The Kia EV3 Earth Long Range is the middle child of Kia’s compact electric SUV trio, and the sensible one. It is calm, genuinely spacious, and will quietly cover around 485km on a charge in the real world. Just don’t come to it looking for thrills. Years of rideshare kilometres have taught me that the cars you actually live with are rarely the exciting ones, and the EV3 is a textbook case. It is competent rather than charismatic, and all the easier to recommend for it.
The segment is now drowning in look-alike electric crossovers, with the BYD Atto 3, MG S5 EV, Geely EX5 and Volvo EX30 all chasing the same buyer. Against that backdrop the EV3 plays the sensible, safety-first card and looks a size more expensive than it is. Priced from approximately $58,600 before on-road costs, or roughly $63,000 drive-away depending on your state, the Earth Long Range slots just beneath its bigger sibling, the Kia EV5, and uses the same trick of feeling like a class above its price tag.
| 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range — at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Price (drive-away) | Approx. $63,000 (from ~$58,600 before on-roads) |
| Powertrain | Single front motor, front-wheel drive EV |
| Power / torque | 150kW / 283Nm |
| 0–100 km/h | 7.9 seconds (claimed) |
| Range / economy | 563km WLTP · 16.7kWh/100km observed over 1,000km |
| Warranty | 7 years / unlimited km |
| ANCAP | 5 stars (tested 2025) |
| The Good | The Not-So-Good |
|---|---|
| Flat-floor cabin that feels a genuine class above its price, and the highlight of the car | Performance is merely adequate; it feels a touch sluggish next to rival EVs |
| Excellent real-world efficiency: 16.7kWh/100km over 1,000km for roughly 485km of range | Safety “nannies” need switching off almost every drive |
| Sensible, button-rich interior and a 5-star ANCAP safety net | EVs miss Kia’s capped-price servicing; Earth also skips a 360 camera and a spare |
What does the 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range look like?
Kia has essentially shrunk its excellent EV9 into a city-friendly footprint, and the “baby EV9” tag fits. At 4,300mm long it is properly compact, yet the upright nose, near-vertical “Star Map” lighting and chunky black wheel-arch cladding give it the road presence of something dearer. The flush door handles sit cleanly into the bodywork, the 19-inch aero alloys fill the squared-off arches, and a contrasting dark roof breaks up the tall silhouette. It is distinctive in a segment where most rivals look like the same electric appliance in different shades. A low bar, admittedly, but the EV3 clears it comfortably.
What is the 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range like inside?
This, for me, is where the EV3 wins you over. The interior was comfortably the highlight of the car. The completely flat floor and tall roofline make the cabin feel a class bigger than the exterior suggests, and the Earth’s two-tone scheme is a quiet stroke of genius. The orange contrast may divide opinion, but there is a practical logic to it. So much of what we carry, whether phones, keys or wallets, is dark, and the lighter trim makes everything easier to spot. Crucially, Kia has resisted the urge to bury every function in a touchscreen. Physical buttons handle the things you actually use, so you are not forever diving through menus, and the two-spoke steering wheel is a genuinely nice shape with controls that fall easily to hand.
Storage
Practicality is baked in. The centre console houses a slide-out tray, there are twin USB-C ports front and rear, a wireless phone charger, deep door bins and the usual clutch of cup and bottle holders. Up front, under the bonnet, sits a 25-litre “frunk”. It is modest, but exactly the right size for stashing the charging cables so they are not rolling around the boot. It is the kind of thoughtful, everyday packaging that makes a car easy to live with rather than impressive on paper.
Rear seat and boot space
Thanks again to that flat floor and the 2,680mm wheelbase (the same as a Sportage), the back seat is airy and accommodating, with proper room for adults and a bright, glassy feel. The boot holds 460 litres with the seats up, expanding to around 1,250 litres folded. To put real numbers on it: on one run up the Central Coast I had a passenger aboard, the boot fully loaded, the cabin packed, and my budgie riding shotgun in his cage. The EV3 swallowed the lot without complaint. For a compact SUV, it punches well above its class for space.
Technology and connectivity
Every EV3 gets a triple-panoramic layout: a 12.3-inch driver display and a 12.3-inch touchscreen flanking a 5-inch climate strip. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB radio, satellite navigation, over-the-air updates and Kia Connect are all standard. The system is responsive and, more importantly, sensibly laid out. Those physical shortcut keys mean the screens stay out of your way rather than demanding constant attention. One thing you don’t get is a surround-view camera, though no Australian EV3 gets one, the GT-Line included. I didn’t especially miss it: at this price a 360-degree camera is a nice luxury rather than a parking necessity, so it is hard to mark the EV3 down too harshly for it.
Highlighted Features
- Vehicle-to-Load (V2L): run 220-240V appliances straight off the battery via the interior socket and adaptor, handy for camping, tools or a power cut.
