New features for the 2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid SUV
Kia’s popular hybrid models get the latest lights and screen as they hit slightly fuel economy.
There was the first drive Kia’s new EV4 electric sedanand we have a lot to say – but is our thought important? As an entry-level electric vehicle, the success or failure of an EV4 can depend on the price. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the price of the 2026 Kia EV4 is. I also suspect that Kia is not the case, due to tariffs and tax incentives on EVs. We drove a new EV4 in Korea. It is already on sale there at a base price of $42.6 million (approximately $31,000).
Good, bad, and… ugly?
2026 When it comes to the Kia EV4, we have two minds. We love the way it drives, but the packaging and styling leaves something that is desired. Mom has taught us that the best way to hear your criticism is to start with compliments, so before we tell you where the EV4 is wrong, we lead the good thing.
As an entry-level electric vehicle, the EV4’s powertrain is modest, with a single 201 hp motor driving the front wheels. The dual motor version will eventually join the lineup, but Kia hasn’t said when. KIA estimates that the front-drive EV4 will reach 60 mph in about 7.5 seconds.
But the single motor, which is electric, offers a torque punch of 209 lb-ft the moment you call it. And punch it. No hesitation or wait for a downshift. You just point and the EV4 will shoot. A significant portion of our drive was in traffic on the Seoul highway and we ran for money during the spectacular rush hour in Los Angeles. The good news is that the EV4 has proven that they are willing to dart in any gaps we wanted to call ourselves. This is why we are so obsessed with EVs. We like quick cars and slow EVs are fast too.
The EV4 is extremely refined thanks to its comfortable ride and quiet attitude. Kia did not skip important insulation in electric vehicles that don’t have an engine notebook to hide roads and wind noise. The EV4 is praiseworthy quiet. That’s a bit of a brain. Usually, this level of refinement is not associated with an entry-level vehicle.
Curves and ranges
Kia had us headed over to the hill above Seoul and enjoyed some fantastic curvy roads. Still, opening up the gap and taking advantage of some mandatory highway Cloverleafs gave me a basic feel to the EV4’s attitude. If the steering is a little heavy (better than too light), you can’t combine a lack of grip with a complimentary lack of body roll. Here we’ll see how the EV4 does when testing at home, but given my experience with other cars based on the Hyundai/KIA E-GMP platform, I expect the numbers to be good.
The EV4 features two PowerPack options, either a 58.3 or 81.4-kWH battery. The former is expected to offer a 235-mile EPA rated range, while the latter will be an impressive 330-mile. To keep the cost of the EV4 down, the car uses a 400 volt architecture in place of the 800 volt system of other E-GMP vehicles. This means that the speed is long. A small battery takes 10-80% in 29 minutes, and a large battery takes 31 minutes. It’s slower 800 Volt Kia like the EV6performs the act within 18 minutes, but is comparable to most of the low-cost electric vehicles currently on the market. Plug it into a 240 volt home charger and 10-100% should take 5 hours with a small battery and 7 hours with a Big One.
Peter Schleier, call your office
This is what I didn’t like about the 2026 Kia EV4. First, there is a strange styling. Certainly, beauty is in the eyes of the viewer, so you may disagree, but Kia believes that the unusual look attracts younger buyers. However, for us, the styling of the EV4 is not uncommon. The EV4 reminds us of OH, 25 or 30 years ago when designing an unattractive car seems like a national entertainment in Korea. The days were over when Kia hired designer Peter Schreyer away from Audi. Schleier then moved to a new position in the Hyundai Kia conglomerate, but the EV4 makes us think that his work hasn’t been done yet.
The EV4 is much better at looking inside than the outside, but the cabin is innocent. The dashboard design is healthy, with panoramic twin screen arrangements that I’ve come to know and love from other Kias. Luckily, Kia has given up on the stupid idea of using the same buttons and dials for climate and stereo controls, as seen in some cars. Like the K4, two systems now get separate controls. praise!
Why are you so tall?
