The EV5 GT-Line AWD is the top of the Kia EV5 range, the one with all-wheel drive, 230kW and the full spread of comfort kit. It is also the dearest EV5 by a fair margin, close to $20,000 more than the entry car, and it is not the one that travels the furthest, because the lighter front-drive Long Range does more kilometres on a charge. So it makes most sense if you want the comfort and the all-weather security of all-wheel drive and will use what you are paying for. If outright range or the lowest price is your main goal, just know the flagship is not built to chase either.
It lands in the busiest corner of the market, the mid-size electric SUV, where buyers are spoilt for choice and value counts for a lot. At around $76,000 drive-away (about $71,770 before on-road costs, depending on your state), the GT-Line AWD sits right at the top of the family and well into the money some pricier rivals ask. I had already spent a week in the cheaper front-drive EV5, so the jump to the dual-motor flagship was the thing I most wanted to weigh up.
| 2026 Kia EV5 GT-Line AWD — at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Price (drive-away) | Approximately $76,000 (about $71,770 before on-road costs) |
| Powertrain | Dual-motor electric, all-wheel drive |
| Power / torque | 230kW / 480Nm |
| 0–100 km/h | Approximately 6.3 seconds |
| Range / economy | 470km WLTP · 21.0 kWh/100km (claimed) |
| Battery | 88.1 kWh LFP, 400/800V capable |
| Warranty | 7 years / unlimited km |
| ANCAP | 5 stars (2024) |
| The Good | The Not-So-Good |
|---|---|
| Genuinely comfortable ride that survives the 20-inch wheels, paired with plush, ventilated, massaging front seats | The flagship actually has less range than the cheaper front-drive Long Range (470km versus 555km) |
| Loaded with kit: twin 12.3-inch displays, head-up display, Harman/Kardon audio, panoramic roof and a clever heated and cooled rear console box | From the outside it looks almost identical to EV5 grades costing thousands less |
| All-wheel drive adds real all-weather security and pace over the front-drive EV5, with no wet-weather grip drama | Left in Eco or Normal it leans on the front motor, so you end up reaching for Snow mode to keep it driving as a true all-wheel drive |
What does the Kia EV5 GT-Line look like?
The EV5 is all upright and boxy, and it wears it well. At 4,615mm long, 1,875mm wide and 1,715mm tall on a 2,750mm wheelbase, it has the square-shouldered “baby EV9” look that Kia’s electric SUVs have made their own, and it reads as a proper mid-size family car rather than a tall hatch.
The catch is that the GT-Line barely looks like the flagship. Park it next to a cheaper EV5 and you would struggle to tell them apart. The giveaways are small: 20-inch alloys in place of 18s or 19s, gloss-black bumpers, skid plates, roof rails and beltline, auto-flush door handles, privacy glass and LED dynamic indicators. It is tastefully done, but if you want the badge to show what you spent, this is not the car for it. The real upgrade is inside, at the steering wheel.
It looks best from the front three-quarter, where the vertical “Star Map” lighting and the clamshell bonnet give it some presence. Mine was blue, one of several in the range, and it split the room: I was not sold on it, and a colleague took one look and loved it. Which is about the most useful thing I can tell you about a paint colour.
What is the Kia EV5 GT-Line like inside?
Inside is where the GT-Line finally feels like the flagship. The cabin is open and airy, with twin 12.3-inch screens running the driver’s cluster and the central display, a separate 5-inch climate panel below, and a clean, horizontal dashboard in two-tone artificial leather with white and silver trim. It is calm and grown-up rather than flashy, and none the worse for it.
The seats are the standout. The driver’s chair gets eight-way power adjustment, proper lumbar support and a two-position memory, plus a relaxation function that reclines it and lifts your legs on powered rests, which you do not expect at this money. Both front seats heat, cool and massage, so you feel the difference on a longer drive. The materials are solid where your arms fall, and there is a heated steering wheel to finish it off.
