Kia Picanto vs Mercedes-Benz Eqb350

What's the difference?

Australians are moving into ever-larger vehicles when really we should be embracing the small car now more than ever. It's great Kia is still here, with its Picanto showing what can be offered in such a compact form-factor.

While it's not as affordable as it once was, it looks like it won't be long before Kia is the last torchbearer of sub-$20k starter cars. Even so, this is a great choice for buyers on strict budgets.

I really liked the combustion version of this car, the GLB, for its funky style and flexibility and I was pleased to find how easily Mercedes has made the conversion to a fully-electric layout for the EQB.

Despite a tall price, the EQB 350 is a compelling option for those seeking something a bit more luxurious than the Tesla Model Y, something a bit larger than the Volvo XC40 Recharge, and something a bit smaller than the Audi e-tron or the EQC.

The main trade-off for this 350 variant is the loss of the seven-seat layout in favour of more performance. Instead it offers a huge boot, has a sufficient range for city-based buyers, and offers surprising levels of fun, too. 

Just make sure you’ve considered its rivals which may potentially offer more range or features for the same money.

You wouldn't know it in Australia, where our collective tastes are orienting toward larger and larger vehicles, but city cars are experiencing something of a golden age overseas.

Cars like the Nissan Sakura, Honda N One, and Hyundai Casper join a long list of others which are design leaders in the city-car segment, and this is why the Picanto needs to look sharper than ever to compete.

Particularly in the GT-Line form we tested for this review, the 2024 car has adopted a dramatic facelift which complies to Kia's incoming and much more science-fiction look, complete with an extremely angular design and frowny LED light fittings.

Around the rear, there's a reworked set of tail-lights with a contemporary strip which almost reaches the whole way across the boot lid, and the new alloy wheels round out the whole aesthetic.

Given this, it's a little disappointing to see how few elements have changed on the interior. From the inside, this Picanto feels basically the same as the pre-update version.

I like the D-shaped steering wheel the GT now gets, and the multimedia screen is great for such a small and affordable car, but all the other switchgear, including the steering wheel is from previous-generation Kia products, and not the shiny new design-led stuff which appears in cars like the Sportage, Sorento, or Niro.

Also, while it's feature-laden all things considered, the interior plastics are mainly the harsh, hollow, scratchy kind. The new digital instrument cluster isn't one big screen, instead it's constructed of a few basic sectors which aren't customisable outside of the background colour. At least the central portion shows some useful information.

The EQB has a very predictable design in that it doesn't stray from the combustion car’s formula. At all.

The only evidence from the outside this is the electric version is the blanked out grille, and closer observers might notice the rear light bar which cuts across the boot lid is different from the split tail-light design which appears on the combustion car.

Still, to my eyes, the GLB is a cool design with its upright boxy look bucking the curvaceous trend of most EVs, and, indeed, the rest of the Mercedes line-up. 

Its rebellious streak makes it one of the most appealing SUVs in Mercedes’ current range, and it comes with a bit of toughness which is missing from the EQA. 

If nothing else, it’s a completely different look from Tesla’s amorphous Model Y, and this may be enough to appeal to some.

Inside is identical to other Mercedes models which sit on the MFA2 small car platform, immediately setting itself apart with the big high-resolution screens, glitzy ambient lighting, as well as an abundance of chrome and gloss black.

It’s designed to impress from the first time you hop in, and there’s no doubt it does, but it may be a bit over-the-top for some, particularly fans of the more conservative Mercedes designs of eras past.

The chrome in particular becomes a bit of a problem, as it has an annoying habit of catching the reflection of the sun and sending it directly into the driver’s eyes.

It all feels as plush as a circa-$100,000 luxury car should though, with the ‘Artico’ seat trim being one of the better synthetic options on the market, and soft-touch surfaces throughout the cabin selling the Mercedes promise. 

The GLB toughness is even reflected in the chiselled out finishes in the door, dash, and centre console, helping to set it apart from the tamer EQA.

The software is also fast, high resolution, and well presented, which bodes well given the amount of screen real-estate, and the amount of customization is impressive, too.

Again, there are many who will prefer its look and feel to the Apple-store chic of the Tesla Model Y, or the pared back Scandinavian approach of the XC40 Recharge, but also those who won’t. Like many new Mercedes products, it continues to polarise buyers.

Feeling a little old or not, the Picanto has a clever interior which makes the most of its limited dimensions.

There are huge bottle holders in the front doors, a further two with little flip-out sectors which sit below the air-con controls. These holders can be folded away to turn this space into a tray for the storage of large objects. There's even a centre armrest console box, but it's tiny.

