An electric vehicle with an on/off button? Yes please. The 2025 Kia EV5 Air Standard Range is different. For one, the days of abandoning your car doubting whether the damn thing is running or not, are over.
With a design that looks futuristic and a little like a storm trooper from Star Wars, especially in white, it’s an eye-catching car. With sleek LED headlights and flush door handles, it looks like an EV in the best way possible.
Best described as the electric version of something like the Sportage, the EV5 is available in Clear White, Snow White Pearl, Frost Blue, Iceberg Green, Magma Red, Tide Blue, Shale Grey, Starry Night Black. The last of those is the roof colour on four of the others.
Step inside you get a real bench seat type of vibe, that at first glance is quite jarring. There’s an arm rest that goes between the seats, complete with a pocket (not weird at all), but there’s no centre console. That’s hard to get used to.
Honestly, we were baffled. It isn’t a seat either, rather it’s just a quirky design that takes away from the cabin feel. The interior is trimmed in Smoky Black with a grey fabric headliner (the Earth gets Nougat Beige, with two-tone white and black in the GT-Line).
The EV5 has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and dual 12.3-inch screens (integrated by a standalone 5.0-inch climate control screen) for infotainment and instruments. It also has an augmented reality head-up display.
You’ll also find interior V2L capability, allowing you to run or charge devices like laptops, or portable fridges, should you so desire. This adds some great capability if you decide to camp somewhere at short notice.
Boot space is 513-litres with the seats up, or 1714-litres with the second row folded. A 67-litre frunk provides additional room for charging cables or a first aid kit. Three top tether and two ISOFIX anchors offer options to secure your minions.
There’s plenty of rear leg and head room, and a USB-C port behind both front seats to keep their devices kicking along. Minus the weird bench situation, the interior is rather luxurious. Heated front seats, with massage function for the driver, feature.
In a car that’s capable of a claimed 400km range (350km in reality), in the front-wheel drive setup we’re testing, it sports what we’d described as relaxed power delivery. It pulls out in traffic and overtakes at will, so don’t stress.
But you won’t get that pin you in your seat EV torque that some electric vehicles offer. It just drives more like a typical car than a rapid electric car, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s smooth and enjoyable with almost dreamy ride.
It floats over bumps, and never feels unstable. The steering is very light though, which isn’t great. While it does the job well, sometimes it just didn’t ooze confidence that the car will in fact turn.
Spoiler alert, it did, it just lacked the resistance in our hands to feel like it would. There’s plenty of safety tech to keep you safe though. The very long list includes ABS, EBD, brake assist, stability and traction control, and hill start and downhill brake assist.
Multi-collision braking, autonomous emergency braking with car, pedestrian, cyclist, junction and oncoming detection, and lane keep assist all feature. You’ll also find lane follow assist, and highway drive assist with lane change assist.
Blind spot and rear cross traffic collision warning and avoidance, safe exit warning and driver attention alert, along with rear occupant alert, high beam assist, dusk-sensing auto headlights, and auto rain sensing wipers all feature.
It all contributes to a 5-star ANCAP safety rating, and a good portion of them are overzealous and annoying. The Kia EV5 Air is priced at $56,770 drive away and is backed by the brand’s 7-year unlimited kilometre warranty.
You also get 7-years capped price servicing and up to 8-years roadside assist (when you service with Kia). You can find out more on the Kia Australia website, or by talking to your local dealership.
To get a low rate finance quote, talk to Australia’s best reviewed car finance broker; Credit One. To see a great range of vehicles for sale, check out OnlyCars.com.au.
Our test vehicle was supplied by Kia Australia for independent review purposes. Exhaust Notes Australia has not been paid to review this vehicle.
The absence of a high, wide central console that is just a glorified coffee holder in most cars today has put the EV5 on the shortlist for me. It is one of the few that allows me adequate knee room.