Kia EV3 vs Renault 4

The Kia EV3 costs £5,860 more than the Renault 4. For that premium it adds 27 kW faster peak rapid charging and 40 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault 4 comes out ahead overall.

The Renault 4 is £5,860 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £144 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Renault 4 comes out roughly £5,940 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 193 miles for the Kia EV3 and 208 miles for the Renault 4 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault 4 goes roughly 15 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 29-30 minutes.

The Renault 4 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 54 mm narrower than the Kia EV3. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 604 mm of total clearance for the Renault 4 and about 550 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV3. The Kia EV3 also turns in a 0.4 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 89% battery health for the Kia EV3 and 84% for the Renault 4. That gives the Kia EV3 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. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.