Likes
Dislikes
A little over three months has come and gone and I'm parting ways with the Kia EV3 GT-Line.
The little electric SUV was awarded Best Small Car Starting Under $50,000 at CarsGuide's 2026 Car of the Year awards in February. But living with a car really reveals its strengths and weaknesses. Is the EV3 still deserving of the title?
There are a lot of items in the positive column for the EV3, but it's not without its flaws.
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I've covered a lot of this in my first two review instalments with the first one looking at how it stacks up for value-for-money, especially compared to its rivals, and what the aftersales experience is like.
Part two focused on how practical the EV3 is, as well as looking at efficiency.
In this final instalment I deep dive into the drive experience and give my final verdict.
Let's get to it!
What's the 2026 Kia EV3 GT-Line like to drive?
Kia's current model line-up is pretty solid. I'm yet to drive a modern Kia that's not great behind the wheel. From the K4 and Sportage through to the Sorento and even the Tasman ute, Kia knows how to build a driver's car.
That's helped by the fact Kia continues to develop local ride, handling and steering tunes through a dedicated localisation program led by renowned specialist, Graeme Gambold.
The purpose of this is to improve the global tune of a model to ensure it performs well on Australian roads.
Thankfully the EV3 doesn't deviate from this proven formula. While many EVs can feel like generic whitegoods on wheels, the EV3 engages the driver. It's not a performance car, but it's engineered to add some joy to the small electric SUV set.
It is an SUV so you do get some level of ride height in the EV3, and the amount of seat and steering wheel adjustment means you should easily find your perfect driving position. Visibility is mostly good, too.
One thing the EV3 does well is accelerate. So many EVs have an unnecessary amount of power and torque and when paired with cheap tyres, it results in chirping tyres and an unpleasant experience.
But with 150kW and 283Nm from the permanent magnet synchronous motor, the EV3 GT-Line delivers smooth, linear acceleration. It's not jerky, just pleasant, and will dash from 0-100km/h in 7.9 seconds, which is more than fine.
Do note though the tyres can spin when accelerating too enthusiastically in wet conditions.
Steering has a light feel but it is sharp and engaging. With a 10.4-metre turning circle, the 4.3-metre long EV3 GT-Line is also a dream to park. You can easily navigate tight urban streets and small parking spaces. The only letdown on that front is the fact that there's no front parking camera or a surround camera view. This is a surprise, especially for the flagship grade.
The EV3 doesn't feel top-heavy in corners so there's minimal body roll. That can make driving on a dynamically challenging road more fun than you might think. Again, it's no hot hatch, but there's enough there to keep you interested.
The ride is compliant and the EV3 handles crappy Australian roads pretty well. There's that local tune shining again. It's hard to escape the impact of harsher bumps, but day to day it's hard to fault.
However, on undulating patches of country roads at speed, the EV3 bounces a little. That's when you feel the two-tonne weight of this car. This sensation is not unusual for an EV with the battery pack under the floor. But, carmakers are getting better at addressing this so it is something for Kia to work on.
In the three-and-a-bit months I have lived with the EV3, I have done multiple country road trips and with the exception of a few things like the aforementioned bounciness, it's proven to be an excellent highway, freeway and backroad cruiser. It has surprised me how at home it feels on a road trip.
It's, unsurprisingly, a deeply competent city car as well. Not just on the road, but the overall interior packaging I detailed in part two, as well.
How safe is the Kia EV3 GT-Line?
The Kia EV3 was awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2025. It scored pretty well across all four crash categories, including 83 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 86 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 78 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection and 81 per cent for Safety Assist which covers advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
I detailed the standard safety equipment in part one of the review series and it's packed with gear, although the lack of front camera or spare tyre let it down a little.
On the road, the lane keeping aid is okay - not perfect, not terrible. It does tug at the wheel a little too much to keep you in the lane, and it tends to drift to the left more often than not. But it's the other driver aids that leave a bad taste.
The overly sensitive overspeed warning is infuriating. If left on, it beeps loudly as soon as you're 1.0km over the limit and doesn't shut up. Thankfully you can turn the overspeed warning off by holding the steering wheel volume button for a few seconds.
In ridiculous news, the driver attention and distraction monitor is distracting. It beeps even when you're not remotely distracted. For example, when checking your blind spot or looking left at an intersection. It has even activated when I've been staring straight ahead and not at all tired.
To turn this off, you have to create a shortcut via the 'favourite' icon on the wheel to ADAS in the Settings menu, select Driver Attention and turn two toggles off. I also turned the overspeed warning off while I was in this menu as it made more sense.
The problem is, I had to do this every single time I drove this car. If a safety feature is distracting, is it safe? No, it's not.
I appreciate Kia is far from alone and there are plenty of brands that have awful calibrations of these systems. Sister brands Hyundai and Genesis use the same systems and deserve a dressing down, too. But Kia was once a leader in this technology and now it's worse than many new Chinese brands on this front.
Most European carmakers and some Japanese brands have managed to develop this tech so it doesn't annoy the driver. It can be done. Kia, please look into this.
How efficient is the 2026 Kia EV3 GT-Line?
I didn't drive as much in the final month as I did in previous months, but I ended up with an average energy efficiency figure of 16.6kWh/km. That's a little more than Kia's official claim of 16kWh, but not by much. Over the three months, it's stuck pretty closely to the claim and there's no reason to doubt these figures.
According to our calculations, this month's real-world driving range was 470km, factoring in useable capacity and efficiency.
Each time I charged at home using our 7.0kW wallbox the screen would show a figure in the high 500s, which is ideal for city driving and the odd road trip.
Acquired: February 2026
Distance travelled this month: 355km
Odometer: 7286km
Average energy consumption this month: 16.6kWh/100km
Verdict
For the money, the GT-Line doesn't represent the best value of the EV3 line-up. You're better off looking at an EV3 Air or Earth Long Range, and the latter is the pick at $58,600, before on-road costs. It has a healthy standard features list, great driving range and misses out on the pointless pull-out front table.
The EV3 is not perfect. The lack of spare wheel, no front/surround view camera and the infuriating driver aids blemish what is otherwise an excellent car.
But if you can forgive those things, you'll be rewarded with a visually appealing, spacious, flexible, capable, electric SUV that rewards an enthusiastic driver.
The Kia EV3 absolutely still deserves its Best Small Car Under $50,000 title from our recent Car of the Year awards.