2026 Kia EV5 review

Electric vehicle (EV) sales continue to boom in Australia, but while emerging Chinese brands are making all the headlines, there are still plenty of options from the household names.

The 2026 Kia EV5, for example, was one of the earlier entrants in the mid-size electric SUV category from an established auto brand, and has enjoyed plenty of success since it arrived in 2024.

Sourced from China like most of Australia's top-selling EVs, the EV5 continues to post sales growth – just not quite to the lofty heights of the hugely popular BYD Sealion 7 and Tesla Model Y.

So far this year to July 31, the EV5 has found 3601 new homes Down Under, an increase of 11.6 per cent on the January-July period last year. However, that figure pales in comparison to the aforementioned Sealion 7, sales of which have soared by no less than 190.6 per cent to 15,064 units in the same timeframe (although it only became available to order in February 2025).

Even newcomer Geely has surpassed the Kia's volume within 12 months of being on the market with its EX5, which so far in 2026 has recorded 8790 sales, up a whopping 276.4 per cent on its 2025 figures after going on sale last March.

And everyone knows Australia's top-selling EV is the Model Y, which has notched up more than 25,000 sales to July this year, aided by the new six-seat L variant, which outsold the standard five-seater last month.

But sales performance alone isn't necessarily indicative of a model's competence alongside its competitors in any given segment.

Is Kia's boxy mid-size electric SUV worthy of your consideration in Australia's most competitive EV segment? Let's find out...

How much does the Kia EV5 cost?

Kia has been applying plenty of red marker across its EV prices lately, and you can currently drive away in the EV5 Air Long Range on test here for much less than its sticker price.

At $59,990 drive-away, the Air Long Range is some $4000 cheaper than the previous drive-away offer available when we last tested an EV5, better positioning it against many rivals.

The Sealion 7 is currently on offer from $54,990 drive-away, and the Air Long Range's drive-away offer significantly undercuts the cheapest Model Y (~$64,500 drive-away).

Hyundai's related Elexio can be had for as little as $54,990 drive-away in base trim with the same drivetrain, while the EX5 is a relative steal compared to all of these at ~$45,900 drive-away in entry-level form.

To see how the Kia EV5 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What is the Kia EV5 like on the inside?

Despite being the base trim level, the EV5 Air has plenty of niceties and doesn't feel 'cheap'.

You get the same dual 12.3-inch digital displays for the instrument cluster and touchscreen infotainment system, which flank a smaller 5.0-inch digital climate control panel that's augmented by physical temperature and fan speed toggles on the dashboard.

Then there's the leather-look steering wheel trim, and the leather-look seat upholstery that has a flourish of twill-like fabric. It's rather grey in base spec – the mid-range Earth, for example, gets a nice Nougat beige option, or it did – but the Air cabin is still nicely presented and feels well put together.

Compared to other Chinese-branded, Chinese-made EVs, it's also quite conventional and familiar if you've ever sat in a recent Kia product. While this may seem obvious, the Hyundai Nexo and its wild conjoined widescreen display is clearly more China-focused, and CarExpert understands similar updates for the Australian-market EV5 could be on the way as part of a mid-life facelift.

Kia's connected-car navigation cockpit (ccNC) interface is one of the benchmark operating systems in the mainstream segments, with a user-friendly layout, snappy response times and a full featureset including connected services, online navigation, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Everything works well in practice, but because the touchscreen is slightly recessed it means you might have to stretch a little further than you'd like to reach it.

Thankfully, the intelligent virtual assistant is on hand to help control plenty of different functions via voice, including navigation destination entry, and you can use your phone's Siri or Google Assistant (is her name Gemini now?) for plenty more.

Comfort and space is pretty good up front, with a wide range of manual adjustment for the front seats and steering wheel, while the straight lines and bluff surfaces make the interior feel quite open-plan.

As noted earlier, presentation is good, with a decent mix of softer surfaces and harder plastics further down. You also get plenty of storage options mainly in the open centre console, though annoyingly there's no wireless phone charger in this specification.

Some interesting design choices are specific to the Chinese-built EV5 we get in Australia, compared to the Korean-built model sold in... erm... South Korea, as well as the European market.

The bench-like front seat from the Concept EV5, for example, has carried through. But instead of being a sixth seat, the central position is occupied by a storage pocket and a folding centre armrest to offer front occupants armchair-like vibes.

An open centre console tray offers a big space to leave loose items in, but is annoyingly bare in this spec, with no rubberised lining to stop things like keys sliding and rattling around.

Big-ish bottle holders and shallow pockets pockets in the doors bolster the front glovebox and the space ahead of the floating console for something like a handbag, but other than the soft-touch dash and door inserts, and the capacitive-style shortcuts at the base of the touchscreen embedded into the dash fascia, the EV5 cabin can come off quite minimalist compared to flashier Chinese designs.

