Kia EV5 vs Cupra Ateca

What's the difference?

The size is right, the price is right and the drive is right – three things that make the Kia EV5 a pretty formidable foe, and the kind of vehicle that might finally be able to break through the wall of the temple of Tesla in Australia.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

The Cupra Ateca V is a much needed more affordable way into this small SUV while still offering a high-end feeling with plenty of standard features. Yes, the V isn't as high-powered as the VZx but it's still great to drive in the city and on the open road. Big on the inside and small on the outside the Cupra Ateca can perform urban and (small) family duties well.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

If you’re familiar with any of Kia’s EV designs, and specifically the EV9, you’ll already know the Kia EV5, which looks a lot like a shrunken version of the company’s biggest electric 4WD.

But this one looks a bit smaller, a bit more familiar looking, and maybe a bit more accessible than the hyper-modern EV9.

Honestly, it looks like a contemporary, mid-size SUV that could be powered by anything.

There are a couple of EV5 design elements I really like. The first is the combination of hard edges and subtle curves, which combine really well. I also love the lighting treatment up front, which gives the EV5 a bold and unique light signature, especially at night.

Inside, it’s another story of familiarity, with a clean, high-tech cabin and Kia’s common twin-screen set-up. Actually, it’s more a triple screen, with two 12.3-inch screens, and a 5.0-inch climate monitor between them.

The materials are all nice, and they look great, but they don’t exactly melt under the touch, and that gives the EV5’s cabin a hard edge I don’t love.

I do, however, love the inclusion of some physical buttons, so you’re not pawing through the screen to access every in-car function.

And one final design quirk. I know it looks like it has an old-school bench front seat, but you can’t use it as a third seat in front. Kia says it’s just a design flourish. But it is also somewhere safe to pop your phone or other small valuables to stop them sliding about when you're on the road.

Once you know the Cupra Ateca V is closely related to the Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Karoq you can definitely see a resemblance. Still, all three have their own look with the Cupra clearly given the role of being the fierce, sporty one. 

While the Ateca V doesn’t have the same menacing styling as the VZx, it’s definitely a seriously sporty looking SUV with its 19-inch alloys, aggressive front bumper, triangular LED running lights and blacked out wing mirrors, roof rails and CUPRA lettering across the tailgate. 

The bronze Cupra logo really signals the sporty intent of this brand and I’ve been told on more than one occasion that it looks like a biohazard symbol by people confused by what it is I’m driving. According to Cupra the blade-like design represents “the sense of belonging to a clan”. 

Measuring 4381mm long, 1841mm wide and 1625mm tall with 2630mm wheelbase the Ateca V is about 15cm shorter in length than a Tiguan, but as you’ll see in the practicality section the interior dimensions might be larger than you think.

The Ateca V’s cabin is full of dark-coloured materials with black leather upholstered sports seats and steering wheel. In the same way it feels like Batman designed the exterior the interior it has a ‘Made in Gotham City’ feel with a brooding style incorporating high quality textures and surfaces.

At 4615mm in length, 1875mm in width, 1715mm in height, and with a wheelbase of 2750mm, the Kia EV5 is roughly the same size as a Tesla Model Y, so if you’re ever sat in the back of the Tesla, you’ll have a fair idea of what to expect here.

Sitting behind my own 175cm driving position, I found I had a heap of knee room, more than enough headroom, and I reckon you could fit three adults across the back seat pretty easily, too.

There are a couple of design flourishes I really like, too. The pull-down divider that separates the backseat is home to two cupholders, which isn’t unusual, but what is new to me is the unique positioning of the USB charge ports, which are in the middle-back of the front seats, right above the storage pocket, so you have somewhere to pop your phone and cable when you're charging.

There is also a deep storage draw between the two front seats. It’s just for extra storage in the Air and Earth, but in the GT-Line it’s heated and cooled, which means hot pies or cold drinks when you’re on the move.

