BMW i3s vs Kia EV2

The BMW i3s costs £9,675 more than the Kia EV2. For that premium it adds 35 kW more power and a 2.6s quicker 0-62mph time. The Kia EV2 is not just cheaper - it also offers 104 miles more WLTP range, 100 kW faster peak rapid charging and 102 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Kia EV2 comes out ahead overall.

The Kia EV2 is £9,675 cheaper to buy. The Kia EV2 is cheaper to charge, roughly £144 a year versus £184 for the BMW i3s, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Kia EV2 comes out roughly £9,875 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 118 miles for the BMW i3s and 234 miles for the Kia EV2 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Kia EV2 goes roughly 116 miles further between charging stops.

The two are within 9 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 609 mm of total clearance for the BMW i3s and about 600 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV2.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the BMW i3s and 84% for the Kia EV2. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. The BMW i3s has the longer battery warranty at 8 years, versus 7 for the Kia EV2.