Kia is currently on a bold trajectory, shifting rapidly from its historic roots as a budget-friendly alternative to a genuine leader in design-led, sustainable mobility. This transformation is heavily anchored in its dedicated electric vehicle lineup. Following the critical success of the groundbreaking EV6 and the massive, family-hauling EV9, Kia is expanding downward to capture the mainstream market.
Historically, buyers looking for affordable Kias in this segment looked to internal combustion staples like the Cerato or early electric attempts like the Soul EV and Niro EV—vehicles that, while practical, were built on compromised, multi-energy platforms.
The new Kia EV4 marks a massive evolutionary leap. Built on a dedicated electric platform shared with its SUV sibling, the EV3, the EV4 moves the brand firmly into the dedicated electric sedan space. Major updates incorporated into the new vehicle include the striking “Opposites United” design philosophy featuring a sleek, low-slung fastback profile, next-generation interior ambient lighting, sustainable cabin materials, and a massive panoramic triple-screen display running Kia’s latest connected-car software infrastructure.
What We Like and Dislike About The 2025 Kia EV4 GT-Line 2WD
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Striking design Impressive range Ergonomic cabin Interior space Refined ride quality | Polarising aesthetics 400-volt charging limitations No rear wiper Poor rear visibility Premium price point |
What’s In The 2025 Kia EV4 Range?
The Kia EV4 arrives in New Zealand with a streamlined, front-wheel-drive lineup comprising two distinct model variants: the entry-level Light LR and the top-spec GT-Line. Mechanically, both variants are identical, powered by a single permanent magnet synchronous electric motor producing 150 kW of power and 283 Nm of torque, paired with a large 81.4 kWh lithium-ion NCM battery pack.
The Light LR priced at $63,990, prioritises maximum efficiency, squeezing out up to 633 km of range (WLTP) while riding on 17-inch alloy wheels.
The top spec model and our test car is the GT-Line, priced at $75,990. It sacrifices a small amount of range, dropping slightly from 633 km to 612 km (WLTP) due to its larger 19-inch alloy wheels.
The major differences between the two specification levels lie in the premium luxury and safety additions given to the GT-Line. The top variant upgrades the driver’s environment with small-cube projection LED headlights, dynamic welcome lighting, a 360-degree Surround View Monitor, a Blind Spot View Monitor, automated flush door handles, upgraded interior finishes, and a premium Harmon Kardon sound system.
2025 Kia EV4 Colour Range
The exterior colour palette available for the Kia EV4 provides a mix of stealthy, futuristic metallics. Apart from the model limitations, all colours are no-cost options.
The options include:
- Clear White (Light only)
- Snow White Pearl (GT-Line Exclusive) – colour of our test car
- Ivory Silver
- Morning Haze (Indent order only)
- Shale Grey
- Aurora Black Pearl
For a full list of specs and options available for the Kia EV4 GT-Line 2WD, head on over to KIA New Zealand’s website
How Does The 2025 Kia EV4 GT-Line 2WD Compare To Its Competition?
The Kia EV4 lands in a highly competitive segment in New Zealand, going head-to-head with established heavy hitters like the Tesla Model 3 and the BYD Seal.
Positioned firmly as a premium lower-medium fastback sedan, the EV4 distinguishes itself by leaning heavily into a design-forward, avant-garde aesthetic and focusing on traditional hatchback-like cabin ergonomics over outright performance.
