Verdict
The Kia EV2 Long Range is a compelling addition to the fiercely contested small EV segment. The full Government Electric Car Grant combined with a reasonable insurance group and impressive efficiency make for a car that should be incredibly cheap to run. It’s not remotely fun to drive, but most couples and small families mainly want something that’s long-legged, spacious and aspirational – all things the EV2 very much is, especially in GT-Line form. But if your ego can handle it, the entry-level Air offers the best value.
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It’s incredible to think how, only a few years ago, all £30k would get you on the new EV market was a sub-200-mile second car. Now, models such as the new Kia EV2 Long Range appear to combine enough space for small families with first-car range for the same price.
Or perhaps we should shorten that to just Kia EV2, because while this new variant will, for a limited time, be offered alongside the small-battery First Edition, soon it will be the only version of Kia’s electric supermini/crossover you can buy. And on paper, at least, it looks to be the one you’d want.
Equipped with a 61kWh (58kWh usable) battery, the EV2 Long Range is claimed to be capable of up to 275 miles, depending on specification. Over a summer’s day of driving across motorways, B-roads and urban streets, we returned a frugal 4.1 miles per kilowatt-hour, or roughly 238 miles – not bad considering we were driving the GT-Line model, with its larger, less-efficient alloy wheels.