Storage
Cabin storage is sorted. There are four cupholders, bottle holders in all four doors, a covered console, a front tray, a wireless charging pad and a 12-volt outlet, with USB-C for both rows. Under the bonnet there is a 67-litre frunk rated to 25kg, which is just the right size for the charging cables so they are not rolling around in the boot.
Rear seat and boot space
The boxy shape pays off in the back. The flat floor and long wheelbase free up genuine legroom and headroom, the rear bench reclines, and this grade adds vents on the door pillar and heated outer seats. Behind it sits 513 litres of boot, growing to 1,714 litres with the 60:40 seats folded, which is competitive for the class and easily enough for a family’s weekly load.
My week with it was mostly a solo affair, so I cannot tell you how it copes with a full load of passengers or a boot stuffed for a road trip. On the numbers, and from time spent climbing around it, the packaging is exactly what you would want from a square, purpose-built electric SUV.
Technology and connectivity
The twin 12.3-inch screens are quick and logical, and the EV5 keeps both wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you are not forced to live in Kia’s menus. A head-up display, a Harman/Kardon eight-speaker system with subwoofer, satellite navigation with ten years of map and traffic updates, over-the-air updates and fingerprint authentication are all standard on the GT-Line, and Kia Connect handles remote control and monitoring from your phone.
The best bit, though, is in the back. Under the rear of the centre console is a sliding box that heats and cools, which is to say a small fridge for the back seat. It sounds like a gimmick right up until the first warm afternoon you reach in for a cold drink, at which point it quietly becomes your favourite feature.
Highlighted Features
- Heated and cooled rear console box: a small fridge or warmer built into the rear of the centre console, exclusive to the GT-Line.
- Premium relaxation driver’s seat: reclines with powered leg rests, plus heating, ventilation and massage.
- Vehicle-to-Load (V2L): an interior power socket, with an exterior adaptor included on the GT-Line, to run appliances or tools off the car’s battery.
Engine and drivetrain
The GT-Line AWD runs a 160kW motor at the front and a 70kW motor at the rear, for a combined 230kW and 480Nm and a claimed 0 to 100km/h of around 6.3 seconds. Power comes from an 88.1kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery under the floor, a chemistry that is tough and happy being charged to 100 per cent as often as you like.
The price of the all-wheel-drive hardware and the 20-inch wheels is range. The GT-Line claims 470km on the WLTP cycle at 21.0 kWh/100km, where the lighter front-drive Long Range manages up to 555km. Charging is a strong point: the EV5’s 800V-capable architecture does a 10 to 80 per cent DC top-up in around 40 minutes on a typical 150kW public charger, or about 38 minutes on a 350kW unit, and the 11kW three-phase onboard charger fills it overnight at home. There is Vehicle-to-Load too, so the car can run appliances or tools when you are away from a socket.
What’s the Kia EV5 GT-Line like to drive?
The EV5 GT-Line’s best quality is refinement. It glides. The ride is the highlight, soaking up Australian roads with a calm, settled gait, and it holds that composure even on the 20-inch wheels, where plenty of rivals turn brittle on big rims. Over a week of mixed driving I had no complaints.
The all-wheel drive makes a real difference over the front-drive EV5. Instead of the front-driver’s sense of being pulled along, the GT-Line feels moved along, planted, with no scrabbling for grip in the wet and confident hill starts. There is a genuine lift in both grip and pace, and while 230kW will not pin you to the seat, Sport mode gives it real urgency.
One quirk is worth knowing. In Eco and Normal the car leans on the front motor to save energy, so to drive it as a consistent all-wheel drive I found myself picking Snow mode, which sends smooth, even power to all four wheels. It is a workaround rather than a fault, but it is the one thing you keep having to think about in a car that is otherwise effortless. One word for the drive? Smooth, though at its best it is closer to gliding.
Is the Kia EV5 safe?
Yes. The EV5 has a 5-star ANCAP safety rating from 2024, with strong category scores: 88 per cent for adult occupant protection, 86 per cent for child occupant protection, 74 per cent for vulnerable road user protection and 82 per cent for safety assist. As the flagship, the GT-Line piles extra assistance on top of an already comprehensive suite, and in daily driving the systems get on with their job without the constant nagging that spoils some rivals.