This is reflected in the rear as well, where the boxy body and high roofline make for an open and airy feel, but there’s not a whole lot in the way of design flair.

It’s very functional, though, and space for six-footers is plentiful. Plus there are amenities like air vents on the B-pillars, and USB-C charge ports on the front seatbacks.

There’s a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders too, making for a generally comfortable space that can easily accommodate multiple passengers on longer drives.

Rear-seat occupants are able to make use of the sliding storage tray, which resides behind the centre console under the front middle ‘seat’. Kiddies are catered for with ISOFIX and top-tether child seat mounts, as you’d expect.

The Kia EV5’s boot measures a claimed 513 litres with all five seats in use, expanding to a massive 1714L with them folded – and they stow pretty much flat, too. An underfloor tray offers room to store cables or hide other things out of sight.

On either side of the boot are movable pegs, which can be used for hanging small bags and other cargo. And Kia has fitted six mounting locations for these pegs on either side, providing greater versatility.

There’s a 250V household power socket in the cargo area as well, which is the EV5’s V2L (vehicle-to-load) power outlet that can be used to power or charge electrical appliances or devices in the rear of the cabin.

Unlike the similarly sized Sportage, the EV5 doesn't offer a spare wheel of any kind – just a tyre repair kit.

To see how the Kia EV5 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What's under the bonnet?

There's a 67L 'frunk' up front, and the EV5 Air Long Range gets the larger 88.1kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery sourced from BYD, powering a 160kW/310Nm electric motor driving the front axle.

Compared to the dual-motor Earth and GT-Line variants, the Air Long Range with its single-motor drivetrain claims to be more efficient (18.1kWh/100km vs 20.1-21.0kWh/100km), and thus offers a fair bit more claimed WLTP range from the same battery (555km vs 470-500km).

However, the Air LR is also the slowest EV5 variant available in Australia, at least based on official specifications. Its 8.9-second claimed 0-100km/h time is 0.4s slower than the Air Standard Range, and nearly 3.0s slower than the Earth LR AWD.

Our indicated energy consumption of 16.7kWh/100km over a week of testing was actually better than the claim, achieved over more than 250km in mixed driving conditions including daily commuting in heavy traffic, as well as plenty of time on the freeway.

That sub-17kWh/100km as-tested consumption figure translates to real-world range of over 520km, suggesting the claimed 555km number would be achievable in lower-speed city running.

To see how the Kia EV5 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How does the Kia EV5 drive?

You might recall I was very critical of the mid-spec EV5 Earth in a previous review – if you don't, here's a refresher.

Despite Kia Australia touting its extensive localisation program for the EV5's chassis and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), the Earth grade felt disjointed, wobbly and uncomfortable in what I would describe as very normal conditions for this vehicle's intended use case.

It must be an issue specific to that variant and its componentry, because I had no such complaints about the Air Long Range, which felt far more like a locally tuned Kia SUV should.

The steering feel and ride quality are good, and it just feels more dialled-in and better tied together than I experienced last time. As with Kia's other locally tuned products, the EV5 Air LR offers a good balance between occupant comfort and driver feel and engagement.

It's far from 'sporty', but offers good feel and feedback through the steering wheel, natural response and turn-in, as well as decent weighing to all driver controls.

The faint whirring of the electric motor is really the loudest noise you're going to hear inside the cabin, given road and wind noise suppression is pretty good for this segment.

In town and on the highway, the Air LR's ride and refinement is what you'd expect from the Korean brand, irrespective of the factory or region it hails from. It's as happy on the open road as it is on Melbourne city streets.

The EV5's boxy body and tall glasshouse makes you appreciate the outward visibility on offer too, augmented by chunky side mirrors and the standard reversing camera – sadly, a surround-view monitor is reserved exclusively for the top-shelf GT-Line.

Performance is pretty effortless, too, without quite being 'brisk'. With 310Nm under your right foot from rest, there's immediate and linear throttle response off the line and up to freeway speeds, though I'd be cautious of slamming the go pedal from the lights unless you're feeling skiddy.

We also need to talk about the regen braking. The EV5 offers many stages of adjustable regen including a full i-Pedal mode that basically allows for one-pedal driving – all toggled via the paddle shifters.

I'm often switching between modes and settings, so I don't like how immediately the i-Pedal braking comes on when you disengage cruise control. There's also an Auto mode that adjusts regen on the fly using vehicle sensors to detect lead vehicles or inclines/declines. All told, you should be able to find a setting that suits your tastes.

Driver-assistance systems tend to be where the established brands do a better job than their Chinese challengers, and the EV5 is a pretty good example of that.

