Kia EV3 vs Nissan ARIYA

The Nissan ARIYA costs £3,945 more than the Kia EV3. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Kia EV3 comes out ahead overall.

The Kia EV3 is £3,945 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £160 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Kia EV3 comes out roughly £3,985 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 193 miles for the Kia EV3 and 209 miles for the Nissan ARIYA - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Nissan ARIYA goes roughly 16 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 29-30 minutes.

The two are within 0 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 550 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV3 and about 550 mm of total clearance for the Nissan ARIYA. The Kia EV3 also turns in a 1.1 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 89% battery health for the Kia EV3 and 84% for the Nissan ARIYA. That gives the Kia EV3 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.