2026 Kia EV3 First Drive: Big Step for a Small EV
• Auto123 gets in a first drive of the 2026 Kia EV3.
Barcelona, Spain – As part of the activities surrounding the latest Kia EV Day, which took place this year in Tarragona, Spain, Kia gave us the opportunity to test-drive one of the next two EVs it is planning to launch in Canada in the coming months. The EV3 will be followed (or preceded) by the Kia EV5 (Kia Canada being not yet ready to say in what order the two models will launch), just recently presented for the Canadian market. Both are tentatively set to arrive on our market in the spring or summer of 2025.
Together they will significantly expand Kia’s EV lineup, which already includes the EV6 and EV9 models, not to mention the all-electric version of the Niro.
2026 Kia EV3 – What’s new?
Everything of course, this being an all-new model to us (Note that it is already on the market in Europe, and was in fact already named best 'Small Crossover' at the 2025 UK Car of the Year (UKCOTY) Awards).
As a smaller all-electric SUV, the EV3 is facing some headwinds as it readies its assault on North America. Sales of EVs in general have continued to grow, but not at the pace projected by most automakers and industry watchers a couple of years ago. Roughly the same overall size as Kia’s own Niro EV), it may be on the small side to make a huge dent in the U.S.
Read more