While its 150 kW single-motor setup can’t match the blistering straight-line speeds or the faster 800V/all-wheel-drive architectures found elsewhere in the market, its standout selling point is everyday usability, boasting an exceptional real-world range that pushes past the 600 km mark.
| Make/ Model | Battery Capacity kW-hr | Power/ Torque kW/Nm | 0-100km/h seconds | Range (WLTP), km | Boot Space, litres | Price |
| Hyundai Ioniq 6 (53kWh 2WD Base) | 53.0 | 111 / 350 | 8.8 | 429 | 401 | $79,990 |
| BYD Seal (Performance AWD) | 82.6 | 390 / 670 | 3.8 | 520 | 400 (+50 frunk) | $76,990 |
| Kia EV4 (GT-Line 2WD) | 81.4 | 150 / 283 | 7.8 | 612 | 490 | $75,990 |
| Tesla Model 3 (Long Range RWD) | 79.0 | 224 / 350 | 5.2 | 702 | 594 (+88 frunk) | $71,900 |
Please note that DriveLife does its best to ensure the information above is correct at the time of publication, however, prices, specifications and models can change over time. Please bear that in mind when comparing models in the comparison table.
First Impressions Of The 2025 Kia EV4 GT-Line 2WD
Walk up to the 2025 Kia EV4, and it is immediately clear that Kia’s design studio has thrown the traditional three-box sedan rulebook completely out the window. It is sharp, futuristic, and unquestionably polarising. Sporting a silhouette that morphs somewhere between a sleek fastback and an aggressive high-riding hatch, it carries quite some road presence. Following the stellar groundwork laid by the EV6 and EV9, this is Kia’s play to bring that same space-age aesthetic down to a highly accessible segment in New Zealand.
Our first impression upon sliding behind the wheel is how much Kia has matured. It looks and feels premium from the outset. Rather than trying to be a cut-price Tesla clone, the EV4 focuses on delivering a deeply comfortable, highly tactile cabin experience loaded with sustainable textiles and a sprawling triple-screen layout. For Kiwi buyers who want to stand out from the sea of anonymous white Model 3s and BYD Seals at the local charging station, the EV4 makes an exceptionally bold statement right out of the gate.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2025 Kia EV4 GT-Line 2WD?
The interior is a real star. It has all the conventional features, controls and screens, but with great care and attention to the materials and colours, it presents a bright, fresh and harmonised interior.
The interior is aligned with Kia’s global sustainable design strategy, to incorporate eco-friendly materials throughout its cabin. Plant-based bio-plastics are used for the dashboard components and bio-polyurethane as a premium leather alternative for the seats. Further, recycled PET fabrics derived from plastic waste are used for the trim, and the cabin carpeting is woven from reprocessed post-consumer plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets. It’s a comprehensive and persuasive move demonstrating what sustainability can be. The resulting interior is superb.
Dominating the clean, horizontal dashboard layout is Kia’s impressive triple-screen panoramic array. It seamlessly combines a 12.3-inch digital driver instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch central infotainment touchscreen, sandwiching a smaller 5.3-inch dedicated climate control display right in the middle.
The location places everything directly in your natural line of sight. The real masterstroke here is that Kia didn’t banish every single feature to the screen—they have retained a very welcome, highly tactile physical strip of buttons and a rotary volume knob just below the display for quick media and climate adjustments on the move.
Above these, integrated into the surface of the dash, are a further set of quick-key functions for jumping into areas of the infotainment screen. Unfortunately, the contrast between the dash colour and the text label of the button was so slight that in some daytime lighting conditions it was difficult to discern the function. This problem disappeared at night as these were backlit and easy to navigate. Supplementing the standard dashboard is a superbly clear heads-up display; always worthy of bonus points in my book.
The steering wheel has all the usual features and stalks, including one for gear selection. Also, there are two paddles to adjust regenerative braking levels.
Typical of the Kia, I like their quiet sense of humour. On the GT-Line, the alloy pedals, normally a shorthand for sports and racing cars, carry a tiny visual joke: a subtle “+” on the accelerator and a “–” on the brake. It is a small detail, but a very deliberate one; one that raises a smile, and exactly the sort of thing you only notice after you are already familiar with the car.