Kia's honing of features like the lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise functions feels much more mature and refined compared to its Chinese-branded rivals, and the base EV5 even comes with the Korean brand's Level 2 autonomous Highway Driving Assist (HDA) feature, which adds lane-centring and assisted lane change functions to the adaptive cruise control on specified highways and freeways.

It all works rather well and just like in any other Kia SUV, though the EV5 does still have the annoying and persistent audible overspeed alert that oddly isn't compatible with Kia's rolling update which allows you to long-press the mute button on the steering wheel to turn it off – here, you still need to dive through the touchscreen to turn it off in the embedded assistance menu.

Blind-spot and rear cross-traffic monitoring will actively intervene to stop you colliding with a vehicle in the adjacent lane or when you're reversing out of a parking spot. They combine with Safe Exit Warning which will alert you if you're about to open your door into the path of an oncoming vehicle or cyclist.

To see how the Kia EV5 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What do you get?

The Air is the base trim level in the EV5 lineup.

Kia EV5 Air equipment highlights:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• 225/60 R18 tyres
• Tyre mobility kit
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• LED headlights – reflector type
• Automatic high-beam
• LED daytime running lights
• LED tail-lights
• Matte plastic roof racks
• Satin Silver window surrounds
• Acoustic windscreen
• Solar glass – windscreen, front door
• Solar glass – rear windows, tailgate
• Auto up/down windows – front
• Cloth, artificial leather trim
• 8-way power driver’s seat incl. 4-way lumbar
• 4-way manual front passenger seat
• 3-cell massage function – driver
• 2nd row centre armrest
• Shift by Wire – column type
• Paddle shifters – brake regen control
• 2 x USB-C charge ports – front
• 2 x USB-C charge ports – rear
• LED interior lighting
• Integrated Panoramic Display
• • 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
  • 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system
  • 5.0-inch climate monitor
• Kia Connect
• Over the air (OTA) software updates
• Satellite navigation incl. 10 years of traffic info, updates
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless Android Auto
• 6-speaker sound system
• AM/FM/DAB+ radio
• Dual-zone climate control
• Heated front seats
• 2nd row air vents – door pillar-mounted
• i-Pedal one-pedal driving function
• V2L interior socket

To see how the Kia EV5 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

Is the Kia EV5 safe?

The EV5 has a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on local crash testing conducted against 2024 criteria. This rating covers all variants sold in Australia and New Zealand.

Standard safety kit includes:

• 7 airbags incl. front-centre
• Autonomous emergency braking
• • Car, pedestrian, cyclist detection
  • Junction turning, crossing assist
  • Direct, oncoming lane change detection
• Blind-spot assist
• Driver attention monitoring
• Highway Driving Assist 2 – HDA 2
• • incl. Lane Change Assist
• Lane Following Assist – Lane centring
• Lane-keep assist
• Lead Vehicle Departure Alert
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• Rear occupant alert
• Reversing camera incl. dynamic guidelines
• Safe exit warning

To see how the Kia EV5 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How much does the Kia EV5 cost to run?

The EV5 is covered by the same seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty as the wider Kia range. The high-voltage EV battery and related componentry, meanwhile, is warranted for 150,000km.

Front-driven Air grades are a little cheaper to maintain than dual-motor Earth and GT-Line variants, at least according to Kia's pre-paid EV service plans.

There's a difference of nearly $800 over seven years ($2892 vs $3667), and $550 over five years ($1839 vs $2389).

To see how the Kia EV5 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

CarExpert's Take on the Kia EV5

This is my pick of the EV5 lineup.

Particularly at its currently advertised $59,990 drive-away price, the EV5 Air Long Range offers the strongest balance of range and features for the money, and doesn't suffer from the same wobbly calibration as the Earth.

If you can live with less range, you can pocket $10,000 and get the Standard Range, but its claimed 400km range is more like about 350km in the real world, making it more suitable as second car than a primary vehicle.

Regardless, the EV5 Air LR doesn't feel like a cheap base model, even if the restrained design and spartan interior comes off a little 'basic'. I'd argue it makes up for that with its on-road performance and refinement, as well as its well-calibrated technology which betters most rivals except perhaps the Model Y.

Kia's extensive dealer network and strong aftersales credentials only sweeten the deal, even if some rival brands offer longer coverage. It's just a shame the brand isn't loading up all grades with niceties like a surround-view camera and power tailgate.

If you're in the market for an affordable mid-size electric SUV and want your step to electrification to be easy and familiar, the EV5 should be right at the top of your shortlist.

CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Kia EV5. Click here to get a great deal.

Click the images for the full gallery

MORE: Explore the Kia EV5 showroom