The EV5 might be an all-electric vehicle, but it’s still a mid-size SUV, which means there are certain standards it has to hit to be taken seriously, and one of those is boot space.

Up front there’s 67 litres of space in the fruit, or frunk, while the boot holds 513L with the rear seats in place – that number obviously growing as you begin folding them flat.

It is also a hugely customisable space. There’s heaps of under-floor storage below the removable panels. There’s also vehicle-to-load capability, which takes the form of a standard power point in the boot that can use the vehicle’s battery to power pretty much whatever you want.

Finally, there are adjustable luggage hooks, so you can carry bigger or smaller bags as you wish.

The Ateca V is only about 4.4m long which is a lot shorter than a Kia Sportage, Nissan X-Trail or Subaru Forester, which are truly mid-size SUVs. So, the Ateca is a small SUV but on the larger side compared to say a Volkswagen T-Roc.

Despite its fairly diminutive exterior proportions the Ateca V has excellent storage and is remarkably spacious. If you have a young, small family and want a five-seater SUV big enough for them but small enough to make urban driving easy the Ateca V ticks both boxes.

Up front there are the gigantic door pockets, two cupholders, a decent-sized covered centre console bin and under-dash storage with wireless phone charging and two USB ports.

The second row is incredibly spacious for a small SUV with so much room for me at 189cm tall to sit behind my driving position. Headroom is excellent, too.

There are also cupholders in the fold-down armrest, two USB ports and big door pockets.

The back door apertures are tall and wide which makes getting little kids in and out of their car seats easier for parents.

A 485L cargo capacity is large for the class and under the boot floor is a space-saver spare wheel.

The Ateca model now has a lower priced grade called the V and it lists for $51,990. That’s more than $10K less than the top-of-the-range VZx  which has been out for a couple of years and lists for $63,490.

The Ateca V might be less expensive but the features list is still impressive. Coming standard are 19-inch alloy wheels, sports bumpers, LED headlights, running lights and puddle lights. There’s a proximity key and power tailgate with gesture control, too. 

Inside black leather upholstery is standard, so are heated front seats and steering wheel, there’s dual-zone climate control, a power driver’s seat, a 9.2-inch media display with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and wireless phone charging. 

As for options, you can have a panoramic sunroof for $1850 and premium metallic paint for $490.

There’s also the optional 'Tech Package' for $2950 bringing a Beats stereo system and a 360-degree camera. But the best thing about the pack is it also adds dynamic chassis control which adds adaptive suspension, so when you select 'Comfort' mode the suspension becomes softer, and in 'Sport' mode the suspension firms for better handling.

Rivals to the Ateca V include the Lexus UX and Volvo XC40 but also its Volkswagen Group cousins such as the Skoda Karoq and VW Tiguan R-Line.

The entry-level EV5 Air is available in Standard Range or Long Range guises, both powered by a single front-mounted electric motor, producing 160kW and 310Nm. 

The Standard Range will clip 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds, while the extra weight of the bigger battery slows down the sprint in the Long Range, taking around 8.9 seconds. 

The Earth is a twin-motor AWD offering, with a motor at each axle, lifting outputs to 230kW and 480Nm, dropping the sprint to a brisk-feeling 6.1 seconds. The incoming GT-Line gets the same powertrain.

The Ateca V has a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine making 140kW and 320Nm. That’s a step down in output compared to the VZx’s 221kW and 440Nm, but the V doesn't feel underpowered.

A seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission shifts gears lighting fast with the drive going to all four wheels. Yes, it’s all-wheel drive.

The Air Standard Range gets a 64.2 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, weighing in at a hefty 428kg, which delivers a claimed driving range of 400km. The Air Long Range, the Earth and the incoming GT-Line all share the same 88.1kWh battery, upping the range to 555km, 500km and 470km, respectively.

So, if driving range is at the very top of your must-have list, the Air Long Range is the car for you.