The front bucket seats are a triumph of modern automotive ergonomics. Instead of heavy, leather-like materials, Kia has wrapped them in a premium, breathable fabric mesh that feels more like high-end Scandinavian office furniture than a traditional car seat. The headrests feature an innovative, ultra-soft mesh design that conforms perfectly to your head. Seat adjustment controls are electric, and the front seats also have heating and cooling options. The steering wheel is heated, too.
The seating position is generally excellent, offering a slightly elevated command of the road compared to a standard low-slung sedan.
Cabin storage is a bit of a mixed bag. The door pockets are relatively slim, though they will just manage to swallow a standard Kiwi-sized water bottle. Up front, the space is salvaged by a versatile, double-decker central console structure.
The lower deck houses a large storage tray with retractable cupholders, and the front section houses the Qi wireless phone charging pad. The surface features a grippy, rubberised texture that stops your smartphone from sliding about or flying into the footwell when navigating roundabouts. The upper level serves as the armrest, with a shallow pocket under and a similarly sized tray in front. On the leading edge of this is a quick-access set of buttons for the air-con system, including individual temperature settings for those in the front seats, and a combo power/volume control for the sound system. The glove box is average but deep enough for the vehicle manuals.
Thanks to a massive 2,820 mm wheelbase, rear-seat passengers are treated to limousine-like legroom. While you can stretch out effortlessly behind a tall driver when the front seats are in their lower settings, there is limited space for rear passengers to slide their feet under the front seats. The flat floor, however, means the middle passenger isn’t forced to straddle a bulky transmission tunnel.
Located beneath the front edge of the rear seat is a max AC 250-volt 16-amp New Zealand mains power outlet. There are also two USB-C outlets for the rear passengers, located conveniently on the inner sides of the front seats – so easy to access.
The compromise, however, comes from that aggressively sloping fastback roofline. Taller adults may find their hair brushing against the headliner.
The cabin feels remarkably airy from the front, enhanced by the expansive dashboard that curves gently away from the occupants, together with the mix of tones, patterns and textures. In the rear, a low window line ensures the outward visibility remains great, keeping the space bright and practical for children or average-sized adults. It all strikes a great balance, avoiding any hint of claustrophobia. Over the front seats is a conventional openable sunroof complete with a shade blind.
Kia has pushed heavily into sustainable luxury, using recycled PET plastics and natural hemp fibres throughout the cabin. The upper half of the dashboard uses a premium, soft-touch plastic, while the lower tiers are trimmed in a lovely matte fabric finish.
Panel gaps across the dashboard and doors are tight, completely free of creaks or rattles over rough surfaces. The overall build quality feels incredibly solid, though a few hard, scratchy plastics remain where you would expect them, hidden low down on the door cards and footwells.
Opening the electrically controlled tailgate, you are greeted by an impressive 490 litres of boot space with the rear seats up, extending to a substantial 1,415 litres with the 60:40 split-folding rear benches laid flat. However, the numbers do not tell the full story. The height of the opening is limited by the size of the boot lid, essentially from the bumper to the base of the rear window, and the boot lid hinges further impact the opening width. The boot floor is set lower than the opening lip, making loading/unloading of heavy items a little more difficult than if the floor were flush.
Beneath the boot floor, there is a dedicated underfloor storage bin—perfect for stashing the supplied charging cables, and a handy Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) adapter. This plugs into the car’s charge port, providing further options for 250-volt mains power outlets, powered off the car’s drive battery – handy.
In line with almost all modern electric vehicles on the New Zealand market, there is no spare wheel hidden beneath the floor. Instead, the EV4 comes equipped with a standard temporary mobility kit (an air pump and a bottle of tyre repair sealant).
What’s The 2025 Kia EV4 GT-Line 2WD Like To Drive?
Out on the road, the 2025 Kia EV4 delivers a highly mature, drama-free driving experience. Powered exclusively by a 150 kW front-wheel-drive electric motor, it prioritises silky smooth, progressive power delivery over the neck-snapping, gut-punch acceleration found in dual-motor performance EVs. It feels planted and secure.