On the topic of air-conditioning controls, these are, refreshingly, physical dials, which are increasingly going missing as manufacturers move such functions to touchscreens. The Picanto keeps things manual though, even including a volume and tuning knob for the touchscreen, with physical shortcut buttons adorning the bottom section of the frame.

Physical controls is something Hyundai Group has committed to, and it's not until you use a vehicle without them you realise how essential they can be.

Despite its tiny footprint, there's also plenty of room in the cabin for an adult my size (I'm 182cm tall). I felt as though there was massive airspace between my head and the roof, as the Picanto's seats let you sit nice and low to the ground, and while it's limited in its width, it feels like I had enough room and adjustability for my legs.

Only one area brought me discomfort and it was the elbow-rest in the door. Sounds silly, but while the GT-Line has a little synthetic leather strip here, for some reason it has no padding, so it's seemingly for aesthetic purposes only and is still an uncomfortable place to rest your elbow on longer journeys.

It sounds unlikely, but I fit behind my own driving position in the back seat, with my knees almost up against the back of the front seat. Thankfully, the seat backings are softly-clad so even if you were slightly taller than me it might be ok.

Again, headroom is sufficient, and the seats are reasonably comfortable in the outer two positions. There are no amenities in the back seat. Rear passengers don't get air vents, door pockets, or a drop-down armrest in the centre position. There is only a small pocket on the back of the passenger seat. Can't say it would be the best space for longer journeys, but it fits adults for short city trips.

The boot measures 255 litres. It's small enough it may rule the Picanto out for some family buyers who need to wrestle with a pram or some such. The boot is large enough to fit either the largest CarsGuide luggage case on its own, or the two smaller ones, but absolutely not all three. It may surprise you to learn there is enough room under the floor for a space-saver spare wheel.

This should be the GLB’s calling card. It’s a car with an ideal footprint, not as wide or as long as most mid-size SUVs, whilst also offering a larger cabin and boot.

The big drawback for this variant in particular is the lack of a seven-seat option, as the all-wheel drive requires the under-floor space which is required to give rear occupants legroom. 

It’s a shame, too, because I found the two rear seats in this car’s GLB combustion equivalent to be surprisingly accommodating for even adults.

As a result of these missing seats, though, the full volume can be exploited in the boot, which comes in at a whopping 495 litres.

It’s rivalled by the Model Y, which also has a cavernous boot, although it has a much larger storage area than the Volvo XC40. 

As an added bonus, there is a decent under-floor storage area which has enough space for all your charging cables, although there is no so-called ‘frunk’ with what is normally the engine bay taken up by cooling and auxiliary hardware. 

At first glance there’s so much going on under there, you’d be forgiven for thinking the EQB has an actual engine!

The cabin is also enormous as well as configurable. The EQB has massive rear doors (as it’s designed to be a seven-seater) to make it easy to get in and out of, and once you’re settled in, the amount of space for me (at 182cm) behind my own driving position is very impressive, with ample leg, arm, and headroom.

Rear passengers score the same nice synthetic leather seat and door trim as the front passengers, a bottle holder in each door, as well as two in a flip-out caddy on the drop-down armrest, two nets on the backs of the front seats, dual adjustable air vents, and power outlets on the back of the console. There is also a separate section of the split sunroof to benefit those in the back seat.

Up front the cabin is equally flexible, although it immediately seems odd that the front seats are manually adjustable. Almost unforgivable in a $100,000 car. 

At least the trim is comfortable, and again, the space is configurable for people of all shapes and sizes. 

Storage options include large bins in each door, a split-opening armrest console with USB-C outlets inside, a slide-open area underneath the climate unit, which houses a wireless phone charger and additional power outlets, as well as the usual glove box arrangement. 

Soft trims continue into the doors, although one small annoyance is the excess of chrome trim which has the unfortunate habit of reflecting harsh Australian sun into your eyes if it hits at the wrong angle.

The software is nice and quick, but can be cumbersome and over-complicated to operate at times, particularly when using the centre touchpad, or adjusting the dash with the small touch elements on the wheel. 

It is also notable the Apple CarPlay as-tested only took up a centre portion of the screen, and is not set-up for widescreen mode to take full advantage of the hardware.

Minor complaints aside, though, the EQB follows its combustion GLB twin in having by far one of the most flexible and configurable cabins in its class.

The EQB range kicks off from $87,800, before on-road costs, for the base 250, but the car we’re looking at for this review is the top-spec 350 4Matic, which wears a price-tag of $106,700.