- i-Pedal 3.0 one-pedal driving: smooth, well-judged regen that lets you drive largely on one pedal around town.
- Heated and ventilated front seats + heated steering wheel: standard on Earth, and a genuine step up over the entry Air.
Engine and drivetrain
The Earth Long Range pairs a single front-mounted permanent-magnet motor with the larger 81.4kWh battery. That is 150kW and 283Nm through the front wheels, enough for a claimed 0 to 100km/h of 7.9 seconds. Charging is respectable rather than headline-grabbing. On a 150kW DC charger, which is the current Australian norm, 10 to 80 per cent takes about 31 minutes; the EV3’s 400V system tops out comfortably below what an ultra-rapid charger can deliver anyway, so there is little to gain from hunting out the 350kW units. A three-phase 11kW AC wallbox does 10 to 100 per cent in around seven and a half hours. The charge port lives on the driver’s side (the right, in our right-hand-drive cars) at the front. WLTP range is a strong 563km, and the real world, as it turns out, is not far off it.
What’s the 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range like to drive?
This is the part where the EV3’s honesty shows. The steering is fine. It is light, easy and perfectly judged for the car park, but nothing special, and at times it feels a little disconnected from the road, as though the assistance systems are quietly filtering the conversation. Performance tells a similar story. The 150kW motor is serviceable and gets on with the job, but it is no highlight; coming off punchier dual-motor EVs, it feels a touch sluggish. On wet uphill starts the front wheels can briefly scrabble for traction, a reminder that this is a near-1.9-tonne front-driver with instant torque. There is a small irony in the spec sheet, too: the cheapest, lightest Air Standard Range is actually the quickest EV3 of the lot.
What it does do, it does smoothly. The ride is absorbent and settled over Australian roads, the power is metered out without any jerkiness, and wind and road noise simply never registered over a week of driving, which is the mark of a quietly refined thing. The i-Pedal one-pedal mode is excellent, and the brake auto-hold takes the strain out of traffic. If I have a single ergonomic gripe, it is oddly specific: the drive-mode button sits exactly where my left thumb wants to rest in the gap of the steering wheel, so I could relax my right thumb in the equivalent spot but never my left. Convenient to reach, mildly annoying to live with. One word for the drive, then: composed.
Is the 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range safe?
The EV3 wears a 5-star ANCAP rating from 2025, with 83% for adult occupant protection, 86% for child occupants, 78% for vulnerable road users and 81% for safety assist. The hardware is comprehensive and standard across the range. The one catch, and it is a recurring EV3 complaint, is that some of the systems are over-eager: the intelligent speed-limit assist and driver-attention monitor needed switching off almost every drive, which gets old fast.
- Autonomous Emergency Braking with car, pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection
- Lane Keeping Assist, Lane Following Assist 2 and Smart Cruise Control 2
- Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist with Rear Cross-Traffic alert and Safe Exit Warning
- Seven airbags, including a front-centre airbag; front and rear parking sensors with reversing camera
How much does the 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range cost?
The EV3 Earth Long Range opens at about $58,600 before on-road costs, which is roughly $63,000 drive-away depending on your state. That puts it a rung below the range-topping GT-Line and just beneath the larger Kia EV5. It is worth checking Kia’s live offers when you buy, as drive-away deals come and go.
For that money you get the sensible core of the EV3 done well: the flat-floor cabin, the triple-screen layout with physical shortcut keys, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, and the full safety suite. Step up to the GT-Line and you add a sunroof, Harman Kardon audio, a head-up display and plusher seats, but the Earth already covers the things you actually use every day, which is what makes it the value pick of the range.
How much does the 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range cost to run?
Kia’s 7-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty applies, and the high-voltage battery is covered for 7 years or 150,000km down to a 70% capacity floor. The one catch is servicing: Kia leaves its EVs out of the capped-price program its petrol cars enjoy, so you prepay instead, around $688 for three years, $1,308 for five or $1,929 for seven, with a visit due every 12 months or 15,000km. Roadside cover runs a year at a time and renews at each service for up to eight years.
Running it is where an efficient EV pulls ahead. Over more than 1,000km the Earth averaged 16.7kWh/100km, close to Kia’s 16.2 claim. Charge at home on a standard tariff around $0.33/kWh and that is about $5.50 per 100km; shift to a cheap overnight EV plan near $0.08/kWh and it drops to barely $1.35. Lean on premium public fast-charging at about $0.75/kWh, though, and it climbs to roughly $12.50 per 100km, so charging at home rather than out is where the savings really live. A 10 to 80 per cent top-up moves about 57kWh, so call it $19 at home or around $43 on public DC.
