Review: Kia EV4

The 2026 Kia EV4 could be an important vehicle in the ongoing global EV transition. To be sold in 140 markets globally, the EV4 is a carefully calibrated shot at bringing long-range electric power into the high-volume mainstream segment of compact sedans and hatchbacks at an affordable price.

US and Asian markets will get an EV4 sedan (the model I spent the day with for this review), now built in Korea. Europeans’ preference for five-doors means only an EV4 hatchback will be available in that region—built in Kia’s plant in Žilina, Slovakia. Asked if the hatch would come to North America, Kia execs replied with a “hard no.”

The Kia EV4 is already on sale in South Korea; it will roll out to the rest of the world over the next nine months. At the time of writing, pricing for markets outside Korea still hasn't been announced, but if the prices in its home country are anything to go by, US buyers can expect a cost somewhere between $29,000 to $36,000, depending on spec. The likelihood is, it won't be quite that simple, but anything in the low-to-mid $30,000 range would make this a very interesting EV indeed.

Courtesy of Kia

400 Volts to Cut Cost

Built on a new, 400-volt version of Hyundai Motor Group’s shared E-GMP platform, the EV4 line debuts the brand’s first dedicated EV sedan. With its sibling, the slightly smaller EV3 hatchback, it uses a 400-volt battery architecture to lower cost, rather than the 800-volt system of the Kia EV6 hatchback utility and EV9 three-row SUV. LG Energy Solutions’ nickel-cobalt-manganese cells are shared among Kia’s many EVs, but the EV4 uses a new and more cost-efficient battery design, traction motor, charging gear, and power electronics.

Apparently, designing the 400-volt E-GMP largely for front-wheel-drive models eliminates the weight and range disadvantages of providing for a second motor in the rear. Kia also said it will choose cell chemistries specifically tailored to maximizing range within a smaller pack volume, at the cost of slower fast charging.

While Kia declined to provide WIRED examples of specific cell chemistries, it has discussed its new "highly efficient, super-compact thin HVAC system" (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) fitted to the related EV3. The new heat-pump system is now the fourth generation; Kia says it expands front legroom by 6 millimeters against previous versions.

However, the ultimate goal for the EV4 was “acceptable range and charging time,” Kia execs said. The EV4 takes 30 minutes to fast-charge from 10 to 80 percent of capacity versus 18 minutes for the pricier 800-volt EV6. Those charging specs are measured under ideal circumstances: battery and ambient temperatures, a preconditioned battery, and more. Real-world charge times will of course likely be longer.

Courtesy of Kia

The EV4 is the first Kia to have its charge-port door on a front fender, in this case the right-front. (The door is also manual, not powered.) The location is a counterintuitive choice for the US, when a few other makers are relocating ports to the left rear, to accommodate the short cords and site layout of most Tesla Supercharger stations. For a global vehicle like the EV4, US market needs are only one of many concerns.

Map and Relax

Despite its mass-market target, the EV4 launches several new technologies and features for Kia. Map updates for navigation are now downloaded over the air once the vehicle starts. Kia noted a “future application” would be “real-time download of map data only for the area where the vehicle is passing,” though further questioning produced an assurance that map data would always be cached in the vehicle for the many areas of North America where cell service is weak or absent.

The EV4 is also the first Kia to offer “interior modes,” when the car is parked. It includes a Rest Mode function—seat reclined, with soothing images, ambient light, and audio—and a theater mode for watching video. Oddly, Kia does not offer these in North America, citing liability concerns over the theater mode. Both the Lincoln Navigator and the Hyundai Ioniq 9 already offer relaxation modes to buyers in the US and Canada, however.

Courtesy of Kia

Unique Looks

The Kia EV4 is hard to mistake for anything else on the road, though its design language—inspired by what Kia terms “Power to Progress,” whatever that means—is similar to the brand’s K4 gasoline-powered compact sedan. The EV4’s nose is heavily beveled, taking a motif used on BMW's F30 3-Series but to a greater extreme. The “small cube LED” headlights are two strips of rectangular lights wrapped vertically along the outer edges of the drooping nose, following the wheel arches. I liked the design, but that was hardly a universal sentiment.

At the rear, a high tail and steeply angled rear window end in a trunk lid that’s as tall as it is deep. (The opening is wide, and the trunk itself is large, with 490 liters / 17 cubic feet of cargo volume.) Rear lights are swept forward along the sides, with a “floating lamp design” (not offered in North America due to more restrictive lighting regulations). Two long channels along the outer roof end at the rear window in unusual reverse scoops, a flourish I’ve seen on no other vehicle.

