Kia EV2 Named 2027 Car of the Year With £3,750 Grant on Long Range Models

• Parkers has named the Kia EV2 overall winner of its 2027 awards, and the same car took Best Small Car.
• Kia says every Long Range EV2 qualifies for the maximum £3,750 Electric Car Grant, while the First Edition gets £1,500.
• Kia quotes up to 275 miles of WLTP range, a 10 to 80 percent rapid charge in about 30 minutes and a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty.

Which EV2 Trims Get the Full £3,750 Grant and Which Get Only £1,500

The trophy is the headline, but the money decides whether the EV2 fits a household budget. Kia puts the car from £24,245 on the road, and says the maximum £3,750 Electric Car Grant applies to every Long Range version. Kia’s EV2 page spells out the split: £3,750 on the Air, GT-Line and GT-Line S, all with the 61.0 kWh battery, and £1,500 on the First Edition with the 42.2 kWh battery. That is £2,250 less help for the smaller-battery car. Kia says the discount comes off at the point of sale and that its grant figures were correct in July 2026.

One caution before anyone walks into a showroom. The same Kia page lists the Air from £27,995, which is exactly £3,750 above the £24,245 press figure, yet a footnote on that page says the starting prices shown already include the grant saving. The two statements point in different directions, and Kia’s own July figures, as this site reported them, put the Air at £27,995 before the grant and £24,245 after it. Ask the dealer for the on-the-road price of the exact trim, in writing, with the grant shown as a separate line, and check the eligibility rules in how the Electric Car Grant works.

Tom Webster, Head of Content at the awards’ publisher, gave the verdict that won the prize: “The Kia EV2 is one of those cars that just makes huge amounts of sense in every major way. It’s efficient, well built, comfortable, quiet and has loads of space inside. The launch of the new Long Range model and the fact that it qualifies for the maximum Electric Car Grant is the seal on a very successful package. Not only is it the best small car we’ve driven recently, we reckon its exceptional blend of talent and value mean it’s the best new car you can currently buy full stop.”

What Each EV2 Trim Costs and How Far It Goes

Kia lists four trims. The Air costs from £27,995 and carries the 61.0 kWh battery with up to 275 miles of WLTP range, Kia’s figure. The First Edition costs from £28,495 with the 42.2 kWh battery and up to 190 miles. The GT-Line costs from £32,745 with up to 261 miles, and the GT-Line S costs from £36,345 with up to 257 miles. All three 61.0 kWh trims list 133bhp, and the First Edition lists 144bhp.

The three 61.0 kWh trims trade range for price. The GT-Line asks £4,750 more than the Air for 14 fewer miles of Kia’s range, and the top trim sits £8,350 above the entry car. Kia says the range figure for each version depends on the trim and the wheel type, and its page shows the First Edition on 18 inch alloys and the GT-Line on 19 inch alloys. Across those three trims Kia’s range figure falls as the price rises, so the extra money buys equipment and looks, and the Air has the longest range.

Finance is on offer to soften the bill. Kia advertises a 3.9% APR Representative Personal Contract Purchase deal on the EV2 with a £0 deposit, open to retail buyers aged 18 or over, subject to status, on purchases between 1 October and 15 December 2026. Kia UK is a credit broker and not a lender, and its dealers work with a limited set of lenders, so a quote from a bank or credit union is worth setting beside it. Kia also lists a limited-time Motability deal on the EV2 from £999 advance payment.

Why the Judges Picked a Small Car Above Larger Rivals

The organisers narrowed the awards this year to nine categories, which with the overall prize makes ten trophies. Four cover passenger cars, split by size from small to seven-seater. One of those four winners is also named Car of the Year, and this year it was the small car. Webster explained the thinking: “These categories have been chosen to reflect the real-world approach taken by the car-buying public, which doesn’t get bogged down in the minutiae of categories and sub-categories of car classification.” He added: “Plenty of buyers cross-shop across these different classes, with their daily needs the biggest driving factor behind their hunt rather than what ‘type’ of vehicle it is.”