With a 0–100 km/h sprint of roughly 7.8 seconds, it feels brisk rather than fast. It pulls away cleanly from traffic lights and has plenty of mid-range muscle for effortless overtaking on New Zealand State Highways. The front-drive layout handles the 283 Nm of torque beautifully under normal conditions, though stomping on the throttle from a standstill with lock on the steering wheel can occasionally provoke a brief chirp of wheelspin as the traction control steps in to manage the front axle.
While the steering is a bit numb and communicates very little about front-axle grip—meaning it won’t satisfy a keen driver on a twisty regional backroad, it rewards you instead with a beautifully pliant, composed ride. It rounds off sharp potholes and corrugated gravel edges with absolute ease.
The driver-assist technology works beautifully on Kiwi roads; the Lane Follow Assist and Smart Cruise Control lock onto lane markings smoothly without aggressively tugging at the wheel or throwing up constant, annoying false alarms.
The driver can cycle through Eco, Normal, Sport, and MyDrive modes via a dedicated button on the steering wheel. Switching to Sport mode weights up the steering and sharpens the throttle response, but it doesn’t unlock extra power.
- Eco: Maximises battery efficiency, relaxed throttle
- Normal: Balanced everyday commuting (Default)
- Sport: Heavily weighted steering, instant throttle response
Local chassis evaluation resulted in Kia stiffening up the suspension compared to the taller EV3 SUV to account for its lower centre of gravity, resulting in excellent body control. It corners flat with minimal body roll.
The steering wheel controls are perfectly laid out with actual, physical toggle switches rather than annoying haptic touchpads, allowing you to adjust the smart cruise control or audio volume purely by muscle memory without glancing down. The “power” on/off button located on the inner part of the drive selection stalk did momentarily stump me – not the most obvious location, however, once familiar, it became a non-issue.
One surprise was to find a typo within these menus, “Streering”, all the more so if this software is common across other Kia models.
I am always a fan of a heads-up display (HUD), helping to maximise your attention on the road ahead. The EV4 has a very good HUD. Displaying more than just your speed, it provides a simplified collection of the most relevant information you need when driving, right there within your line of sight.
Also displayed are the posted speed limit, warnings if you drift towards the boundaries of your lane, and very clear instructions for your next navigation actions and directions. In addition, the HUD also illustrates contextual warnings, for example, identifying School Zones when you drive through these at the start or end of the school day.
One quirk I found rather entertaining. Each day, driving along a perfectly ordinary suburban road, the car would dutifully alert me that I was entering a “wildlife crossing zone”. Naturally, this conjured up visions of vast migrating herds sweeping majestically across Upper Hutt.
To reinforce the point, the system would proudly display a bright yellow diamond road sign featuring… a Kangaroo. A Kangaroo, in Upper Hutt!
Clearly, one can never be too careful; after all, it only takes one determined marsupial to ruin your day.
The brakes, then, are justifiably important. Fortunately, the brake pedal feel is excellently judged. Kia has managed to smooth out the awkward, jerky transition between regenerative electric braking and physical friction braking that has plagued many early EVs. It feels firm, natural, and highly progressive. Under hard emergency braking scenarios, the EV4 remains dead straight and incredibly stable, with no unnerving nose-diving or rear-end twitchiness.
Using the steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters, you can toggle through three levels of regenerative braking. I like this feature on EV’s, useful when driving in traffic, on hills, and winding roads. Even better, the car remembers the last level setting used on your previous drive.
From the driver’s seat, forward visibility is fantastic thanks to a wide windscreen and relatively slim A-pillars. While the side visibility is equally good, the rearward and even the over-the-shoulder view is heavily compromised by the fastback’s styling. The thick, swept-back C-pillars and the sharply raked rear window combine to create a narrow, slot-like field of view. Blind spots are pronounced, meaning you will heavily rely on the standard reversing camera and the GT-Line’s excellent live-feed Blind Spot View monitoring. For those early mornings and driving in winter time generally, I really miss not having a rear wiper.