The problem with the new EV4’s interior is that it feels more cramped than a typical compact sedan. This is a problem that comes from the combination of stilts and low roofs. The former, like most EVs, is due to the battery under the car. The latter reaches aerodynamic shape and gives a drag coefficient of 0.23. Tesla model y It’s 0.04 lower than the Toyota Prius. Please look at the spec sheet. You can see that the EV4 has less headroom than the K4 sedan (in this case the Smudge is less than 0.5 inches), but headroom is measured from the hip point of the seat, not from the car floor. The seats on the EV4 are more close to the floor than most cars (it would be more accurate to say that the floor is closer to the seat).
We can switch from the royal family to the singular form for a moment. I’m 5 feet 6. It’s halfway between the height of an average man and an average woman. The downside is that it’s easy to pick in the bar fight. The advantage is that you can find a satisfactory seating position in most cars. With the EV4, I noticed that when I adjusted the seat to the comfortable foot angle I wanted, I was looking at the top of the windshield. When I sat in the center better in my vision and dropped my seat, I felt like I was sitting on the floor, but there wasn’t enough room to stretch my legs, and I felt like I was in the same zip code as my dashboard. Obviously, this is what driving is like My 6-foot-plus colleaguebut I’m not a tall man and shouldn’t make me feel like myself. There are no these issues Tesla Model 3it has a roofline 2.5 inches lower than the EV4.
Place your elbows on the diving board
There are other suspicious design decisions, such as how the EV4 will take advantage of the space between the front seats. This new Kia has a lovely half-length padded armrest that hinges upwards, making it another armrest. At least, that’s the best explanation you can come up with for the hard surface panel below, besides the model of the diving board architect. Why did Kia care about putting padded parts on? Perhaps the designer thought someone might have tried out the armrest and said, “Well, that might be a bit of a bit.” Too much comfortable. “
The diving board itself is not facing upwards, but instead slides back and forth, allowing EV4 owners to choose whether to block most or all open storage underneath it. It just blocks access, I’m worried. The thief can see the contents from the outside of the car regardless of the position of the diving board. The cubby itself is large enough to contain tissues and a few phone boxes, and it becomes a wallet (even small ones), hair clips, hair bands, pens, phone charging cables, loose changes, napkins (new and used), half meal granola, if the wife’s bars, if the wife’s wife’s tame. (Oh, first person, once more. Sorry.) Certainly, most car owners will be offered in simple boxes with hinged padded covers rather than this strange gimmick attached to the EV4.
Now we don’t suggest you judge the entire EV4 with its low roof or its stupid center console design. Rather, I’m trying to explain that this feature has acquired a rear seat for fashion here. Speaking of the rear seats, it also suffers from the high floor of the EV4. KIA definitely boasts about the legroom measurements, but the seats are too close to the floor and there is no room for toes under the front seats, making them feel more spacious and comfortable than the tape measure suggests.
Prices could be the winner of the EV4
Here is a strange car with a cramped interior that offers a lovely, sophisticated driving experience and convenient long distance capabilities. Like many cars, it’s an incomplete compromise, but knows that buyers will put up a lot for bargains.
As mentioned earlier, the base price of the Korean EV4 is $31,000, and it is the finest GT line model with a large battery, sunroof, premium paint, Harmon Cardon stereo, comprehensive head-up display and KIA’s excellent advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) with a list for around $38,500. To maintain pricing in the US, Kia will undercut the brand’s current entry-level EV, NIRO, and plummet underneath $33,000 Hyundai Kona Electrica tall SUV with no issues with internal space on the EV4. (KIA is part of the Hyundai Group, but the two brands operate as competitors.) $31,000 is a great price range for people already on sale on EVs. (Of course, your electricity bill will go up, but it’s probably not as close as you’re still paying for gas.) But for those considering an EV for the first time, the $30,000 price range might seem a bit steeper. Number of good cars and SUVs starting under $25,000.
We often hedge our first drive, but hedge our first drive by saying we need to wait until we can test our car on our grass at home, but for the 2026 KIA EV4, our hedge will have to wait until we see the pricing. This may not occur until the fourth quarter of the EV4 in 2025, near the sale date. The new EV4 has big prospects as an entry-level EV due to all its drawbacks, so it crosses your fingers. If Kia makes prices low enough, we hope that many of these cars will be seen on the road.
Photo by Kia, Motortrend
