How is the design?
The design is like Carens Clavis Ice (petrol and diesel), but there are some fine differences – EV has air flaps for closed grills, separate alloy wheels, 'EV' badging and low drag. The cabin has a center console with 'floating design', gear lever has been transferred behind the steering wheel (as a stock), the instrument cluster has information like range/charge in the instrument cluster, besides a small front trunk below the bonnet.
Klavis EV has a fairly practical cabin-the second row seats can slide/relieve, and the third is an one-tach electric tumble for easy access to the row. 'Boss mode' lets you shift the front passenger seat from behind. Adults of average size in third row can easily fit, and the flat floor comfort up.
The driver's seating position is good, the road has a commanding view. Gear stock has to flick to go from P to R to R. Because there is a battery pack in the floor, the seating position is high. The suspension sounds a bit hard (for extra battery weight), the rest of the back seat is good, and the legroom looks better than the Creta Electric, with which it shares the platform and the battery pack.
There is a technique in this EV called I-Pedal. You have to set the braking on a maximum level using paddle shifters behind the steering wheel (and the maximum level is I-Pedal). Then, as soon as you remove your foot from the accelerator, the car slows down very fast. In stop-end-go traffic, it means that you will not have to use a brake pedal at all.
What is the True Range?
Where Kia claims a range of 490 km, the Test car showed a 384 km real world range, not enough for long trips, but with the right driving a family can travel from Delhi to Jaipur/Agra/Chandigarh or Mumbai to Nashik/Pune. Should you buy it? The 42-KWH variant is priced at Rs 17.99-20.49 lakhs, and the 51.4-KWH variant is priced at Rs 22.49-24.49 lakhs. It is in the same range of Creta Electric, but Kia also has more space, a little long range, fast charging and seven seats options.