Kia EV3 2026 review: GT-Line long-term | Part 1

Kia’s EV rollout has been a lot more rapid than most of its mainstream, non-Chinese rivals. It now sells the Kia EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6 and EV9 and only recently discontinued the electric version of the underrated Niro small SUV. In short, there’s plenty of choice if you’re a Kia fan that wants an electric car.

Fresh off its win for the Best Small Car Under $50,000 category in the 2026 CarsGuide Car of the Year awards, I will be living with a top-of-the-range EV3 GT-Line for three months. We are very confident in our award protocols, but a long-term review like this is a great way to see what it’s like to live with the EV3 day to day and to find any chinks in the armour.

Read More About Kia Ev3

• Most expensive Kia EVER! 2026 Kia EV9 GT priced to be a more affordable Porsche Cayenne Electric rival, but is the seven-seat family SUV cheaper than the Volvo EX90 and Hyundai Ioniq 9?
• Kia is coming for the Chinese king! Korean brand to launch six new electric vehicles – including 2026 EV5 and EV6 – this year to deliver an electric lineup that can take down BYD
• Demise of electric vehicles is over-hyped: EV sales surge thanks to the 2026 Tesla Model Y, BYD Sealion 7, Kia EV5 and Geely EX5 family SUVs | Analysis

With the oil crisis hitting petrol prices across the country, many buyers are looking for an alternative to a petrol car. Is the Kia EV3 the right first for you?

Read on to find out.

How much does the Kia EV3 cost?

The Kia EV3 fills the slot left by the Niro EV in Kia’s line-up and it does it with a bit more of an edge.

Design is a huge part of the EV3’s appeal and I will cover my thoughts on that in the next instalment of this long-term review. But it’s fair to say it's caught the attention of a lot of my neighbours.

The EV3 line-up consists of the Air, Earth and GT-Line grades, with the Air offered in Standard and Long Range. The Earth and GT-Line - my test vehicle - are exclusively Long Range.

Pricing ranges from $47,600 before on-road costs for the Air Standard Range and tops out with the GT-Line I am testing at $63,950.

There’s a growing list of EVs with similar dimensions and pricing. From the Hyundai Group stable there’s the Hyundai Kona Electric (from $54,000-$71,000), from Europe there’s the Renault Megane E-Tech ($54,990 drive-away) and the rest are from China.

There’s the freshly launched Leapmotor B10 (from $38,990 d/a), Jaecoo J5 ($from $35,990 d/a), Chery E5 (from $36,990) and BYD’s Atto 2 (from $31,990 BOC). All of these are a fair bit cheaper than the EV3. But does that automatically mean they are better value?

What does the Kia EV3 come with?

Sitting at the top of the line-up means the GT-Line gets all of the standard gear you’d expect and want. And it would want to given you’re looking at $65k d/a for a small SUV.

Here is just some of the standard kit you’ll get at this level:

• Flush door handles
• Power adjustable, heated and folding door mirrors
• Steering paddles for regenerative braking
• Four USB-C ports
• 12-volt power outlet
• Wireless phone charger
• Vehicle-to-load charging
• 12.3-inch digital driver display and integrated 12.3-inch multimedia display
• Wired and Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with voice recognition
• Sat-nav
• Digital radio
• Over-the-air updates
• Dual-zone climate control
• Retractable luggage screen
• Keyless entry and start

These features are exclusive to GT-Line or GT-Line and Earth 2WD Long Range:

• Grade-specific 19-inch alloy wheel design
• GT-Line two-tone artificial leather seat trim
• 10-way power adjustable driver and front passenger seats
• Driver’s seat memory
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Heated steering wheel
• Full LED tail-lights and indicators
• Dynamic welcome lights
• Rear privacy glass
• Sunroof
• Power tailgate
• Ambient lighting
• Alloy sports pedals
• Three spoke sports steering wheel
• Extendable table top in the front console
• Eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system
• Head-up display
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

And this is the standard safety gear:

• Auto emergency braking with car, pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection
• Lane keep assist
• Lane follow assist
• Blind spot collision assist
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• Driver attention warning and forward attention monitor
• Over-speed warning
• Adaptive cruise control
• Haptic steering feedback for lane departure
• Rear occupant alert
• Rear view camera
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Seven airbags

What it doesn’t get is a temporary or full-size spare wheel. You have to make do with a very unappealing tyre repair kit. And it could do with a front view camera which is common in top-spec models.

