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By Jonathan Crouch

KGM's Korando E-Motion offers a rarely-chosen take on lower mid-sized EV crossover motoring. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 48

KGM targets the market for family-sized EV Crossovers with this car, the Korando E-Motion. There's more cabin space and luggage capacity than you'd get from some other EVs of this price - think around £40,000. Plus much more equipment and a just about acceptable 211 mile range too.

Backgroundword count: 208

Almost every month now, we're seeing developments in EV technology. What we're not seeing is retail asking prices of electric vehicles falling as quickly as family motorists might like, as the cost of creating EV technology becomes able to be spread across now greater sales numbers. If you want an EV crossover that's very well equipped and credibly family-sized, you'll be doing well to find a decently-specified one that's priced at the £40,000 asking price threshold. But that's exactly what Korean maker KGM (who you might previously have better known as SsangYong) aims to provide with this car, the Korando E-Motion. KGM hasn't electrified the entire Korando range - the thirsty 1.5-litre conventional petrol version still continues. Like that model, the E-Motion can only be had in front-driven form, which feels slightly disappointing given that the Korando model series has historically built its reputation on 4WD: provision of that extra traction would have been an additional extra selling point for the Korean maker in this segment. Still, customers in this class don't really need it, the Korando E-Motion's task being to wrest sales away from its closely priced arch-rival, the MG ZS EV, in the fight for custom from budget-orientated family folk contemplating the switch to an EV.

Driving Experienceword count: 219

One electric motor drives the Korando E-Motion, which uses a 188hp motor situated on the front axle. It's energised by a 61.5kWh battery with an unremarkable 211 mile driving range (or 309 miles in the city). Like all EVs, this one feels quite rapid - though not pointlessly so: rest to 62mph takes 7.6 seconds and the top speed is 97mph. A sporty drive mode is provided for quicker acceleration, but the car works best with the more languid power delivery offered in the normal setting. All the torque (339Nm) is, as usual with an EV, delivered at once, so on a greasy road, if you're setting off with purpose, you need to be careful not to spin the front wheels. Refinement is impressive, even for an EV - the engineers worked particularly hard on wind roar. The suspension is pretty well damped and doesn't clue you in to the heaviness of the powertrain beneath the floor, ironing off most ordinary bumps quite easily. Speed humps and larger pot holes catch it out though. As with most EVs, you can alter the level of brake energy recuperation using steering wheel paddles, the most aggressive setting of which provides virtually single pedal driving; ie, there's rarely any need to use the actual brake pedal, so severe is the off-throttle deceleration.

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