How The Kia EV3 Reimagines One-Pedal Driving

When Normal Motors’ hands-free Super Cruise got here out, it debuted on the $70,000 Cadillac CT6 sedan. When Ford launched its future software program interface that may dwell in a brand new era of gasoline and electrical autos, it did so on the Lincoln Nautilus. And Tesla selected the $90,000 Cybertruck to indicate off its 800-volt architecture and drive-by-wire steering. 

You get the thought. Flashy new game-changer expertise in vehicles tends to indicate up first on the costly stuff earlier than it trickles right down to the fashions that everybody can afford. That is a part of what makes the 2025 Kia EV3 so notable: it is anticipated to begin round $30,000 to $35,000, if not much less, but it surely strikes the ball ahead for Hyundai Motor Group’s expertise recreation in methods which might be normally reserved for high-end luxurious vehicles. 

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On the coronary heart of these developments is Kia’s new i-Pedal 3.0 system. It is an evolution of the adjustable regenerative braking discovered on the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis EVs. And it not solely fixes their issues however provides autonomous driving help expertise that redefines how one-pedal driving works—all in an inexpensive EV that is aimed toward everybody. 

On the EV3’s launch drive in Seoul, I made positive to place the brand new i-Pedal setup via its paces. Here is what I discovered.

How It Works Proper Now

Within the occasion that you simply aren’t intimately aware of how a Kia or Hyundai EV drives proper now, I am going to begin with how i-Pedal works on these present fashions.

With one-pedal driving, the place a lot of the automobile’s pace and deceleration are managed by respectively urgent or lifting off the accelerator pedal. It is a distinctive facet of EV (and a few hybrid) driving that minimizes the usage of the brake pedal and maximizes effectivity by recapturing some of the kinetic power normally misplaced whereas coasting and braking. Typically, with true one-pedal driving, the automobile can come to an entire cease with out the usage of the brake pedal in any respect. 

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Automakers have many alternative methods of approaching this characteristic. Tesla used to let you adjust the extent of “creep” however not does, although it presently permits you to toggle between low and normal regenerative braking. Ford helps you to toggle it on and off. The Volkswagen ID.4 helps you to dial up the regenerative braking however stops wanting full one-pedal driving. Porsche doesn’t offer it at all. Some folks love this characteristic; some do not look after it. Discovering Determining if this characteristic matches your private choice is a vital a part of deciding which EV to purchase.

The Hyundai Motor Group EVs supply among the most flexibility on the market. On vehicles like my very own Kia EV6, you get steering wheel paddles (fairly equivalent to the gear-change paddles on an computerized or DCT gas-powered automobile) that dial regenerative braking up or down between just about nothing and three ranges of regenerative power—however you continue to have to make use of the brake pedal at instances and to cease.

The view from my 2024 Kia EV6, which stays in Degree 2 or Degree 3 a lot of the time. 

That’s till you maintain down the left paddle to activate i-Pedal, which engages true one-pedal driving. On my EV6, I are likely to drive round city with Degree 2 or Degree 3 regenerative braking and i-Pedal on the freeway for optimum effectivity. I am not saying that is proper or incorrect, simply what I are likely to want. 

However i-Pedal has its limits. One frequent level of criticism is that the automobile forgets it is in i-Pedal mode while you flip it off, and a few drivers would favor it keep on on a regular basis. It additionally deactivates while you shift into reverse. That may throw you off when you weren’t anticipating it throughout a parallel parking transfer. Nonetheless, I like Kia’s totally adjustable method due to the flexibleness it presents, together with throughout various kinds of driving. My spouse likes to drive the EV6 with completely completely different settings as properly.

Kia was eager to maintain up that stage of customization right here, however i-Pedal 3.0 takes issues to a special stage. Possibly even three or 4 of them. 

How I-Pedal 3.0 Works On The Kia EV3

On the EV3, you possibly can nonetheless swap from no regenerative braking to a few completely different ranges of power utilizing the paddle shifters. However now, all settings supply true one-pedal driving to the place the automobile can cease by itself with out the brake pedal.

