Kia EV4 Fastback Review & Prices

The Kia EV4 Fastback is an electric saloon car that’s perfect if you want something comfortable and good to drive, but don’t want to buy an SUV like everyone else. However, there are a couple of practicality concessions to be made.

It’s a bit like when you’re at school and you proudly support your local football team, rather than one of the big Premier League teams like all your classmates. Sometimes it’s nice to go against the grain.

If you’re considering an EV4 Fastback there are compelling alternatives such as the Tesla Model 3, BYD Seal and Hyundai Ioniq 6; all low-riding, sleek electric saloon cars. The regular hatchback EV4 is also available if you’re not totally sold on the Fastback’s shape.

Kia EV4 Fastback: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 380 miles
Battery size: 81.4kWh
Max charge speed: 127kW
Charge time AC: 7h 15mins, 0-100% @ 11kW
Charge time DC: 31mins, 10-80% @ 127kW
Charge port location: Right front
Power outputs: 201hp

While each of those cars could be considered rather good-looking to most – the swoopy Hyundai in particular – the Kia EV4 is more aesthetically challenging. It’s fine up front, with its vertical headlights and angular bodywork, but the rear is just plain awkward, like someone melted the hatchback version and stretched it out. The proportions are frankly bizarre.

Still, you don’t need to look at the back while you’re driving, and fortunately the interior is lovely. The design is relatively simple, with a sweeping dashboard and a chunky steering wheel. But where the likes of the Tesla Model 3 route almost all functions through the touchscreen, the EV4 Fastback is blessed with physical buttons for the climate controls, which are nice and easy to use on the move.

Rear seat space is hugely impressive, with loads of kneeroom meaning you’ll have no trouble carrying anyone from tall adults to babies in bulky child seats. Headroom is reasonable despite the sloping roof, but storage throughout the car is a bit disappointing.

At least the boot is roomy. The saloon shape makes it a bit tricky to access, but at 490 litres it has more capacity than the BYD Seal and Hyundai Ioniq 6, though all are beaten by the Tesla Model 3’s massive load area.

While the EV4 hatchback is offered with a smaller, cheaper battery, the Fastback is only available with the larger battery, which provides an official range of up to 380 miles. That blows the BYD Seal and Hyundai Ioniq 6 out of the water, though you can get a Long Range Tesla Model 3 with a claimed range of 436 miles for EV4 Fastback money.

The Kia’s fast-charging speeds are on par with most alternatives – 10-80% takes about half an hour – but when the older EV6 gets clever technology to provide some of the fastest charge speeds in the business, it’s a bit underwhelming.

Not that you’ll be at all disappointed in the way the Kia EV4 Fastback drives. On a long journey it encourages you to maximise that long range by being comfortable and refined, and the suspension deals nicely with bumps around town. The only real complaint here being that it feels quite big, making it a bit intimidating to drive on tight city streets.

If you can look past the awkward proportions there’s a fantastic electric saloon car here, so get a great price with Carwow’s Kia EV4 Fastback deals or EV4 Fastback lease deals. You can also browse used Kias from our network of trusted dealers, and when the time comes to sell your current car, Carwow can help with that, too.

The Kia EV4 Fastback starts at about £41,000 for GT-Line models and rises to just over £46,000 for the GT-Line S trim with a heat pump. That puts it directly in line with the Tesla Model 3 – entry level versions don’t go as far on a charge as the Kia, but for about £45,000 you can get the long range model that can go up to 436 miles between charges.

The BYD Seal looks a bit pricey by comparison, starting near the top of the Kia’s price range but not going as far on a charge, while the Hyundai Ioniq 6 is pricier still.

GT-Line versions of the EV4 Fastback come with 19-inch alloy wheels, artificial leather upholstery and a sportier styling pack than the standard EV4 hatchback. GT-Line S models add heated seats front and rear, a blind-spot monitor, 360-degree cameras and an excellent Harman Kardon sound system.

It’s a bit of a shame you have to pay almost £1,000 extra for a heat pump, and even then it’s only available on the top trim. This feature helps reduce the impact of cold weather on your range, and is fitted as standard on cars such as the BYD Seal.

The Kia EV4 Fastback is a relaxing car to drive long distances, though it’s anything but fun on a twisty road

In town

We tested the Kia EV4 Fastback on Spanish roads at the car's launch in Marbella, and it proved incredibly comfortable around town. Spanish roads tend to be smoother than the UK’s Tarmac, but even when we searched out speed bumps and potholes the suspension handled it remarkably well.

Rear visibility is pretty poor with a small rear window, but there’s an extra window in the rear quarter that means you do get some visibility over your shoulder, and this is where GT-Line S models’ surround-view cameras come into their own.

On the motorway

Motorways are where the Kia EV4 feels at its best, because it's a quiet, comfortable and refined way to eat up miles. There’s very little wind and road noise, despite the large alloy wheels.

All models have adaptive cruise control, with semi-autonomous driving assistance that can nudge the wheel to keep you centred in your lane. Top-spec versions also get Kia’s cool blind-spot monitoring tech, which displays a camera feed showing your blind spot in the instrument screen to help when changing lanes.

