Kia EV2 review

The most basic version is the EV2 Air, which is priced at £24,245 after the government has knocked off £3,750 – the paperwork for that is still being sorted out, so in the meantime Kia is guaranteeing the discount itself. Woop.

That one gets the larger 61kWh battery, as well as 16in alloys, dual-zone aircon, heated seats and steering wheel, the dual 12.3in screens and 5.3in climate display, all of Kia's driver assist systems including smart cruise control, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Not to mention a quartet of USB-Cs to keep your brood plugged in.

The navigation is connected, so it can do EV routing and control the adaptive driver-assist speed through bends. 

Then it's a step 'up' to the First Edition, a launch version that only carries the 42.2kWh battery which – because it's not made as locally – doesn't qualify for as much grant... making it more expensive. So it's £26,995, and despite its 18s, eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, adaptive LED headlights, ambient lighting, wireless phone charger and 360-degree camera, most will rightly ignore it. Moving on.

GT-Line is the mid-spec, and from here we're back into the big battery. It features 19in alloys, two-tone fake leather upholstery, blind spot monitoring, a bodykit and styling tweaks inside, plus alloy pedals and the wireless phone charger. Yours for £28,995.

Last up is the GT-Line S for £32,595. For the uplift Kia adds a powered tailgate, a three-pin socket for device charging, the Harman Kardon speakers, 360-degree camera and ambient lighting. Only here can you equip the EV2 with a heat pump for boosted efficiency, and it's £700. Cheeky. Watch out for winter range decline without it.

The EV2 Air is the best value, right?

Oh gosh, yes. The GT-Line and GT-Line S are full of nice-to-haves, but when the entry EV2 is £24k can you really justify going so far over that for mostly cosmetics?

Any colour that's not white is £650, so prepare to be burned by that.

Cough up £2,490 for a deposit and you can have an EV2 Air in a nice hue for £330 per month over three years, though you might unearth a better deal if you search beyond Kia's finance calculator.

Kia's seven-year 100,000-mile warranty applies to the whole car, but the battery goes to eight years for 70 per cent state of health.