BMW i4 vs Kia EV6

The BMW i4 costs £7,770 more than the Kia EV6. For that premium it adds 82 kW more power and a 2.0s quicker 0-62mph time. The Kia EV6 is not just cheaper - it also offers 58 kW faster peak rapid charging. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Kia EV6 comes out ahead overall.

The Kia EV6 is £7,770 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £160 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Kia EV6 comes out roughly £7,850 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 261 miles for the BMW i4 and 301 miles for the Kia EV6 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Kia EV6 goes roughly 40 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 31 minutes in the BMW i4 and 18 in the Kia EV6, so the Kia EV6 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Kia EV6 the stronger long-distance car.

The BMW i4 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 38 mm narrower than the Kia EV6. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 548 mm of total clearance for the BMW i4 and about 510 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV6. The Kia EV6 also turns in a 0.9 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the BMW i4 and 89% for the Kia EV6. That gives the Kia EV6 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.