It’s 2026 and it finally feels like inexpensive EVs are genuinely getting good in North America. The Chevrolet Bolt is back with faster charging, the Nissan Leaf offers 300 miles of range for about $30,000, and the Subaru Uncharted has some serious promise on paper. However, this segment certainly isn’t done yet. While a wave of cancelled incentives and changing emissions strategies has led to several cancellations, Kia is taking a slightly more pragmatic approach of wait-and-see. The Kia EV4 has been delayed, held back until the time is right, but a look north of the border reveals intrigue.
Not only is the Kia EV4 already on sale in Canada, it’s one of the least expensive new EVs you can buy in the Great White North and promises some serious range from its optional big battery pack. So, assuming this indefinite delay for the U.S. market lifts reasonably soon, is the EV4 worth the wait? I spent a week in one to find out.
[Full disclosure: Kia Canada let me borrow this EV4 for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it reasonably clean with more than 70 percent state-of-charge, and reviewed it.]
The Basics
Battery Pack: 58.3 kWh lithium-ion standard, 81.4 kWh lithium-ion available.
Drive: Single-motor front-wheel-drive.
Output: 201 horsepower, 209 lb.-ft. of torque.
Range: 391 kilometers (243 miles) for the standard-range model, 488 to 552 kilometers (303 to 342 miles) for long-range models.
Charging: 125 kW DC fast charging, NACS port.
Base Price: $41,145 Canadian including freight.
Price As-Tested: $54,395 Canadian including freight and premium color charge.
Why Does It Exist?
Despite the current dominance of the crossover utility vehicle, there are still drivers from Busan to Berlin who buy sedans for their efficiency, reasonable cost of entry, or even just how they sit on the road. When you’re building an EV lineup, it makes a whole lot of sense to include one sedan and that’s exactly what Kia’s done with the EV4.
How Does It Look?
In a word, weird. From the droop-snoot front to the Bonneville SSEi-reloaded wheels to the bluff rear end, the EV4 simultaneously looks like a Kia and looks like nothing else on the road. Is it a good kind of weird? I’m still not sure yet. The mail-slot trunk opening is a bit of a pain and there’s just so much visually going on, but I reckon the end result is bonkers. We need more bonkers, it makes life more interesting.
What About The Interior?
Slide behind the wheel of the Kia EV4 and it’s laid out a lot like the K4 combustion-powered compact sedan, only a bit nicer. There are plenty of soft-touch materials, a volume scroll wheel, rocker switches for key climate functions, and a big screen setup with top-level secondary climate controls sandwiched between the instrument cluster and infotainment. It’s normal 2026 car stuff, except EV packaging pays some huge dividends.
While some cars have a center console only big enough to store a pair of cups, a phone, and a box of Tic Tacs, the EV4 offers almost an overabundance of multi-tier storage. We’re talking a huge wireless charging pad with a bump so your phone stays flat on the charger, Kia’s signature rotate-out cup holders, a tray behind that large enough for a big takeaway box, and a few storage compartments above that. The lower portion of the console sits properly low too, so you can manspread to the max when you’re stuck in traffic. Really the only downsides over the front seat in a regular car are capacitive touch keys for infotainment shortcuts instead of physical buttons, and a tilt-and-telescoping steering column that could telescope out more.
Come to think of it, the EV4 would also make a pretty sweet Uber ride. Although rear passenger foot space underneath the front seats is tight, legroom is anything but compact. We’re talking roughly two-tenths of an inch more rear legroom than a Toyota Camry, 38.2 inches in total. Every seat in the house is properly comfy too, with the right sort of balance between supporting decrepit backs and granddad’s armchair-plushness.
How Does It Drive?
Contrary to popular belief, not all modern EVs are capable of homogenizing your spleen during a zero-to-60 mph run. The EV4’s single motor pumps out just 201 horsepower and 209 lb.-ft. of torque. That’s less power than a new Toyota Camry Hybrid, and you know what? It’s fine. Abundant, even. Mashing the skinny pedal produces little twinges of torque steer drama, much more torque and you could really light up the fronts. If you’re coming from something like a Tesla Model 3, you might find the pace of the EV4 underwhelming, but the general response is far more immediate than in a combustion-powered normal sedan.