But overall, this is a very generous features list and adds to the value of the little Kia. There’s not much difference between this and rivals of an equivalent grade, but aside from those omissions, you wouldn’t be wanting for anything.

What is the Kia EV3’s powertrain?

All Kia EV3 are two-wheel drive but there are two electric powertrain options. Only the base Air grade is available with the Standard Range, which includes a 58.3kWh lithium-ion battery and a 436km driving range.

The Air, Earth and my GT-Line Long Range come with a much larger 81.4kWh battery paired with a 150kW/283Nm permanent magnet synchronous motor.

Interestingly, the Standard Rage EV3 is quicker from 0-100km/h than the Long Range, 7.5sec versus 7.9sec in the GT-Line. Might be because the Standard Range is 85kg lighter than the Long Range.

The suspension is McPherson Strut up front and a multi-link setup at the rear.

There are five selectable drive modes - Sport, Normal, Eco, Snow and My Drive.

What is the Kia EV3’s driving range and efficiency?

Kia says the EV3 GT-Line has a WLTP driving range of 563km, but when topped up to 100 per cent, the screen shows 596km. That’s closer to the EV3 Earth Long Range’s figure of 604km.

Either way, 560-600km of range is confidence inspiring. My personal preference for an EV is a driving range that starts with at least a five.

Around town the multi-mode regenerative braking helps recover some energy, and it never feels too strong, even in the highest setting.

Kia says the EV3’s energy consumption is 16.2kWh/100km, but my recorded figure for the month is 16.3kWh, which is pretty spot on. Around town I have seen it drop to 14.

I’ve done a bit of regional highway and freeway driving in this first month and those long stretches of road without braking tend to impact efficiency. As a result the range drops faster on the open road.

With that in mind, using the battery's usable capacity 78kWh with my average efficiency, I calculated an average driving range this month of 479km. That's a far way off the claim but, again, that included a lot of long motorway driving without stopping.

The EV3 has a CCS Type 2 charging port on the driver’s side front fender. AC charging is at 6.9kW for single phase and 10.5kW for 3 phase.

Using a common 50kW DC fast charger to boost the EV3 from 10 to 80 per cent capacity will take 79 minutes, according to Kia. But note its charging power maxes out at 127kW.

Full disclosure, I have an EV wall charger at home and have not needed to use a public charge station yet. I will do that in the coming months.

What is the Kia EV3’s warranty and servicing?

At seven years/unlimited kilometres, Kia’s had one of the best warranty terms in the business for years now and while it can’t match the 10-year terms of some rivals, many of those are conditional based on servicing at an OEM dealer. I’m looking at you, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

The battery warranty is seven years or 150,000km, whichever comes first. You’re more likely to see eight-year terms with rivals.

Roadside assistance is offered free for the first year, but that gets extended each year you service at a Kia dealer, for up to eight years.

The servicing schedule is every 12 months or 15,000km.

Kia offers the EV3 with a choice of three pre-paid servicing plans. Three years for $688, five years for $1308 and seven years for $1929.

This service pricing is pretty competitive. In fact, it’s more affordable than the Leapmotor B10 as well as the EV3’s Hyundai Kona Electric cousin.

What is the Kia EV3 like to live with?

So far, so good. Next month I will go into a lot more detail about the practicality of the EV3 GT-Line, as well as design and a few other key points.

But purely based on this first month of living with it, I have to say the EV3 is deeply appealing. More detailed drive impressions will come in part three of this long-term test, but so far it is an absolute pleasure to drive around town and on country roads.

Stay tuned for more on the EV3 GT-Line in the coming months.

Acquired: February

Distance travelled this month: 810km

Odometer: 5963km

Average energy consumption this month: 16.3kWh/100km