- Autonomous Emergency Braking with car, pedestrian, cyclist, junction and oncoming detection, plus Lane Keeping and Lane Following Assist and Highway Driving Assist 2
- Blind Spot Collision Avoidance, Rear Cross Traffic Collision Avoidance and Safe Exit Warning
- GT-Line additions: Surround View Monitor with 3D, Blind Spot View Monitor, Parking Collision Avoidance and Remote Smart Park Assist 2
- Driver Attention Warning, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, front and rear parking sensors, and nine airbags including a front-centre airbag
How much does the Kia EV5 GT-Line cost?
The EV5 GT-Line AWD is the top of the range at roughly $71,770 before on-road costs, which works out to around $76,000 drive-away depending on your state. That is a big step up from the entry EV5 in the high $50,000s, so the GT-Line has to make its case on equipment and comfort rather than badge alone. It is worth pinning down the exact figure with Kia’s online pricing tool, as drive-away pricing moves with state charges and any current offers.
What you get for the money is a long list of standard equipment, which is the GT-Line’s strongest argument. The highlights: 20-inch alloys, a panoramic sunroof, the twin 12.3-inch displays, head-up display, Harman/Kardon audio, the heated, cooled and massaging relaxation seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, the cooled rear console box, a power tailgate, wireless charging and the full suite of driver-assist tech. Very little is left on the options list, so what you see is essentially what you get.
How much does the Kia EV5 GT-Line cost to run?
Ownership is where Kia’s coverage shines. The EV5 comes with a 7-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, a 7-year or 150,000km battery warranty (to 70 per cent capacity), and roadside assistance that starts at 12 months and renews for another year at each scheduled service, up to a maximum of eight years. Servicing falls every 12 months or 15,000km. Electric Kias sit outside the capped-price program the petrol cars get, so the EV5 uses a prepaid EV service plan instead: five services run to $2,389, or about $478 a year, which is fair for the class.
Running costs are the real win. At the claimed 21.0 kWh/100km, charging at home on a standard tariff around $0.33/kWh costs roughly $6.93 per 100km, and on a cheap overnight EV plan near $0.08/kWh that drops to about $1.68 per 100km. Lean on premium public DC charging at around $0.75/kWh and the same 100km climbs past $15, so if you can charge at home, do. I did not need to charge it during my week with it, so these figures are based on the claimed consumption rather than a figure off the trip computer.
| Running costs | Details |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 7 years / unlimited km |
| Battery warranty | 7 years / 150,000km (to 70% capacity) |
| Servicing interval | 12 months / 15,000km |
| Prepaid EV service plan | $2,389 for 5 services (about $478 / year) |
| Roadside assist | 12 months, renewable to 8 years with dealer servicing |
| Claimed efficiency | 21.0 kWh/100km (WLTP) |
| Observed economy / range | Not Published (no observed figure recorded this loan) |
| Energy cost | About $6.93 / 100km home (at $0.33/kWh); about $1.68 on a cheap overnight plan |
Final thoughts
The EV5 GT-Line AWD is the EV5 at its most polished: comfortable, quiet, well equipped and genuinely pleasant to spend time in, with an all-weather composure the front-drive cars cannot match. The seats, the ride and that daft, brilliant little fridge in the back are what stuck with me.
The catch is that the flagship is not the EV5 that goes the furthest, and from the kerb it barely looks different to grades costing a good deal less. So it makes most sense for the buyer who wants the comfort, the kit and the security of all-wheel drive and will actually use them. If your priority is outright range or value, the flagship is not where the EV5 makes its strongest case, and that is worth being honest about. Buy the GT-Line for what it adds inside and underneath, not for the way it looks in the driveway.
How does the Kia EV5 GT-Line compare?