As for ride and handling, lest I remind you that we’re looking at a softly sprung sedan that in its top single-motor trim, carries a maximum curb weight of 1,906 kilograms, or 4,202 pounds. Sure, the low center of mass means it can take a corner competently, but the EV4 is really a cruiser. It soaks up potholes and frost heaves with beautiful damping, the generally uncommunicative steering finds a solid heading on the highway, and this compact sedan makes life on the road feel remarkably easy.
Speaking of being on the road, let’s talk real-world range. This GT-Line Premium model is rated at 488 kilometers or 303 miles of range, but I saw around 539 kilometers or 334 miles of range during a somewhat brisk Spring week. On winter tires. With the climate control set comfortably and the stereo blaring and the sunroof frequently open. Beyond putting the EV4 in Eco mode, I didn’t even try and it still blew the rated figure out of the water. Sure, 125 kW DC fast charging will be a limitation on a road trip, but the sheer range might actually be a fair trade.
Does It Have The Electronic Crap I Want?
Every single EV4 gets wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but the real fun starts once you load it up. I’m talking a big moonroof, heated and ventilated seats, a heated steering wheel, surround view cameras, ghostride-the-whip mode to squeeze into tight parking spots using the key fob, a full driving assistance suite that works remarkably well, dual-zone climate control, the works.
Speaking of toys, this top-spec EV4 came equipped with a Harman/Kardon sound system with genuinely solid quality for the money. The use of laminated windows to shut out road noise certainly helps, but Kia’s paid for some great digital signal processing here to make the system sound enormous. Sure, it scoops the mids at a neutral equalizer setting, but you can easily pull the bass and treble a touch to compensate.
Three Things To Know About The Kia EV4
- It actually has the interior volume of a midsize car.
- The ride quality’s genuinely excellent.
- Tick the box for the 81.4 kWh battery pack and you’re looking at nearly 350 miles of real-world range in decent weather.
Does The Kia EV4 Fulfill Its Purpose?
You bet it does. Sure, it looks outlandish, but it’s living room-comfy, hugely spacious, has largely normal controls, offers serious range, and strikes the cue ball in the middle when it comes to entry-level EV competence. The one thing we still don’t know is exactly where pricing will fall when it arrives in America. Obviously, directly converting Canadian pricing has some asterisks due to tariffs and whatnot, but the cheapest big battery pack-equipped model stickers for $45,145 Canadian including freight, with converts out to $33,207 in greenbacks. That’s bang-on mid-range Camry money for a properly long-range EV that offers roughly the same interior room as Toyota’s familiar midsizer. Mind you, in Canada, the cheapest long-range EV4 is a few grand more expensive than a Camry SE, so we’ll just have to wait for pricing to settle. Still, the delta’s small enough that the fuel savings should close the gap over a few years of ownership.
So how does it compare to other EVs already on the market? Well, it’s made of nicer stuff than a Nissan Leaf and blows that Japanese entry out of the water when it comes to range, but a traditional trunk is a limitation compared to a practical hatch. At the same time, a base Tesla Model 3 is quicker, more dynamically accomplished, and boasts a DC fast charging advantage, but it isn’t nearly as roomy and rides noticeably firmer. For the average sedan shopper, the EV4 is probably the move.
What’s The Punctum Of The Kia EV4?
It’s a great regular car that happens to be electric.
Top graphic image: Thomas Hundal
The rolling metal definition of Ugly As Sin
Is there a single angle of this car that isn’t awkward looking? Front. Back. Side. 3/4 view. There’s just no redemption. It’s so bad that I kind of like it in a root for the underdog sort of way.
This has the same shape as the cars in Cyberpunk 2077. I think it looks cool.
