Kia EV3 Sticks with Cool Concept Style for Production Version

• The Kia EV3 will launch in Korea in July and will be followed by a launch in Europe in the second half of 2024.
  

• The Kia EV3 will come with a standard 58.3-kWh battery pack and a long-range variant with an 81.4 kWh battery pack.

• Kia’s EV3 features a familiar dashboard that sports a joined 12.3-inch driver display screen and a 12.3-inch media system screen.

Following the concept shown late in 2023, Kia has finally pulled the curtain back on the production version of the EV3. Slated to launch this July in the South Korean market, the Kia EV3 sticks with the same basic shape previewed on the sharp-looking concept.

Moving the Kia EV3 is a single motor that feeds the front wheels. According to Kia, this motor is good for 204 hp and 209 lb-ft of torque and can rocket this compact battery-electric vehicle to 62 mph in 7.5 seconds.

Feeding this single motor is a standard 58.3-kWh battery pack in aptly named EV3 Standard models. Stuffed inside the EV3 Long Range is a larger 81.4-kWh battery pack.

Kia hasn’t mentioned the range on the smaller battery pack, but the company says that the EV3 Long Range can travel 600 km when judged by the WLTP. That translates to 373 miles WLTP. While it’s hard to calculate exactly how much this will have in EPA terms, it should be north of 300 miles per charge.

According to Kia, you can recharge either battery pack from 10% to 80% state of charge in 31 minutes with DC fast charging. EV3 Standard models can stuff a peak of 102 kW into the battery pack, with the EV3 Long Range cranking that up to 128 kW.

Dimensionally, the EV3 kind of splits the difference between the Kia Soul and Kia Seltos. The EV3 is 169.3 inches long, which is about four inches longer than a Soul and about three inches shorter than a Seltos.

As for height, the EV3 sits at 61.4 inches tall, which sits lower than the Soul by 1.6 inches and the Seltos by 2.6 inches. Width goes the other way: The EV3 is 72.8 inches wide, which bests the Soul and Seltos by almost 2 inches. It’s worth noting that this EV3 rides on a 105.5-inch wheelbase.

Kia didn’t mention what is suspending the EV3, but it does say it’s based on the scalable E-GMP platform. With that in mind, other E-GMP models use MacPherson struts to control the front wheels, with five-link suspensions at the rear.

Of course, most shoppers care more about what’s on the inside of a car than what’s underneath. The EV3’s interior does deviate from the wild show-car interior shown in the concept, which makes sense. Instead, it follows the same interior design language seen inside the latest Hyundai and Kia BEV models.

That means there’s a pair of joined 12.3-inch screens that feed you driver information and handle multimedia duties mounted on the dashboard. There’s also a column shifter that helps clear up center console space.

As mentioned above, Kia is slated to start selling the EV3 in Korea in July. From there, Kia says it’s going to start delivering these to European countries in the second half of the year but isn’t clear about the rest of the plan.

What Kia is clear about is that it is coming to the United States. The company hasn’t mentioned when we can expect to see an EV3 hit US shores, but it has confirmed it’s slated to come here.

Do you think the Kia EV3 will be a hit in the United States? Tell us your thoughts below.