How can the “niche new energy” Kia EV5 please the public with its strength?

Niche new energy, miscellaneous electric vehicles...

Yes, these slightly ironic and mocking labels seem to be the most common comments about joint venture new energy vehicles on the Internet in recent years. It has to be said that the Kia EV5  that we reviewed this time also naturally belongs to this category. However, when we put aside the origin of joint ventures or independent vehicles and try to look at the EV5 electric car objectively, what kind of product it is in the current environment of new energy involution, it seems to be more valuable for reference.

EV5 is one of the six pure electric models planned at Kia's China New Energy Strategy Conference in March last year. It is also the first localized strategic model built on the E-GMP platform, providing six versions with two ranges of 530km and 720km. As the pioneer of new energy, EV5 is of great significance to the Kia brand.

Appearance: Highly restored concept car design, bold enough

From the overall shape of EV5, the new car is highly similar to the design of the EV5 concept car that was previously unveiled, and the overall style is full of futuristic feeling. However, for some consumers, such a bold design is a bit too advanced.

(Kia 2023 Concept)

The most eye-catching part of the front part is the slender LED daytime running lights, which form a sharp contrast with the flat and simple front face, and have a strong visual impact. Although such a design is different from the traditional aesthetic habits, as a pure electric vehicle, the unique personalization will make a deeper impression on consumers.

The EV5 is a standard compact SUV, with dimensions of 4615/1875/1715 mm and a wheelbase of 2750 mm. However, the tall body makes the car look larger than its actual size.

The entire EV5 series is equipped with 18-inch wheels, and a rim guard is installed on the outside of the wheel to protect the rim, which is both beautiful and practical.

Like the current mainstream pure electric SUVs, the EV5 also uses hidden door handles, which automatically retract and unlock when getting in and out of the vehicle, fully realizing the intelligent ceremony.

The rear configuration design is quite innovative. Since the side window edge, which is the shoulder of the car body, is concave, the part below the rear window looks very wide and solid when viewed from the rear, further amplifying the visual effect of the car body.

Echoing the headlights, the taillights also use a thin and narrow light strip design style, with a distinct geometric cutting design style, and visually widens the horizontal visual effect to a certain extent.

Interior: A youthful version of "refrigerator, TV, and sofa"

Compared with the current Kia fuel-powered models, the interior of the EV5 adopts a completely new design style. For example, the center console has a more three-dimensional geometric section and soft-pack materials are everywhere. The materials used are significantly improved compared to previous Kia models, but the color of the center console interior is relatively simple, which is easy to cause aesthetic fatigue.

In terms of functional design, EV5 adopts a presentation form that combines touch and physical buttons. The central control is equipped with an integrated long screen, and physical buttons for adjusting the air conditioning and multimedia volume are installed below the air-conditioning outlet. Compared with the full touch screen form, it is more in line with the driver's daily operating habits.

Of course, in this era of new energy and large-screen connected cars, the interior of the EV5 is still somewhat conservative overall, and it is not as direct as new brands in creating an intelligent atmosphere.

In terms of functionality, the new car provides a 12.3-inch central control screen and a 5-inch independent air conditioning screen, with a built-in Kia Connect car system and NVIDIA Parker automotive-grade chips. In terms of operating experience, the touch and slide response is relatively smooth without obvious lag; the main interface is equipped with multimedia, navigation, Tencent small scenes and other applications to meet daily entertainment needs.

To facilitate more users, in addition to Kia's own car system, the central control screen also supports Apple CarPlay and Baidu CarLife interconnection, and can also operate air conditioning, multimedia, windows, telephone and other functions through intelligent voice wake-up.

However, there is a flaw in the actual experience of car computer operation, that is, a row of touch panels is provided under the screen. From an ergonomic point of view, it is indeed more reasonable to separate the main functions into shortcut keys. However, when touching the screen with your hand, the base of your hand can easily touch the panel by mistake. This is definitely an area that needs improvement and upgrading.

As a pure electric vehicle, there is no gearbox, so there is plenty of space for the front center island. The EV5's gear lever adopts a hand-held gear design, and the center island position adopts a disconnected design, with two cup holders in the front and a mobile phone wireless charging panel in the back.

Interestingly, there is no closed storage box under the center armrest, but it is a one-piece design with the passenger seat. I don't quite understand the designer's intention. Can a child sit in the middle? However, this design can be traced back to American cars in the 1930s and 1940s, when a family of three did sit in the front row.

Space: No overall shortcomings, vertical space has advantages in the same class

As we all know, the automotive industry is now in serious internal competition. The so-called "blurred model positioning" means that car companies are no longer limited to designing car bodies according to the traditional compact, medium, and medium-to-large models. Instead, crossover variants have become a new form of personalized display, and some models even sacrifice some space utilization as a "price."