This thing sucks ass. 125kw fast charging? Years after hyundai/kia/genesis boasted the fastest charging in the game? And no, that 81.4kwh of battery will NOT result in 300+ of range on the highway. Those looks? Disgusting. And I don’t expect a performance model coming along. Though, I wouldn’t get something this ugly. Its one of the few things stopping me from getting a 6N too.
As the owner of a 2024 Kia EV6; just buy a used EV6 GT-Line.
You’ll get:
Even more real-life range (from a 77kWh battery) – I get 560km / 347mi
Faster charging (I’ve seen 225kw)
An actual hatchback, a useful frunk, and more space throughout
Less droopy, more cohesive-front-to-back styling
Most of the 7-year warranty remaining
Big savings on new car cost
REAR wheel drive and 225hp; quite entertaining!
What’s the same:
Yacht Blue available – a real actual color!
Excellent interior features and storage
Soft-button to switch from AC/climate to everything else (you’re always in the wrong mode)
What do you miss:
CarPlay / AA is wired, not wireless
The Meridian audio system is not amazing
It’s a little chonkier (~150kg, ~400lb)
edit: What’s going on with styling in comments?!
Thats odd,
The EV6 was still recent and expensive when I was shopping, so it really was not a contender.
But from what I understood a few years ago, they were really power hungry compared to the rest of the KIA gamma.
What’s the word I’m looking for?????? Oh. FUGLYAF
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A rear window that “fast” that’s not a lift back is a tragedy.
The entire vehicle from the c-pillar back is unforgettable in a nightmarishly cubist way. As a sedan, Canada can have it.
The EV4 would’ve made for a cool EV wagon through, based on the K4’s attractive hatchback.
This looks like a really solid effort.
It is irredeemably ugly, though. I will keep applauding Hyundai/Kia for trying things stylistically, because it keeps things interesting. Sometimes it works, sometimes it really doesn’t.
125kw fast charging is a tad stingy. Faster chargers are popping up everywhere, it would be nice to be able to take advantage. 200kw should be standard, as luxury offerings are now at 400kw+ (without mentioning the Chinese stuff doing 1MW+)
Not to mention the network effects of faster charging cars – If more cars are equipped to handle 200kw+, it means less wait time at crowded chargers and/or less overall infrastructure need.
Even by modern Kia standards that rear end is all kinds of messed up. The profile view literally looks like two cars poorly combined like some Marketplace abomination.
Interior, yay. Exterior, nay. What a waste of electricity. My eyes are tearing up. My stomach hurts. This is the car people point at and say, “That’s why I’ll never buy an electric car.” Just make it look like a car for goodness sake. Call it the Kimchi, because it looks like fermented cabbage.
On the other hand, kudos to Kia for realizing that the U.S. has suffered enough.
To be fair, the K4 sedan looks similarly awful.
The hatch and wagon redeem themselves though.
If only it weren’t such a piece of ovestyled hideousness.
It’s time to throw out this batch of Kimchi – it’s rotten.
I’m sick of vehicles that look like they have a hatch but don’t….
JUST MAKE IT A FUCKING HATCH. If it’s trunk only, then make it look that way too.
Amen. I am really sick of these hatchbacks with non-opening hatches. They need to just outlaw this idiocy.
I’m with you, but it’s a cost and body rigidity issue. They aren’t doing it to be deliberately obtuse.
BS. They want people worried about cargo capacity to buy more expensive (read: profitable) crossovers. Sedans are for people that don’t have to carry things in their mind now.
Sedans have always been for people that don’t have a lot to carry. They are an space inefficient form of car.
That said – Ppnw is correct – it is harder and more expensive to make a liftback that is rigid and meets crash standards. It involves putting more metal up high and cuts into rear headroom.
Sedans have steeply sloped C pillars today for aero – which moves the trunk lid back.
The 4 Series GC has literally ONE INCH less of rear headroom compared to the 3 series. It’s not that big of a deal.
I guess it depends on how close one’s head is already to the headliner. A lot of modern midsize sedans are lacking rear headroom.
The 4 series is also $3,000 more than the 330 and 250 pounds heavier.
What kinda drugs are they using in S. Korea?
Probably higher quality and cheaper ones.