With rearward view reduced, on selecting reverse, both external door mirrors had been set up to dip. This is a great feature if simply backing into a regular parking lot bay, not so much when you are going for a roadside parallel park and trying to keep an eye on approaching traffic – the moral of the story is to choose your mirror preference before you need it.
The opening sunroof is conventional in its operation, and its integrated pop-up anti-buffet shield impressively minimises both buffet and wind noise at all speeds up to 100 kph.
When driving at night, the headlights are nothing short of spectacular. The adaptive headlights have an impressive high beam, lighting up the road as if it were daytime. They respond quickly and accurately to all other traffic, turning off just that part of the beam that would otherwise blind another motorist. For the driver, visibility is effectively almost as good as it is in daylight.
Refinement at speed is top-tier. Motor whine is completely non-existent, and wind noise is kept to a faint whisper even around the wing mirrors. The only minor complaint is a bit of tyre roar on New Zealand’s coarse-chip bitumen roads, which is likely to be slightly more noticeable on the GT-Line’s larger 19-inch wheels than on the base model’s 17-inch setup, but it never gets loud enough to ruin cabin conversations.
When it comes to covering ground, the EV4 has some serious legs. Equipped with a decent sized 81.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, it claims an exceptional WLTP range that pushes well past the 600 km mark, perfect then for those longer, out-of-town Kiwi road trips. But there is a catch, and it’s somewhat surprising given Kia’s tech leadership elsewhere.
Unlike its big brothers, the EV6 and EV9, which use a lightning-fast 800V charging system, the EV4 is built on a more traditional 400V architecture. While it’s perfectly adequate for overnight charging at home, it does impact your DC fast-charging speeds when you’re out on the highway.
At a time when new rivals from other brands are introducing 800V setups to get you hooked up and gone in minutes, the EV4’s 400V limit means you’ll be spending just that bit more time at the charging station.
On the energy efficiency front, the EV4 is remarkably frugal. Thanks to an incredibly slippery aerodynamic profile (boasting a drag coefficient of just 0.23 Cd), it sips electricity. During our 540 km of mixed testing in stop-start urban driving and open-road highway cruising, the EV4 returned an impressive average energy consumption of 16.6 kWh/100km. This means the 81.4 kWh battery translates to a stress-free real-world range of around 550 km on a single charge.
READ ON TO CHECK OUT OUR SUMMARY OF THE 2025 KIA EV4 GT-LINE 2WD.
2025 Kia EV4 GT-Line 2WD – Specifications
| Vehicle Type | Electric / Fastback Sedan |
| Starting Price | $75,990 |
| Price as Tested | $75,990 |
| Engine | Permanent Magnet Synchronous Electric Motor (FWD) |
| Power, Torque kW/Nm | 150 / 283 |
| Transmission | Single Speed Reduction Gear (SSRG) |
| Spare Wheel | Temporary Mobility Kit |
| Kerb Weight, Kg | 1,912 |
| Length x Width x Height mm | 4,730 x 1,860 x 1,480 |
| Boot Space / Cargo Capacity, Litres (seats up/seats down) | 490 / 1,435 |
| Battery capacity, kWh | 81.4 |
| Energy Economy, kWh/100km | Advertised Spec – Combined – 14.9 Real-World Test – Combined – 16.6 Low Usage: 6-10 / Medium Usage 11-19 / High Usage 19+ |
| Towing Capacity kg, unbraked/braked | 750 / 1,000 |
| Turning circle Metres (diameter) | 10.9 Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+ |
| Warranty | 7-Year / 150,000 km Car Warranty 8-Year / 160,000 km Battery Warranty 5-Year Roadside Assist |
| Safety information | ANCAP Rating – 5 stars – Link Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – KIAEV4 |