Rivals that carry the same grant are listed in the site’s report on electric cars that qualify for the grant. For the EV2, the judges list adult-sized space inside, comfort, refinement, strong technology and impressive energy use. They say the car borrows the best ideas from Kia’s larger and dearer electric models and fits them into a compact body. They call the 275-mile maximum a strong figure for a small car, and they count the seven-year warranty and the full government grant among the reasons. Kia says the five-seat EV2 has a 362 litre boot, room for up to four small suitcases, and that it was designed, engineered and manufactured in Europe. The organisers say their road testers and journalists spent months deliberating and judged every category on the same terms.

Range, Charging and Warranty in Plain Numbers

Kia says the 275-mile figure applies to the front-wheel-drive EV2 with the 61.0 kWh battery, and that real-life range falls with speed, temperature, terrain and the use of power-hungry equipment. Both batteries take rapid DC charging, and Kia quotes 10 to 80 percent in around 29 minutes for the 42.2 kWh version and around 30 minutes for the 61.0 kWh version. Those times need a suitable high-power 400 volt DC charger; a slower public charger will take longer. A 5 metre Type 2 charging cable comes with the car, with a 7.5 metre cable available for more reach.

The warranty runs for seven years or 100,000 miles from first registration, whichever ends first, subject to Kia’s terms and exclusions. A buyer on a three or four year finance plan is inside the seven-year period for the whole agreement.

What Else Won, and What the Trophy Does Not Prove

The judges named the Volvo EX60 Best Medium Car and the Skoda Peaq Best Large Car. The Peaq starts from £51,980 on the road, with Skoda quoting up to 395 miles of range and UK deliveries from January 2027. The Hyundai IONIQ 9 took Best Seven-Seater for the second year running, from £64,995 with up to 385 miles of WLTP range from its 110.3 kWh battery. The Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid won Pickup of the Year, with a 1,000kg load bay and a 3,500kg towing limit. MG won Best Value Manufacturer, and the judges say the MG S9 seats seven with more room than its closest rivals. The Volvo XC40 won the new Most Wanted award with 22% of reader votes among the ten best-selling models.

BMW won Most Reliable Manufacturer, and that award rests on different evidence from the rest. The organisers built it on data from a wide range of fleets and drivers covering the last 12 months. The EV2 did not win it. Car of the Year is a verdict from expert road testers, and nothing in the awards measures how the EV2 holds up over years of ownership. A used buyer or a long-term keeper should keep that in mind.

Kia took three of the ten awards. The PV5 Cargo kept Van of the Year for the second year running; Kia says its UK registrations passed 5,000 by 31 October, making it the best seller among electric light commercial vehicles so far in 2026, and that every PV5 Cargo variant is offered with the Zero Emission Van Grant, which cuts the on-the-road cost by £5,000. The larger PV7 joins the range in 2027. Webster said: “The Kia PV5 set new standards for electric vans when it first arrived in the UK, and it has made a phenomenal mark in its first year of sales, justifying every word of praise we have lavished on it. The future looks really bright for Kia too, as the PV5’s success means we’re excited to see its bigger sibling, the PV7, join the range in the coming year.”

Paul Philpott, President and CEO at Kia UK, said: “Winning these awards is a fantastic endorsement of two important new models that are already proving popular with UK customers. Spanning both cars and vans, this recognition demonstrates the strength and breadth of our growing line-up, whilst reinforcing the customer-focused qualities that underpin each product, from design and technology to value and everyday usability.” He added: “Alongside the products themselves, our nationwide dealer partners and dedicated PBV Centres are fundamental to our shared success. Their expertise ensure customers receive the right advice and support, whether they are choosing an electric car for the family or a van for their business.”

The site’s earlier report on Kia EV2 grant eligibility gave the same £24,245 Air price when the full grant reached the EV2 in July.

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Reviewed by Preetam Gadekar