That’s an ass I don’t think even Sir Mix-A-Lot would like.
It looks like the designers started at the front, didn’t realize how small the car actually was and ran out of room at the back and had to quickly throw something together to finish it
Wonder why the max charging speed is so low… I assumed all KIA/Hyundai EVs were using their ‘800V’ architecture and would be capable of ~200 kW charging speeds. If this only had the smaller battery option I would shrug off the max 125 kW charging speed, but the big battery in what appears to be a pretty efficient (though weird) package begs for some road tripping where that lower charging speed is absolutely gonna be a bummer. Weird choice. Yes, even weirder than the styling.
Well you can lie, and then lie on top of the lie, but you can’t lie on top of the lie on top of the lie.
I totally agree the charging speed is oddly stingy.
I’d argue fast charging is even more valuable/crucial on a smaller battery, given you’ll need to stop more often. 125 kw is painful when the range is sub 200.
Not quite getting the hatred for the design, I think it’s just funky enough to be chic.
Price is a bit alarming, though.
Imagine turning that sketch in to your boss.
I envy the confidence it took to do it.
I envy people who have a boss that would say, “Hey! Good job!”
I mean I get it if it was Ford and the designers last name was Ford and was married to someone whose last name was Ford before they married and they had the same parents but otherwise this is not a good car.
It is amazing that in the 70s and 80s Herb Tarlicks were turning out better designs cranked up on cocaine than this garbage
“steering column that could telescope out more”
It’s a bit of a throwaway line in this review, but I find this kills a lot of cars for me. I guess I’m proportioned like a T-Rex, with too much of my height in my legs, because I don’t hear many other people complaining about it. Or maybe they just haven’t driven a car that doesn’t have the problem, and don’t realize it’s avoidable?
Anyway, it comes down to the relationship between the firewall/pedals, seat, and steering wheel positions. There are a lot of cars I absolutely cannot get both my legs and arms to a comfortable level of extension at the same time. It’s fine for an airport rental on a business trip, but gets very uncomfortable on longer drives.
Electric cars, freed from some of the mechanical constraints of combustion cars, should be able to offer better legroom and arm positioning. Most of them that I’ve sat in or driven are great. But not Kia or Hyundai! They have the same ergonomics as their economy-class combustion cars.
Not just you! I must have the same issue. Weirdly, my Ioniq 5 and Kona EV have some of the most telescoping reach of any vehicle I’ve ever driven, which allow me to easily find a comfortable position. Not sure how Kia dropped the ball with this one.
Perhaps they didn’t fail on this one – the Ioniq 5 is one of the cars I struggled with. It’s interesting how we can have the same problem in entirely different vehicles. I suppose that’s a side effect of engineers having to set some kind of limit in how they design their seat adjustments. There will always be somebody with just the wrong geometry.
That’s bizarre! What year Ioniq 5 did you try? Mine is a 2025, the facelift test in which they redesigned a lot of the interior. Maybe the steering wheel telescopes more than the pre-facelift?
This would have been in early 2024, so definitely pre-refresh. Good on them if they changed the steering column with the refresh.
Whoa. Why does it look like that? The EV6 is nice looking, they should have just shrunk that package down a bit.
Front: Odd, but OK. Definitely some EV6 vibe.
Rear: um… wierd roofline “drop” transition to fastback to…
Can we get a redo that makes this a hatchback? Surely it can’t penalize range THAT much to put a useable hatch on there.
Sweet baby Jesus that is hideous. Those black wheel arches are giving off serious Subarewww energy.
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/IMG_8791.jpg
I don’t understand what I’m looking at or what the designers were thinking.
I’m ok with weird (love the first gen xB, any SAAB 900s, Subaru XT)…but this is…..this is tough to stomach. The rear end looks like it came from a completely different car and was just grafted onto a former small hatch or wagon.
I’m not even convinced I’m looking at a car. H/K just can’t help themselves.
While it has promise on paper with a cheap price and reasonable range, the rear end needs to be killed with fire. If you drive this, beware of torch-wielding villagers!