Now, you discover the setting you need with the paddles, then pull the left one till it prompts. You can even toggle it on and off for reverse through the system settings menu. Oh, and it additionally remembers to remain on while you get again within the automobile later after turning it off. Lastly. 

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“Probably the most substantial Degree 3 braking [is] supreme for driving in heavy start-stop visitors, the place drivers could must sluggish the automobile shortly,” Kia defined in a information launch. “This has additionally been optimized with a extra linear calibration for smoother outcomes. On an extended motorway journey, drivers may want Degree 1 and even Degree 0, which permits the EV3 to glide when lifting off the accelerator. These regenerative braking ranges present extra comfort-focused deceleration.”

Now you can even activate i-Pedal with regenerative braking solely off. Kia stated this “permits the EV3 to coast totally whereas bringing the same deceleration price to Degree 1 at decrease speeds.” 

It was so much to check out within the few hours we had the vehicles in Seoul’s heavy visitors, however as with my very own EV6, I used to be capable of finding a number of settings I appreciated for various conditions higher than others. The flexibleness remains to be right here however now there’s extra of it.

That is an ideal improve. But it surely’s beginner hour in comparison with how the i-Pedal now integrates semi-automated driving help techniques (ADAS) into regenerative braking. 

The Actual Occasion Trick: Sensible Regenerative System 3.0 

On present fashions like my EV6, you pull the appropriate paddle to activate an “auto” mode that makes use of GPS and sensor information to present you what it thinks is the optimum regenerative braking based mostly on circumstances just like the grade within the street or visitors forward of you. 

The system is activated the identical method on the EV3, however now it is a lot smarter.

It incorporates navigation information in addition to the usual sensors and GPS to interact what Kia calls “a digital co-pilot that may scan the street forward,” adjusting acceleration—and the extent of regenerative braking concerned—based mostly on numerous circumstances. This Sensible Regenerative System 3.0 can now additionally convey the automobile to an entire cease, whereas previous variations solely obtained you right down to about 3 mph. And when you method a bend within the street or a automobile cuts in entrance of you, the EV3 ought to use regenerative braking to sluggish you down effectively. 

It is nice in visitors as a result of it could possibly pull you thru just about routinely (although you continue to need to steer, after all) by following the automobile forward of you and slowing down and even stopping with regen braking as wanted. On the 25-mile drive between Seoul and Kia’s R&D middle in Namyang, I barely used the accelerator pedal in any respect. I stored the Sensible Regenerative System in auto mode, set my cruising pace and steered because the EV3 modulated acceleration based mostly on circumstances.

Mainly, suppose radar-guided cruise management with regen braking blended in and also you’re just about there. This may be mixed with the EV3’s different ADAS options like Freeway Driving Help and Lane Holding Help. Notice that this is not a wholly hands-off system like GM’s Tremendous Cruise is, however the steering wheel is capacitive, so that you want solely contact it to remind the automobile’s laptop that you simply’re paying consideration—you need not gently tug on the wheel or something. 

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Does it have its limitations? Like all ADAS setup proper now, completely. There have been a number of instances when the EV3 got here right into a flip or an interchange a bit hotter than I needed or after I felt it braked too late—regen or in any other case—when one other automobile minimize in entrance of me. Belief however confirm, as I say about these items. 

However the early verdict is that i-Pedal 3.0 may be very, superb. It not solely fixes the entire previous grievances with adjustable regenerative braking on these vehicles, it provides in ADAS tech in a method that makes around-town and freeway driving rather more nice.

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This was particularly helpful in a metropolis like Seoul, the place freeway visitors can go from all techniques inexperienced to a prolonged jam-up within the blink of an eye fixed. Having the most recent Sensible Regenerative System in computerized mode implies that you will not find yourself as pissed off by these fixed modifications in acceleration; the EV3 has you lined. 

And as soon as once more, it is really outstanding that this technique debuts on all variations of a automobile that ought to price round $30,000 or $35,000 within the U.S. (if not probably much less) and never some new six-figure Genesis EV. A bunch of latest inexpensive EVs are coming to market within the subsequent few years now; that they had higher not skimp on their expertise, as a result of that is what they’re up towards. 

Contact the writer: patrick.george@insideevs.com