In contrast, the EV5 adopts a more traditional compact SUV design. Perhaps such a design may be considered "conservative", but it brings real space practicality. For example, a relatively correct sitting posture and ample headroom. In addition, the EV5's seats are relatively full and flexible, the cushions and backrests are solid and soft, and the front row supports a one-button zero-gravity function, so you won't feel tired even after a long ride.

It is worth mentioning that a 4-liter cold and warm box is provided under the rear row, which supports temperature adjustment in the range of 5°-55°, warming up food and storing iced drinks, thus increasing the happiness index of travel.

In terms of storage space, EV5 provides two independent spaces, the front trunk and the rear trunk. The front trunk has a capacity of 67 liters, which can be used to temporarily store travel backpacks and other items; the regular capacity of the rear trunk is 513 liters, which can be expanded to 1718 liters after the rear backrests are all folded down, and it is in a completely flat state. At this time, you can put an inflatable bed on it, and your wish of lying down and watching the stars will come true.

Interestingly, two independent storage compartments are provided under the trunk cover, and the inner cover can be flipped up to form a storage table with a stand, which expands the playability of outdoor play scenes.

Endurance, power and dynamic performance: strong orientation towards home comfort

As a pure electric SUV, the most important thing for consumers must be the battery life. The vehicle we tested this time was the top-of-the-line 720 Wave version, which was equipped with a set of 88.1-degree batteries provided by Fudi, with a maximum battery life of 720 kilometers (CLTC), and fast charging only takes 0.45 hours (30%-80%).

Although we did not conduct a special test on the range achievement rate, after a few days of experience, including traffic jams on ordinary city roads, elevated expressways, and highways, we can see that the range achievement rate of EV5 can basically reach about 80%.

In terms of power, the EV5's specifications show a maximum power of 160 kilowatts and a peak torque of 310 Nm. The official data on 0-100 acceleration is not given, but based on my personal test drive experience, it can basically reach 7 seconds or less, which is enough for daily driving.

As for the following dynamic part, if we use one sentence to summarize the driving experience of EV5, it is a "flexible pure electric SUV with a home comfort orientation."

At the start, the power output of the "accelerator" pedal is not aggressive, and the pedal force is adjusted gently. You don't have to step on it in a hurry, and its acceleration response is neither too fast nor too slow. However, when braking at normal speed, the car body will nod obviously. This may be because the EV5 is larger than the same level of fuel vehicles, and the braking system still needs to be optimized.

The characteristics of the electric motor make its power more direct, and more importantly, the dragging feeling generated by kinetic energy recovery makes it easier to follow the road conditions of the vehicle in front without interfering with the brake pedal as much as possible. It must be said here that only when you really get used to the dynamic logic of the tram, you will truly feel the "comfortable driving" at the door of the tram owner.

The standard 160-kW motor has no problem handling conventional acceleration and overtaking. It can accelerate from 40 km/h to 100 km/h quickly and smoothly. The sustained acceleration capability also allows for overtaking on the urban ring road with ease. However, we did not drive on the highway during this test drive, so the acceleration capability on the highway will have to wait for future tests to experience.

As for the control, in fact, excellent chassis tuning is also of great significance to the electronic system controlling the vehicle. The steering wheel feels very linear, and the turning angle can be synchronized with the turning angle of the vehicle body. There will be no situation where the front of the car does not move after turning half a circle, or the steering angle of the front of the car fluctuates during the turning process.

Finally, I was impressed by its NVH performance. When driving at 80 kilometers per hour on a city expressway with a breeze, the noise environment is completely different when the windows are open or closed. It can be said that when the windows are closed, all external noises such as wind noise and tire noise can be filtered out thoroughly. At this time, all you need to do is concentrate and focus on driving with a relatively relaxed mentality.

Summarize

There are always some hot words on the Internet. If we were to summarize this year's hot words on the Internet, "Dao Fan Tian Gang" would definitely be on the list. Usually, this word is used to describe someone or something that has gone beyond the norm, with a great reversal or unexpected effect. In recent years, there are countless examples of "Dao Fan Tian Gang" in the automotive industry.

The example of the attention paid to domestic brands and joint venture brands is quite representative. A few years ago, joint venture brands, with their strong brand influence and first-mover advantage, enjoyed unparalleled attention and trust compared to domestic brands; however, with the continuous breakthroughs in the new energy era, domestic new energy vehicles that are newer, smarter and more in line with the forefront of the times are becoming more and more popular among consumers, while joint venture models of "old-fashioned fuel vehicles" have been "left out".

Perhaps, the reason why Kia EV5 does not attract much attention is probably because the new energy field is too competitive and there are too many competing models. After all, gold does not necessarily shine.