Kia EV3 vs VW ID.4

The VW ID.4 costs £3,940 more than the Kia EV3. For that premium it adds 81 miles more WLTP range, 38 kW faster peak rapid charging and 73 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the VW ID.4 comes out ahead overall.

The Kia EV3 is £3,940 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £152 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Kia EV3 comes out roughly £3,900 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 293 miles for the VW ID.4 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The VW ID.4 goes roughly 101 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 29-29 minutes.

The two are within 2 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 550 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV3 and about 548 mm of total clearance for the VW ID.4.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 89% battery health for the Kia EV3 and 84% for the VW ID.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.