The most useful comparison here is within the EV5 family itself, because the question most buyers face is not Kia versus a rival, but which EV5 to choose. The Kia EV5 Standard Range we reviewed earlier is the value entry point; above it sits the front-drive Air Long Range, quietly the distance champion of the family at 555km; and the GT-Line AWD sits on top with the power, all-wheel drive and the luxury kit. The revealing part is the range row. The GT-Line costs close to $20,000 more than the Standard Range, yet thanks to its all-wheel-drive hardware and 20-inch wheels it covers fewer kilometres between charges than the cheaper Air Long Range. You are buying the flagship for comfort, security and equipment, not for how far it goes.
| Spec | EV5 GT-Line AWD | EV5 Air Long Range (FWD) | EV5 Standard Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (from, drive-away) | Approximately $76,000 | Approximately $63,990 | Approximately $56,770 |
| Drivetrain | All-wheel drive | Front-wheel drive | Front-wheel drive |
| Power | 230kW | 160kW | 160kW |
| Range (WLTP) | 470km | 555km | 400km |
| Boot (min) | 513L | 513L | 513L |
| Warranty | 7 years / unlimited km | 7 years / unlimited km | 7 years / unlimited km |
Kia EV5 GT-Line — Frequently Asked Questions
How far does the 2026 Kia EV5 GT-Line go on a charge?
The Kia EV5 GT-Line AWD has a claimed WLTP range of 470km from its 88.1kWh LFP battery. That is less than the cheaper front-drive Long Range models, which claim up to 555km, because the all-wheel-drive system and the larger 20-inch wheels use more energy.
How much does the 2026 Kia EV5 GT-Line cost in Australia?
The EV5 GT-Line AWD is priced at approximately $71,770 before on-road costs, or around $76,000 drive-away depending on your state. It sits at the top of the EV5 range.
Is the Kia EV5 GT-Line worth buying over the cheaper grades?
It depends on your priorities. The GT-Line adds all-wheel drive, a long list of luxury equipment and a more comfortable, quicker drive, but it costs more and travels fewer kilometres on a charge than the front-drive Long Range. If you want maximum range or outright value, a lower grade makes more sense.
Is the Kia EV5 safe?
Yes. The EV5 carries a 5-star ANCAP safety rating from 2024, scoring 88% for adult occupant protection and 86% for child occupant protection. The GT-Line adds a surround-view monitor, a blind-spot view monitor and remote smart park assist on top of the standard driver-assist suite.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Model | 2026 Kia EV5 GT-Line AWD Long Range |
| Model Price | Approximately $71,770 before on-road costs (around $76,000 drive-away) |
| Engine | Dual permanent-magnet synchronous motors |
| Drivetrain | All-wheel drive |
| Power | 230kW combined (160kW front / 70kW rear) |
| Torque | 480Nm combined |
| Battery Capacity / type | 88.1 kWh, Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) |
| Voltage / Capacity | 399.4V / 220.6Ah |
| Range (WLTP) | 470km |
| Economy / efficiency | 21.0 kWh/100km (WLTP) |
| Fast Charge / Home | 10–80% in about 40 min on a 150kW DC charger (38 min on 350kW) / 11kW AC three-phase |
| 0-100kmh / Top Speed | Approximately 6.3s / 185 km/h |
| CO2 Emissions | 0 g/km (tailpipe) |
| Safety | 5-star ANCAP (2024) |
| Servicing | 12 months / 15,000km · prepaid EV plan ~$2,389 for 5 services |
| Warranty | 7 years / unlimited km (battery 7 years / 150,000km) |
| Roadside Assist | 12 months, renewable to 8 years with dealer servicing |
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Overall Length | 4,615mm |
| Width | 1,875mm |
| Height | 1,715mm |
| Wheelbase | 2,750mm |
| Wheels | 20-inch alloy |
| Tyres | 255/45 R20 |
| Kerb Weight | 2,229kg (tare) |
| Boot Min | 513L |
| Boot Max | 1,714L (plus 67L front boot) |
| Towing Capacity | 1,250kg braked (750kg unbraked) |
| Turning Circle | 11.7m |
| Ground clearance | 166mm |
| Payload | 421kg |
| GVM | 2,650kg |
For the latest pricing and to book a test drive, head to the official Kia Australia site.
