KIA'S NEW EV5 UNCOVERED

REVEALED All-electric alternative to Sportage heading for the UK, with prices from about £38k

- Ellis Hyde

AFTER being on sale in China for nearly two years, the Kia EV5 is finally making its way to our shores, and the fully electric family SUV is focused on delivering serious bang for your buck in order to top its key rivals such as the Skoda Enyaq, Ford Explorer or Tesla Model Y.

As its name suggests, the EV5 will bridge the gap in Kia's pure-electric range between the award-winning EV3 compact SUV, and the EV9 flagship seven-seater. It will also act as the all-electric alternative to the bestselling, recently refreshed Sportage, because the two SUVs are very similar in size.

Orders for the EV5 will open later this year, with prices expected to start from a little over £38,000, which is less than most of its competition. The entry-level Enyaq, Explorer and Nissan Ariya start from around £39,000, while the cheapest Model Y costs nearly £45,000.

Although being cheaper than rivals is impressive enough, what's really attractive about the starting price is the fact every model will feature an 81.4kWh battery that Kia says will provide up to 329 miles of range. That's about 100 miles more than the base Explorer. It's also not too far off bigger-battery versions of its key rivals, such as the Enyaq, which can cover up to 359 miles at most.

The EV5 uses a single electric motor to power the front wheels, with 214bhp and 295Nm of torque on tap. That allows 0-62mph in 8.4 seconds, while the maximum charging speed of 130kW means a 10 to 80 per cent top-up will take half an hour. Kia has also added a new heating and cooling function for the battery to help preserve the range in colder temperatures, and make warming the cabin more efficient.