,990 – the price of the only new car I’ve ever bought (my accountant talked me into it, my wife hated that one too, let’s not even talk about it) – is too much to pay for a car. I’m also aware that you can get a cheap Chinese EV these days for close to $30k, which seems too much, but that huge numbers of people are happy to pay between $60k and $80k for a Tesla which feels, inside, like an Ikea showroom that’s had all its stock stolen.

Compared to the Tesla Model Y – very much the family EV of choice in recent times – the Kia EV5 would seem to represent “value”, because it’s properly lovely inside, doesn’t look like a peeled potato from outside (yes, its futuristic design is polarising, but personally I love it) and starts at “just” $56,770 for the entry-level Air Standard Range, which undercuts the Tesla by at least $2000.

The Kia EV5 would seem to represent “value”, because it’s properly lovely inside, doesn’t look like a peeled potato from outside

The problem with that value proposition is that your $56,770 only gets you one electric motor, making 160kW and 310Nm, and if you want to be able to crush your passengers’ insides with exciting electric acceleration you really need the twin-motor version, the EV5 Earth, with 230kW/480Nm.

Upsettingly, the Air also only offers 400km of range, unless you shell out an extra $7220 for the long-range battery, which bumps you up to a practical 555km, but also to $63,990, which makes you start to wonder whether it’s better “value” to just go for the range-topping long-range GT-Line, which starts at $75,990. At which point, of course, you’re really off with the financial fairies as far as I’m concerned.

And just to hark on value, you could be looking at a petrol-powered Kia Sportage for around $33K. At which point you’re back into the argument about whether EVs really are the future, and whether they’re worth the extra they still cost (and when you look at the fact that a bit more battery costs $7220, you can see what the issue is).

But the fact is, the EV5 I drove, a $68,990 Earth, does feel worth the money, because it has an interior that feels far more premium than Kias ever used to, and 100 times more premium than a Tesla. It is hugely spacious, and apparently very large on the road, it is quiet, comfortable, clever, and it goes like the clappers if you want it to. Or it can be smooth and supple if you drive it more like my beloved partner does.

Obviously, for multiple reasons, the Corby household will not even be considering buying a Kia EV5, at any price point or specification, but I really think you should.