On a twisty road

Comfort and relaxation are the order of the day, so it’s no surprise that the Kia EV4 Fastback isn’t the most engaging car to drive on a twisty road. It’s not bad, soaking up bumps nicely, but it’s certainly not fun. If that’s what you’re after, the Tesla Model 3 is your best bet. It’s more jiggly over bumps most of the time but the trade off is a genuinely enjoyable car on a country road.

Decent interior space and a big boot are let down by some underwhelming storage

Space in the front is really good, but the driving position is slightly awkward, particularly if you’ve got long legs. The pedals are a bit close to the seat and the steering wheel doesn’t come too far towards you, so there’s some compromise to be had.

Interior storage is hit and miss – overall there’s a lot of storage space thanks to a large area under the centre console that’s big enough for a small bag. However, the cubby beneath the armrest is quite shallow and the door bins will barely fit a reusable water bottle. At least you get wireless phone charging on all trims, as well as a pair of USB-C slots.

Space in the back seats

Rear seat space is limo-like, which means it’s perfect if you carry friends and family around in the back or you have a bulky child seat to fit. And despite the sloping saloon roof, headroom isn’t noticeably worse than it is in the hatchback.

It’s not perfect, because the floor is quite high in relation to the seat cushion, so you don’t have loads of under-thigh support, while storage isn’t great here either – the door bins, in particular, are tiny. There are two more USB-C slots in the back, too.

Boot space

Boot capacity is really good at 390 litres, comparing nicely with the BYD Seal’s 400 litres and Hyundai Ioniq 6’s 401 litres. However, the Tesla Model 3 beats all with its 594-litre capacity.

The downside to buying a saloon is that you get quite a small boot opening – the EV4 Fastback actually has a fairly wide aperture, but the lack of height means it’s still not ideal for bulky items. You’re better off considering a hatchback or SUV instead. Underfloor storage is good enough for lesser used items such as your tyre repair kit.

High-tech yet functional cabin is great, but there are some ergonomic frustrations

While the outside of the car has an in-yer-face ultra-modern design, the interior is much more laid back and simple. That’s not to say it’s plain – there are layers to the dashboard and a pleasant mix of materials that give off a relaxing vibe.

The dashboard is dominated by three screens that sit ahead of you, with the typical infotainment display in the centre and instruments behind the steering wheel. There’s a narrow third screen that sits between the two for your climate settings, but your hands block the view. Fortunately there are physical temperature switches so this isn’t as annoying as it could be, though still not ideal.

The infotainment system itself is easy enough to use, once you get your head around the slightly complicated menu layout. You get wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard for seamless smartphone integration and everything responds quickly to your touches.

Two neat features are theatre mode and rest mode. The former lets you use streaming subscriptions to play films and TV shows while you’re not driving, while rest mode switches off the displays and adjusts the ambient lighting to create a relaxing atmosphere.

Interior quality is pretty good, and because the Fastback doesn’t get the EV4 hatchback’s entry-level trim, all models come with artificial leather upholstery. That said, if you go looking for cheap scratchy plastics you will find some, such as on the door bins.

The Kia EV4 Fastback is only available with an 81.4kWh battery that provides an official range of up to 380 miles in both trims. During our test of the car in Marbella, Spain, on a route that included a mix of city, motorway and mountain roads, we saw efficiency of 3.9 miles per kWh, which would equal a real-world range of almost 320 miles. That’s about 85% of the claimed figure, which is a respectable return.

The Tesla Model 3 rules if you want the maximum distance between charges, because the long-range version can go up to 436 miles officially. However, the EV4 Fastback is still comfortably above average among alternatives as the maximum range from a BYD Seal is 354 miles, or 339 miles in the Hyundai Ioniq 6.

Maximum DC charging speeds of 127kW are good but not exceptional – again the Tesla wins here – so it takes about half an hour to complete a 10-80% top up at a public charger.

Being an electric car means you’ll pay the lowest Benefit-in-Kind if you’re a company car driver, and it’s also eligible for the lowest Vehicle Excise Duty for private buyers, though you do have to pay the expensive car supplement in years two to six.

The Kia EV4 Fastback has not been tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP at the time of writing. However, the EV3 scored four out of five stars when tested earlier in 2025, though this was upgraded to five stars with an optional safety pack fitted.

You get loads of assistance kit as standard, from a reversing camera and parking sensors front and rear, to adaptive cruise control with a semi-autonomous feature that helps keep you in your lane. Top-spec GT-Line S models add a parking collision avoidance system, a 360-degree camera and blind-spot monitoring.

Given that the EV4 is a new model, its reliability is yet to be determined. However, the lack of reported issues with Kia's other electric vehicles is a positive sign. Kia's performance in the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, placing 18th out of 31 manufacturers, isn’t fantastic, with brands like Peugeot and Renault achieving higher rankings within the top 10.

A significant advantage of owning a Kia is the seven-year or 100,000-mile standard warranty. This offers considerably longer coverage compared to the three-year warranties typically provided with vehicles in the UK, though BYD offers six years of coverage, Hyundai provides five, and Tesla four years, so there’s not a lot in it among electric saloons.