It’s all in service of better aerodynamics for longer range, of course. Kia quotes the car’s coefficient of drag as a remarkably low 0.23. For comparison, the current Toyota Prius is quoted at 0.27, though comparing Cd figures among makers is risky, as there’s no accepted procedure to standardize drag measurement. At 300 millimeters shorter, the EV4 hatchback for Europe is quoted at 0.27.

Courtesy of Kia

Adequate Acceleration, Handling

Two battery capacities are offered in the EV4: 58.3 kilowatt-hours for low-end Standard Range versions, and 81.4 kWh in Long Range models. Kia quotes estimated ranges of 430 kilometers (267 miles) and 630 km (391 miles) respectively on the European WLTP test cycle, and 235 and 330 miles on the tougher US EPA cycle. Both versions use a single 150-kilowatt (201-horsepower) motor that drives the front wheels and delivers 283 Nm (209 pound-feet) of torque. All-wheel drive isn’t available, at least for the present, though a manager in Kia’s global product planning team suggested it might appear “in the future.” Certainly it would be reasonable to expect a future crossover SUV model using the lower-cost EV3/EV4 platform to offer AWD.

On the road, the EV4 I drove was predictably quiet and comfortable. It offered suitable acceleration for its segment—if not, at least subjectively, quite the available oomph of its 800-volt sibling, the larger EV6. Kia quotes 0-to-62 mph times of 7.4 seconds for the Standard Range sedan, and 7.7 seconds for the heavier Long Range EV4. Handling and roadholding were adequate on the roads I drove.

Courtesy of Kia

Here’s the caveat: Despite roughly five hours behind the wheel in and around Seoul, our group of drivers encountered only three types of roads. Much of the drive was on Korea’s smooth, well-paved highways, ranging from stop-and-go congestion speeds to 100 km/h (62 mph) with frequently varying speed limits and lots of speed-enforcement cameras. Second were the urban streets of Seoul: slow, jam-packed, and tightly contested, but also quite smooth. Finally, we got a delightful section of twisty roads up, over, and down a very hilly neighborhood reminiscent of San Francisco—which was strictly limited to 30 km/h (19 mph). I look forward to driving an EV4 on a wider array of US roads soon.

Rear Legroom vs. Front Headroom

The EV4’s interior will be familiar to owners of other current Kias, with a wide digital display sitting on top of the dash, made up of two 12.3-inch displays side by side. The outboard one is the instrument cluster; the center one is the infotainment screen. There’s also a lower climate-control display measuring 5.3 inches. Many of the car’s functions are controlled via the center touchscreen, though Kia has smartly retained a few hard buttons and knobs, including manual adjustment for the dashboard air vents.

Inside, legroom is fine up front, truly massive in the rear—Kia said the EV4 has more than 80 mm (3.1 inches) of extra rear-seat legroom compared to the Polestar 2 or Tesla Model 3. My one surprise was front headroom; I like to sit high, and raising the driver’s seat brought my head within an inch of the roof. It wasn’t a problem, but for anyone taller in the torso than my 5'11" who also sits high, it could be.

Courtesy of Kia

My Snow White Pearl test car, in Wind trim, came with a gray-white interior with gray-brown accents and a few thin outlines in blue. It was by far my favorite among the four offered; those who prefer a more conventional all-black interior can have one.

Pricing Crucial, Still Unknown

The EV4 comes in three trim levels: Light, the aforementioned Wind, and a GT-Line for the sedans sold in North America; Air, Earth, and GT-Line for the hatchbacks offered in Europe. A 17-inch wheel is standard, with two 19-inch options, one limited to the sportier GT-Line trim. We drove a Korean domestic-market EV4, so we’ll wait to see what mix of features and options are included in each of the trims in North America and Europe.

The ultimately crucial question of pricing in North America and Europe hasn’t yet been settled. Prices will only be announced close to the date the EV4 actually goes on sale in those markets—the first quarter of 2026 for the US—but it will be closely watched. Kia compares the EV4 sedan to competitors that include the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3, and the EV4 hatchback to the Volkswagen ID.3 and the K4 five-door.

Courtesy of Kia

In the US, the Polestar 2 is crippled by import tariffs on Chinese-built cars, while the Model 3—despite its recent update and design refresh—is now in its ninth model year. One competitor Kia didn’t cite (perhaps because it is its sibling brand) is the excellent Hyundai Ioniq 6 sedan, using the pricier 800-volt version of the E-GMP platform.

Against those models, the Kia EV4 could make a significant impact if its US price starts in the low- to mid-$30,000 range. We’ll likely know more on that front within six months or so. If it hits this sweet spot, it's fair to say Kia will have delivered on its mission to deliver long range at low cost. Whether you can live long-term with that unique exterior is entirely up to you.