The Kia EV3 has finally been announced, and it could well become the best low-cost electric car yet. The new EV keeps many of the design elements that I loved about the Kia EV9, but in a much smaller body and likely at a much lower price.
However, the Kia EV3 will go head-to-head with a number of other electric cars that we already consider to be the best in the lower-cost segment. One of those is the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which is loved for its stylish design, solid range, and superfast charging speed.
But how do the Kia EV3 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 compare? Is one vehicle better than the other? I put the two head-to-head to find out.
Design
The designs of the Kia EV3 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 are quite different. The EV3 is built to look like an SUV with a boxy shape — however, it really is much smaller than a typical SUV. It has Kia’s now-famous Tiger Face design at the front, with the slim split headlights and the Kia logo emblazoned on the front. On the rear of the vehicle, there are split taillights, with a relatively slim rear window. It’s a great-looking vehicle, especially for those who liked the design of the EV9.
The EV3 measures in at 169 inches long, 73 inches wide, and 61 inches tall.
But the Ioniq 5 is a great-looking car too, and some might argue that it’s a little more unique. The car features Hyundai’s new pixel light design elements around the exterior, with dual square headlights on the front and square pixel taillights. It’s a supercool look, and frankly, the Ioniq 5 is one of my favorite EVs to date in terms of looks. It measures in at 182.5 inches long, 74.4 inches wide, and 63 inches high — so, despite the fact that the EV3 looks large based on images, it’s smaller than a crossover-size vehicle like the Ioniq 5. Perhaps the term “SUV” doesn’t truly apply to the EV3 after all.
Regardless of the fact that I personally prefer the look of the Hyundai Ioniq 5, there’s nother necessarily objectively better about it — and you may have a different opinion. This one’s a tie.
Winner: Tie
Interior and tech
Kia and Hyundai are sister companies, with both owned by Hyundai Motor Group, and as such, the interiors of these two cars share a lot of design elements. Both vehicles offer a dual display setup at the front that has been featured on most Kia and Hyundai EVs, with one infotainment display and one instrument-monitoring display. The Ioniq 5 supports CarPlay and Android Auto, and while Kia hasn’t confirmed support for these systems in the EV3 just yet, we would be surprised if CarPlay and Android Auto weren’t available considering all its modern vehicles have supported them.
The EV3 is adorned with recycled materials throughout the cabin, including on the dashboard and covering the seats — and it looks high-quality and premium. The vehicle in general looks to have a bright, spacious cabin, likely thanks in large part to the square shape that helps open things up a little. Unlike the three-row EV9, the Ev3 only has two rows of seats — but that’s not surprising given the size of the vehicle.
The interior of the Ioniq 5 looks great too. I’ve tested a number of Ioniq 5 models since the car was first launched and always found it to be premium and comfortable. Sure, the seats don’t feel like those in a high-end BMW, but they’re certainly comfortabl, and feel more expensive than they are. The Ioniq 5’s interior is also spacious, thanks to touches like the flat floor in the front row. The Ioniq 5 also has two rows of seats.
The quality and features of the interior of these two cars are likely to be very similar — though to be fair, I’ve only personally sat in an Ioniq 5. For now, this one’s a tie.
Winner: Tie
Performance
Performance is where things start to shift a little, and it’s where the fact that the EV3 is built to be a budget car starts to become a little more obvious. To be clear, there’s a lot we don’t yet know about the performance of the EV3, especially when it comes to different trim levels. Kia has confirmed, however, that the top-spec version of the vehicle will be able to get from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 7.5 seconds, which isn’t terrible, but definitely slower than many other modern electric cars. The EV3 will only be available in a rear-wheel drive, single-motor variant.
The Ioniq 5 is a little more performance-focused. The Ioniq 5 was the first of Hyndai’s new generation of electric cars — so it was designed to wow customers. The base model of the 2025 Ioniq 5 is the Ioniq 5 SE Standard Range, which is only available in rear-wheel drive, and Hyundai says it can reach 60 mph in 7.4 seconds. However, that’s the slowest version of the Ioniq 5, and if you step up to an all-wheel drive model, which is available as an option on all other trims of the car, it’ll get from 0 to 60mph in 4.4 seconds.
The base model of the Ioniq 5 is faster than the fastest EV3 — and while 0 to 60 times aren’t everything, they’re what we have to go off right now.
Winner: Hyundai Ioniq 5
Range and charging
It’s a little difficult to compare the range and charging of these two vehicles. That’s because of the fact that we still don’t know all the details of the range of the Kia EV3. The EV3 will be available in two battery sizes — a Standard Range 58.3 kilowatt-hour battery and a Long Range 81.4kWh battery. Kia has said that the vehicle will get up to 600km of range, which equates to around 373 miles. However, that figure is estimated by the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), which is a little less strict than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which estimates range here in the U.S. If we had to guess, we’d expect the long-range EV3 to offer around 300 miles of range and the base model to have a range closer to 200 miles.
We do know the Ioniq 5’s range, though. The base Ioniq 5 has a range of 220 miles, however if you step up to a higher-end trim, you’ll get a little more. The other rear-wheel-drive variants of the Ioniq 5 have a range of 303 miles, with the all-wheel drive models sitting in at 260 miles. To be fair, the WLTP-estimated range of the Ioniq 5 is only up to around 500km, so it’s entirely possible that the Ev3 will end up with a longer range than the Ioniq 5.
The EV3 is built on a 400-volt architecture, and not the 800V architecture of higher-end Kia and Hyundai cars,like the Ioniq 5. That impacts charging speed — and Kia says that the vehicle will be able to charge from 10% to 80% in 31 minutes, which is fine, but not amazing. The Ioniq 5, on the other hand, has an 800V architecture that allows it to DC fast charge at up to 350kW, and get from 10% to 80% in only 18 minutes.
We don’t know all the details about range yet, so that’s a tie — but charging speed is not. This category goes to Hyundai.
Winner: Hyundai Ioniq 5
Price and availability
Looking for an EV to buy right now? Well, you only have one option when it comes to these two cars — the Ioniq 5. Kia has announced the EV3, however, the vehicle isn’t available anywhere just yet. Kia says that it’ll become available in Korea in July, followed by a European release in the second half of the year and more markets after that. There’s no confirmation as to whether the car will come to the U.S. at all, however, if it does, it won’t be until at least 2025. Kia hasn’t yet announced pricing for the EV3, but it’s expected to be Kia’s lowest-cost car yet. We’re hoping that means it’ll start at around $30,000, but it could end up being higher up, in the $30,000 to $40,000 price range.
The Ioniq 5 is available, and you can order one right now. It starts at $41,800, with pricing range up from there for larger battery sizes and increased performance.
Considering we don’t yet have confirmation of pricing, this one’s a tie for now.
Winner: Tie
Conclusions
The Kia EV3 is built to be the budget option in Kia’s lineup, and the direct competitor to the Ioniq 5 is the Kia EV6. So, it’s no surprise that the Ioniq 5 is a slightly better car. It’s a little larger, and charges at a much faster rate — plus it has better performance, and may end up with better range too. There’s a lot we don’t yet know about the Ev3, but if you’re looking for the “better” car, it will probably be the Ioniq 5. That said, the EV3 will likely be cheaper, which definitely might make it a better choice for some people’s needs.
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