| Running costs | Details |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 7 years / unlimited km |
| Battery warranty (EV) | 7 years / 150,000km (to 70% capacity) |
| Servicing interval | 12 months / 15,000km |
| Capped-price servicing | Prepaid EV plan: ~$688 (3yr) / $1,308 (5yr) / $1,929 (7yr) |
| Roadside assist | Up to 8 years (renewed at each scheduled service) |
| Claimed economy / efficiency | 16.2kWh/100km (WLTP) |
| Observed economy / range | 16.7kWh/100km over 1,000km; ~485km real-world |
| Energy / fuel cost | ~$5.50/100km home flat, ~$1.35/100km overnight EV plan, ~$12.50/100km public DC |
Final thoughts
The EV3 Earth Long Range is not the car for someone chasing pace or driver involvement. If that is you, keep walking. What it is, is one of the most sensible, easy-to-live-with small EVs on sale: roomy beyond its size, impressively efficient, properly safe, and finished with a cabin that genuinely feels above its money. It suits families and anyone who simply wants to get from A to B in calm, safe comfort. If you need more room again, the larger Kia EV5 is the natural step up; but for a lot of buyers, the smaller, cheaper, cleverly packaged EV3 will be all the electric SUV they ever actually need.
How does the 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range compare?
The natural cross-shops are its own Kia family and the odd cousin. The larger Kia EV5 gives you a bigger boot, but its Standard Range trades away range; the E-GMP Hyundai IONIQ 5 is roomier and longer-legged again, but steps up in size and price. The EV3’s pitch is efficiency and value in a tidier package. Note the figures below sit on slightly different price bases (the EV5 quoted drive-away, the others before on-roads), so confirm drive-away for your postcode.
| Spec | Kia EV3 Earth | Kia EV5 (Air SR) | Hyundai IONIQ 5 (Elite) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (from) | ~$58,600 (before on-roads) | ~$56,770 (drive-away) | ~$81,200 (before on-roads) |
| Power | 150kW | 160kW | 168kW |
| Range / economy | 563km · 16.7kWh/100km | 400km · 18.2kWh/100km | 570km · 16.0kWh/100km |
| Boot (min) | 460L | 513L | 520L |
| Warranty | 7 yr / unlimited km | 7 yr / unlimited km | 5 yr / unlimited km |
2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range — Frequently Asked Questions
How far does the Kia EV3 Earth Long Range go on a charge?
Kia claims 563km (WLTP) from the 81.4kWh battery. In our week of mixed driving it averaged 16.7kWh/100km over more than 1,000km, which works out to roughly 485km of real-world range.
How much does the Kia EV3 Earth Long Range cost in Australia?
It is priced from about $58,600 before on-road costs, or roughly $63,000 drive-away depending on your state. Always confirm the drive-away figure for your postcode.
Is the Kia EV3 Earth Long Range worth buying?
Yes, if you want a calm, safe and spacious family EV with strong real-world range. It earns its keep on practicality and efficiency rather than performance, so keen drivers should look elsewhere.
What rivals should I cross-shop against the Kia EV3?
The obvious rivals are the BYD Atto 3, MG S5 EV, Geely EX5 and Volvo EX30, plus its larger sibling the Kia EV5 if you need more space.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Model | 2026 Kia EV3 Earth Long Range |
| Model Price | ~$58,600 before on-roads (approx. $63,000 drive-away depending on state) |
| Engine | Single front permanent-magnet synchronous motor |
| Drivetrain | Front-wheel drive |
| Power | 150kW |
| Torque | 283Nm |
| Battery Capacity / type | 81.4kWh lithium-ion |
| Voltage / Capacity | 400V / 237.3Ah |
| Range (WLTP) | 563km |
| Economy / efficiency | 16.2kWh/100km claimed (16.7kWh/100km observed) |
| Fast Charge / Home | 10-80% ~31min on a 150kW DC charger; 10-100% ~7h30m (11kW AC, 3-phase) |
| 0-100kmh / Top Speed | 7.9s / 170km/h |
| CO2 Emissions | 0g/km (tailpipe) |
| Safety | 5-star ANCAP (tested 2025) |
| Servicing | 12 months / 15,000km; prepaid EV plan ~$1,929 / 7 years |
| Warranty | 7 years / unlimited km (HV battery 7 years / 150,000km) |
| Roadside Assist | Up to 8 years (with continued Kia servicing) |
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Overall Length | 4,300mm |
| Width | 1,850mm |
| Height | 1,560mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,680mm |
| Wheels | 19-inch alloy |
| Tyres | 215/50 R19 |
| Kerb Weight | 1,930kg |
| Boot Min | 460L (5 seats up) |
| Boot Max | ~1,250L (seats folded) |
| Towing Capacity | 1,000kg braked (750kg unbraked) |
| Turning Circle | 10.4m |
| Max ground clearance | 140mm |
| Payload (kg) | ~425kg |
| GVM (kg) | 2,355kg |
For the latest pricing and to book a test drive, head to the official Kia Australia site.
