Ten years ago, Kia dipped its toes into the electric waters with the original Soul EV — a charmingly boxy pure-electric car with an impressive 132-mile range. Impressive in 2014, at least. It was a humble start, and back then, the idea of a Kia electric car turning heads was about as likely as your nan live-streaming her baking sessions.
But fast-forward to now, and Kia’s latest electric baby, the EV3, is showing just how far the brand has come. So, to mark a decade since the Soul first hummed onto UK roads, we headed off on a drive to Lille in northern France. Officially, the road trip was to test drive the EV3 and its bigger siblings, the Kia EV6 and EV9, on motorways, country roads, and compact city streets. Unofficially? I won’t pretend that the Christmas markets weren’t calling, and the EV3 was our sleigh of choice. Local hostelries were also happy about our presence, and the French hypermarkets sold a lot of wine and cheese, but I guess loading those into the boot counts as proper consumer testing, so we’re good.
While the group of journalists making the trip had the keys to the EV6 and EV9, swapping keys at various points of the trip — no, not like that — it was the EV3 that really stole the show. It’s compact but comfortable, sharply styled without trying too hard, and packed with tech that would’ve felt like science fiction back when the Soul EV launched. It’s also Kia’s most affordable EV yet, and somehow offers the longest range of any Kia electric car to date.
That makes it perfect for a trip like this. You want something that’s got enough space for your weekend bag and your inevitable hypermarket haul, but also small enough to nip through Lille’s tight city streets and around Christmas fairs without faff. With heated seats, a heat pump, and a smart, Google-based infotainment system, the Kia EV3 also ticks the boxes for cold-weather comfort and connectivity on a winter road trip.
On the motorway, the EV3 cruised effortlessly — quiet, stable, and relaxing, even with Christmas traffic doing its best to raise stress levels. Rushing for the Eurotunnel might have seen the speeds increase a little too high and the available range dropping by equally alarming amounts, but with an 81.4kWh battery providing 375 miles of motoring, we weren’t worried.
Even at definitely 70mph, you can actually hold a conversation without raising your voice, which is more than can be said for a few budget EVs we’ve tried. Out in the French countryside, it felt agile and planted, darting through twisty roads with more confidence than you’d expect from a compact SUV. And in Lille’s narrow, cobbled streets, it proved its city car chops, slipping through gaps and parking with ease.
We took in the sights, strolled through rows of wooden chalets selling gingerbread and baubles, and got thoroughly caught up in the festive spirit. The EV3 might not have a soundtrack beyond an almost whimsical hum, but the Christmas tunes being blasted across the streets of Lille did a good job of providing one. With a hot cup of vin chaud in hand and the scent of roasting chestnuts in the air, it was hard not to be charmed.
We even found time to check out Lille’s lesser-known sights. There’s more to the city than just the festive stuff, like excellent art galleries, tucked-away restaurants — we dined at Brasserie Campion and can heartily recommend it — and independent shops selling everything from handmade chocolates to, well, more handmade chocolates. We did, of course, go full tourist and take in a late-night ride on the Ferris wheel.
We stayed at the Clarance Hotel
, only a few minutes’ walk from the bustling centre of Lille, so the Kia EV3 was left in the car park, it’s part in the road trip completed for now. Of course, a historic city centre like that of Lille doesn’t have sprawling car parks, so the compact dimensions of the EV3 proved handy even here, squeezing between the EV9 behemoth and another customer’s Ford Mustang.
Of course, we couldn’t leave France without a supermarket dash. It’s a British tradition, after all. Cheese, wine, palmiers, and the kind of fancy mustard you pretend you’ll use more than once – the boot swallowed it all up with no complaints. Fold the seats flat, and it becomes a proper IKEA-run weapon, too, but on this trip, it was more about Brie than Billy bookcases.
The drive back was smooth, helped along by the EV3’s clever driver assistance systems and that same relaxed, grown-up feel that used to be the preserve of premium brands. Tired after a rather later night than grown-ups like us should probably be having, it’s nice to have all of that kit, which is all the more impressive when you consider this is meant to be the entry point to Kia’s electric line-up.
Most importantly, it did all this without us having to constantly stare at the battery percentage. Range anxiety? Not on this trip. The total journey was around 400 miles, so beyond a single charge, even if we were behaving well. Still, we got to Lille, hit the Christmas markets, loaded up on local delicacies, had a top-up at Steenvoorde on the way to Dunkirk, crossed the Channel, and made it back to Biggin Hill with 30% spare. Easy.
It was a fitting celebration — ten years after the Soul EV arrived with cautious ambition, the EV3 feels like a confident statement.
“Over the past 10 years, we haven’t only grown our EV model line-up significantly, but also demonstrated our dedication to innovation, quality and customer satisfaction,” Paul Philpott, president & CEO of Kia UK, explained. “Looking forward to the next decade of our EVs, we are in good stead. We have a clear strategy to maintain our position as a global leader in electrification with a wider variety of EVs on the way to match a range of customer needs and desires.”
Kia’s gone from being the quiet kid at the back of the EV class to someone who’s clearly done the homework. The EV3 doesn’t just show how far Kia’s come; it’s a pretty strong hint at where it’s heading.
He is the founder of Huff Media, publisher of Professional Pickup, Professional Van, Average Janes, Average Joes, and CALIBRE. His work focuses primarily on light commercial vehicles, pickups, and real-world vehicle use, with much of his time spent on manufacturer launches, industry events, and long-term vehicle testing.