There’s no doubt it’s a hefty price, even for an EV, and especially for a sort-of ‘small’ SUV. There’s more to consider, too. As I mentioned in the intro, the all-wheel drive system precludes the seven-seat layout in this top-spec car, and it has less range than the front-wheel drive model, too, dropping from 371km to 360km.

On the upswing, the dual-motor powertrain is far preferable to the so-so front-wheel drive option, and the 350 also gains an AMG-spiced bodykit and flat-bottomed steering wheel, as well as a panoramic sunroof.

Outside of the extra flair, the EQB 350 is almost as well equipped as you could hope, with the flashy dual-10.25-inch 'MBUX' screen set-up, Nappa leather steering wheel and interior appointments with Mercedes’ signature 'Artico' synthetic seat trim, LED headlights, ambient interior lighting with fully customisable RGB controls, dual-zone climate, a wireless phone charger, 20-inch alloy wheels, as well as keyless entry and push-start ignition.

Given the EQB’s dimensions it would seem its most direct rival is the Tesla Model Y, although it may not be a favourable comparison. 

At over $100,000 the EQB 350 is still more expensive than the top-spec Model Y Performance, which is even more powerful than our Merc here.

Other more indirect rivals include the Volvo XC40 Recharge (from $74,490 in twin-motor form), or less performance-oriented Lexus UX300e ($80,691 for the top-spec Sports Luxury), although neither are as large as the EQB, and the Lexus has about half the performance.

This is another area where the Picanto is feeling in need of a little innovation. It has the same very dated 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as the previous car, producing a sufficient but not exciting 62kW/122Nm.

It drives the front wheels via an equally old four-speed automatic transmission, or as tested, a five-speed manual transmission.

It's better with the manual if you can drive one, and a bit of a win for first time or young buyers who will still have the option to learn to drive one, so points there.

While the EQB 350 loses its valuable third-row seats, it gains a much more impressive drivetrain than the lesser EQB 250 variant. 

While that car has a so-so front-motor set-up producing 140kW/385Nm, the top-spec 350 sports a much more capable 215kW/520Nm dual-motor system.

This allows a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.2 seconds, and while it’s not as fast as the entry-level Tesla Model 3, it’s still impressive for a 2153kg SUV.

The all-wheel drive capability also adds a level of confidence which can’t be matched by a front-drive, more on this in the driving section of this review.

An older engine and transmission combination makes for a less than impressive fuel consumption figure in today's market, but then the Picanto is a very light car, so it has lower fuel consumption than most of its contemporaries regardless.

The official fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test of the five-speed manual we tested is 5.4L/100km, and in our week of what I would consider fairly combined usage our GT-Line drank 6.0L/100km. Not great when you consider a much larger hybrid Corolla can use less fuel, but pretty close to the claim nonetheless.

The Picanto has a 35-litre fuel tank – enabling a theoretical driving range of 648km – and happily drinks base-grade 91RON unleaded fuel.

Regardless of which version of the EQB is chosen, the SUV has a 66.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack, and in the case of our all-wheel drive 350, this grants it a 360km WLTP-rated driving range between charges.

My car was reporting around 350km of range at or near a full charge, while my week of testing produced a dash-reported consumption figure of just 18.2kWh/100km.

This is surprising for two reasons. Firstly, I subjected the EQB 350 to a significant amount of freeway testing during my time with it, which usually produces worse consumption numbers for EVs, but it actually bested its official 21.0kWh/100km official figure by a decent margin.

Secondly, I’m puzzled to find this car outperformed the smaller and lighter EQA 250 I had on test in 2021 in terms of overall consumption, and by a significant margin. Very odd.

When it comes to charging up, the EQB can be charged at a rate of 100kW on a fast DC charger, for a 10-80 per cent charge time in a claimed 30 minutes. 

On the slower but cheaper-to-install AC standard, the EQB has an 11kW inverter, allowing a convenient ‘slow’ charge time of 4.1 hours. Expect between 25 and 30 hours on a standard wall socket.

You've got low power, a pretty low-tech engine and transmission, but this little Kia is still great fun to drive.

For a start, you can have it as a manual that lets you wring the best out of the little engine, which is easygoing but lacklustre with the four-speed auto.

To be clear, it's not a great manual - usually when you get a brand new manual in 2024 it's one of those fancy performance ones with nice damping and notchy gates, but as simple as it is, it also gives the car a raw mechanical nature which keeps it engaging to drive. There are real consequences for choosing the wrong gear and it takes a touch of skill to get used to, a lost art of the all-encompassing drive which is a welcome change of pace compared to a lot of cars today.