All cars can take 7.0kW home AC charging, while the dual-motor versions are set up for 11kW AC charging. Fast charging. When it comes to fast charging, all models can plug into a 350kW charger, taking them from 10 percent to 80 per cent in less than 40minutes.

Cupra says that after a combination of open and urban roads the Ateca V should use 7.1L/100km. That’s not hugely fuel efficient and urban consumption of 8.6L/100km will mean higher fuel bills than a hybrid SUV of this size.

On the launch we saw a fuel consumption average of 7.7L/100km and that’s after city roads, motorways and country roads.

Once we have the Ateca V in our CarsGuide garage we’ll be able to perform a real-world test of its fuel consumption.

The Ateca V has a 55-litre fuel tank and requires 95 RON premium unleaded petrol. Theoretical driving range is around 775km.

First things first – I spend most of my time behind the wheel of the EV5 Earth, which though it shares its dual-motor powertrain with the GT-Line, is actually the fastest of the lot owing to the extra weight of Kia's flagship.

That means zero to 100km/h in just over six seconds, and trust me when I say this, that is more than fast enough. I know you read about EVs knocking off the sprint to 100km/h in supercar-besting times, but you don't need that sort of crazy acceleration in a family-focused mid-size SUV.

Actually, forget needing, you don't want it. The EV5 feels more than punchy enough, without shaving years off your life every time you plant your foot.

Fit for purpose, then, which is exactly how I'd describe the rest of the EV5's very good drive experience. Kia's Australian ride and handling wizards have once again had their way with the EV5, and the result is an EV that handles most everything Australian road surfaces can throw it at it with ease.

Surprisingly, it's maybe not quite as dynamically sharp as the bigger EV9, but it's always comfortable, without feeling floaty or disconnected, and it will happily grip its way around tighter corners without tipping from side to side, either.

There are a couple of small quirks, though. The first is the steering, which is definitely responsive and confidence inspiring, but it also has a kind of artificial weight or heaviness at times that feels a bit disconnected from what's happening beneath the tyres. And the cabin can be a little noisy through wind, too.

But these are small beans, really. The EV5 is comfortable and capable, and without the harsh ride or too-sharp steering that can be found in some of its rivals.

We drove it for hours across all sorts of road surfaces, and in all sorts of conditions, and found very, very little to complain about.

The launch of the Ateca V saw us drive the V and the VZx back-to-back, which highlighted how good the V is for the money when it comes to its on-road performance.

The 2.0-litre engine is superbly responsive with loads of torque for such a small petrol SUV, while the dynamics were equally impressive on winding country roads. Even when those roads occasionally and suddenly turned from bitumen to dirt at 100km/h excellent all-wheel drive traction kept everything under control.

The Ateca V we tested has the optional Tech Package fitted which adds dynamic chassis control and adjusts the suspension in the Comfort drive mode setting to a softer level compared to the firmer level in Sport. The ride in any mode, however, is comfortable with great handling. 

As standard the Ateca V is given sports suspension and after a quick sample of the Ateca V with this set-up I also found the ride to be comfortable and composed.

There's good visibility even through the rear window, along with nicely weighted accurate steering and a good pedal feel under my feet make the Ateca V effortless and enjoyable to drive.

The Cupa Ateca V hasn’t been tested by ANCAP and the Euro Ncap result of five stars (which is the maximum) has now expired because it was so long ago (2016).   

Still, while much of the safety tech isn’t as cutting edge as some new SUVs , there’s AEB, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, rear traffic alert plus front and rear parking sensors. 

The airbag count runs to seven, including a front centre bag to minimise head clash injuries in a side-impact.

For child seats there are three anchor points and two ISOFIX mounts in the back.

The EV5 is covered by Kia’s seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and you can prepay your servicing costs, too.

Three years will set you back $980, five years is $1535 and the full seven years will set you back $2431 ($347 per workshop visit), which is category competitive.

The Ateca V is covered by Cupra’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with servicing needed every 15,000km or annually.

You can buy a five-year service plan for $1990 - which isn’t overly pricey.