New Electric Kia EV4 gets a high-mile BASHING to demonstrate battery longevity

Kia seeks to demonstrate the longevity of the new EV4’s battery with a high mileage bashing showing minimal degradation.

The electric Kia EV4 was revealed earlier this year and went on sale this month, as Kia’s latest electric car offering seeks to make a dent in sales of competitors like the Volvo EX40 and VW ID. 3. And, as with other Kia EVs, it’s a convincing offering.

With prices from £34,695, decent specs, and a choice of both Hatch and Saloon models, the new EV4 also comes with a choice of two battery options to power its single 201bhp electric motor, with the smaller 58.3kWh battery promising a 273-mile range and the bigger 81.4kWh battery 338 miles.

Now, Kia is keen to demonstrate that buying an EV4 is a decent long-term investment with batteries which can survive far longer than you’d perhaps expect, so it’s given the EV4 a proper high-mileage bashing to prove the point.

Fitted as standard with Kia’s fourth-generation battery system, which “combines advanced thermal management with optimised coolant distribution over all cell unit”, Kia subjected the EV4 to a 68,000-mile European road durability test followed by a 6,200-mile battering around the Nurburgring – including repeated hypercharging on the Nurburgring part – after which the battery showed a State of Health of an impressive 95%.

Stephan Hoferer from Hyundai’s Motor Europe Technical Centre, said:

To provide our customers a reliable, everyday EV, we had to validate the EV4’s durability both in real-world and extreme environments.

With the rigorous testing – from icy roads to racetracks, we’re confident the EV4 will deliver dependable performance well beyond everyday needs