The Picanto also has keen steering helping the organic feel, and it has a firm ride, too, which makes it surprisingly sporty in the corners, but it's lightweight nature and firm suspension gave it a crashy and bouncy feel on some of the inconsistent Sydney streets I exposed it to.

It's also a bit noisy in the cabin, both in terms of engine noise (you have to rev the thing to get it going) and tyre roar on anything but the finest tarmac. This issue increases with your speed, and reminds you of its city-car intention when you're on the freeway.

Still, the city is where it's best suited to, and it's a joy to easily dart down alleyways which take a degree of caution in the usual mid-size SUVs you see around the place, and the fact you can park it anywhere can be a real blessing.

The visibility is great, too, which means multi-lane situations aren't a nightmare, and the full suite of manual adjustment for the stereo and air conditioning are super easy to use when you're on the go (who has time to adjust a touchscreen when you have a manual transmission to worry about?)

In conclusion then, the Picanto isn't to be underestimated. This is a spritely fun little thing which makes the most of its limited hardware, but it truly is best suited for the confines of a city, and gets less impressive as you get it out on the open road.

This is where the 350 version of the EQB shines. This car is a beast to drive with plenty of power available at your right foot, and incredible amounts of traction to match from its torque-vectored all-wheel drive system. 

This lets it be rapid, but not scary, and despite its square and upright body, might surprise you when it comes to carving a few corners.

Like many EVs, the EQB’s weight feels low and centred, but it appears the suspension has been adjusted to remove any bouncy quality, which might come with the additional weight added over the combustion variants, with nearly 500kg of lithium batteries under the floor.

In fact, the ride is also one of the things which impressed me most about the EQB. It even has huge 20-inch AMG wheels, yet it dealt with bumps of all shapes and sizes in an impressive manner, keeping the body under control, and communicating remarkably little in terms of vibration or unpleasantness into the cabin.

The steering offes a nice balance of feel and electrical assistance, a trait which combines with the EQB’s convenient size to make for an easy SUV to park and manoeuvre.

When it comes to the EQB’s traits as an electric car, there are several modes available to alter the experience. 

Using the paddle shifters, there are several regenerative braking settings to choose from. While none of them are a ‘single pedal’ mode, the D- mode is pretty strong, and clearly contributed to the EQB’s surprisingly good energy consumption in my time with the car.

Activating D+ mode, which can be combined with a sporty driving setting, tones down the regenerative setting almost completely and feels as though it unleashes more potential from the potent electric motors. 

While the sportier settings made the 2WD EQA I tested last year feel a little twitchy and prone to wheelspin, the all-wheel drive system keeps this well under control in the larger EQB for impressive acceleration characteristics.

The breadth of this SUV’s ability is perhaps its most impressive attribute. It can feel comfortable and tame around town, with alarming speed and tenacity when attacking the open road should you so desire. 

Sure, it’s not as whiplash-inducing as some of its rivals, particularly the Volvo XC40 Recharge or Tesla Model Y, but for a luxury SUV like this it’s more than what you could ask for. 

The EQB scores a thorough suite of active safety equipment including freeway-speed auto emergency braking (7.0-200km/h), lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, as well as one of the best adaptive cruise systems on the market.

In the event of an impact, the EQB scores dual front, side, and head curtain airbags (the side and curtain bags cover both rows) as well as a driver’s knee airbag. There are the usual dual outboard ISOFIX child seat mounting points on the rear row, as well as three top-tether points.

The EQB scored a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to the current 2022 standards, but this rating only covers the base 250 variant. It scored highly across all criteria.

Kia's stand-out seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty isn't as stand-out as it once was, but is still the standard to beat for this segment, and is especially impressive considering the up-front cost of the Picanto.

You also get seven years of roadside assist included and a seven-year capped-price servicing program.

Over those seven years the price averages out to $438 annually, which is not as cheap as it could be, especially considering many Toyotas cost about $250 a year to keep on the road for their (shorter) warranty period.

The Picanto needs to visit a workshop once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Mercedes offers a five year and unlimited kilometre warranty, with five years of roadside assist. The high-voltage battery components are also covered by a separate and industry-standard eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Service intervals are once every 12 months or 25,000km and the service plan costs an average of $440 a year for the life of the warranty which is expensive for an EV, especially considering Polestar offers free servicing for the first five years, and Volvo’s electric offerings are around half the cost over the same period.