With new EV price tags continuing to dip lower, it felt like a matter of time before we got a fresh entry level electric sedan with a shocking amount of range. Well, here it is. This is the EV4 and not only is it an electric car that isn’t a crossover, it should feature more than 300 miles of maximum range and will come to America as one of Kia’s more affordable EVs.
On paper, it seems pretty great, but I just have one concern. Kia’s been getting more and more outlandish with its exterior styling, and I’m worried the look of the EV4 might not exactly vibe with mainstream American consumer tastes.
Let’s start with something fairly normal. Taking a look inside the Kia EV4, its cabin seems to stick pretty close to Kia’s brand language. A 30-inch ultra-wide screen for gauges and infotainment is complemented by a selection of physical climate and audio controls, including a volume scroll wheel and quick HVAC temperature switches. By placing the electronic shifter on the steering column, Kia’s opened up space for a multi-tier center console with a wireless phone charger, a bin for a small bag, a well for cup holders, and a table you could theoretically eat tacos off of, so long as you’re careful not to get Tapatio in the switches for the parking cameras, auto-hold switch, hill descent control, and parking sensor beeps.
Of equal importance, Kia’s used some funky materials inside the EV4 including fabric, matte plastics, and this nifty finish that almost looks stone-like. It’s about time shiny black plastic started to find its way into the recycling bin of history, and the neutral tones of the EV4 cabin look pleasantly, well, demure. At the same time, you still get a shedload of features including an eight-speaker Harman/Kardon audio system, phone-as-key functionality, mood lighting, heated and ventilated front seats, and karaoke.
As for exterior styling, imagine if you ran an EV9 and a K4 sedan through that website that combines two Pokemon, because that’ basically the EV4. With a fairly strong two-box sedan silhouette, plastic wheel arch cladding, vertical lighting, and an itty bitty ducktail, the EV4 sedan looks a bit like a Kia training shoe, and if you thought the K4 looked bizarre, this is on another level. It’s not quite sleek, it’s not quite domineeringly angular, it’s certainly not conservative, it’s just comprehensively weird. We like weird cars at The Autopian, but many consumers steer towards normalcy. So how about an EV4 that isn’t a sedan?
That’s right, it’s hatchback time, motherlovers. Sure, a traditional hatch might not be as slippery as a more teardropped silhouette, but doesn’t that just look better? Maybe it’s the presence of an actual C-pillar, or the relatively normal spoiler setup, but I reckon this is how every EV4 should look. Of course, looks are only part of the equation, because with any EV, it’s what’s under the skin that counts.
Beneath the odd sheetmetal, Kia’s splashed a little bit of cash on frequency selective dampers, which feature entirely mechanical valves that respond differently to different frequencies for better ride tuning without the complexity or expense of adaptive dampers. You’ll find MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link setup in the rear, a fundamentally solid arrangement for the EV4’s class.
Like the Niro Electric, the EV4 is front-wheel-drive, making use of the corporate 201-horsepower electric motor and 400-volt entry-level electric architecture. However, battery pack sizes balloon to 58.3 kWh for the standard pack and a whopping 81.4 kWh for the long-range pack. Combine that with a drag coefficient of just 0.23, and Kia claims a range of 391 miles from the long-range model on the optimistic WLTP cycle. That should certainly translate to at least 300 miles on the EPA cycle, which would be a considerable figure for an entry-level EV.
So far, so promising, but there may be a catch. From what I’ve been hearing, it’s possible America will only get the sedan, and with its rather outlandish styling, I do worry it’ll simply be too out-there for American tastes. Sure, sedans have historically sold better in America than hatchbacks, but part of that’s seemingly due to adhering to historic norms. The EV4 sedan doesn’t look normal by any stretch of the imagination, which is why success might come down to price.
Although Kia hasn’t released U.S. pricing, it has stated that the EV3 crossover is expected to start around $35,000. We’d be surprised if the EV4 deviates too far from that figure, especially when you look at what’s already on offer below $40,000 today. Come 2026, the EV4 will have to compete on price with stuff like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Kona Electric, and Chevrolet Equinox EV. With the K4 sedan already showing that Americans will buy unusual-looking cars if they’re practical and offer strong value, let’s see if Kia hits the mark in 2026.
Top graphic images: Kia; depositphotos.com
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Rather than continually going on with ‘optimistic WLTP cycle’ as the wording, why not just say something along the lines of WLTP not being a useful measure of economy for North America. And then get off your arse and come up with a measure that does.
WLTP works fine for most vehicle use cases outside the Americas or China because that’s where and why it was developed.
You’d be better off developing your own economy measure and then whining about THAT. And there will be whining because estimated range figures will die in the arse…
Looks-wise, it’s not even that weird these days. I think that the ergonomics are a real factor for those who shop it in person. I sat in one in the last month at the Chicago show. The floor height is much higher than it looks from the outside, due to the battery under the floor. So, the seating height (not ride height) is more sports car-like, with one’s butt on the floor.
They need to scrap the sedan and just stick with the hatchback. Raise it up a bit, throw some plastic on a la XRT and call it an SUV. People will buy tons of them.