How The Kia EV3 Reimagines One-Pedal Driving

When Normal Motors’ hands-free Tremendous 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 structure and drive-by-wire steering. 

You get the concept. Flashy new game-changer expertise in vehicles tends to indicate up first on the costly stuff earlier than it trickles all the way 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 start out round $30,000 to $35,000, if not much less, however it strikes the ball ahead for Hyundai Motor Group’s expertise sport 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 reasonably priced EV that is geared toward everybody. 

On the EV3’s launch drive in Seoul, I made positive to place the brand new i-Pedal setup by way of its paces. This is what I realized.

How It Works Proper Now

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

With one-pedal driving, the place a lot of the automotive’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 automotive can come to an entire cease with out the usage of the brake pedal in any respect. 

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Automakers have many various methods of approaching this characteristic. Tesla used to allow you to alter the extent of “creep” however not does, although it at the moment lets you toggle between low and customary regenerative braking. Ford permits you to toggle it on and off. The Volkswagen ID.4 permits you to dial up the regenerative braking however stops in need of full one-pedal driving. Porsche would not supply it in any respect. Some individuals love this characteristic; some do not take care of it. Discovering Determining if this characteristic matches your private desire 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 similar to the gear-change paddles on an computerized or DCT gas-powered automotive) 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 occasions and to cease.

The view from my 2024 Kia EV6, which stays in Stage 2 or Stage 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 Stage 2 or Stage 3 regenerative braking and i-Pedal on the freeway for max effectivity. I am not saying that is proper or mistaken, simply what I are likely to desire. 

However i-Pedal has its limits. One frequent level of criticism is that the automotive 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 if you happen to weren’t anticipating it throughout a parallel parking transfer. Nonetheless, I like Kia’s absolutely adjustable method due to the pliability it gives, together with throughout various kinds of driving. My spouse likes to drive the EV6 with completely totally different settings as nicely.

Kia was eager to maintain up that stage of customization right here, however i-Pedal 3.0 takes issues to a unique 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 3 totally different ranges of power utilizing the paddle shifters. However now, all settings supply true one-pedal driving to the place the automotive 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 may as well 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 automotive later after turning it off. Lastly. 

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“Essentially the most substantial Stage 3 braking [is] ideally suited for driving in heavy start-stop visitors, the place drivers could must sluggish the automotive shortly,” Kia defined in a information launch. “This has additionally been optimized with a extra linear calibration for smoother outcomes. On a protracted motorway journey, drivers may desire Stage 1 and even Stage 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 completely off. Kia mentioned this “permits the EV3 to coast absolutely whereas bringing an identical deceleration charge to Stage 1 at decrease speeds.” 

It was rather a lot 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 couple of settings I appreciated for various conditions higher than others. The pliability remains to be right here however now there’s extra of it.

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

The Actual Celebration Trick: Sensible Regenerative System 3.0 

On present fashions like my EV6, you pull the proper paddle to activate an “auto” mode that makes use of GPS and sensor knowledge to provide 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 manner on the EV3, however now it is a lot smarter.

It incorporates navigation knowledge in addition to the usual sensors and GPS to have interaction 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 carry the automotive to an entire cease, whereas previous variations solely bought you all the way down to about 3 mph. And if you happen to method a bend within the street or a automotive 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 pull you thru just about routinely (although you continue to must steer, in fact) by following the car 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 heart 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.

Principally, assume radar-guided cruise management with regen braking combined 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 Preserving Help. Observe 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 automotive’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 every ADAS setup proper now, completely. There have been a couple of occasions when the EV3 got here right into a flip or an interchange a bit hotter than I needed or once I felt it braked too late—regen or in any other case—when one other automotive 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 manner 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 a watch. Having the newest Sensible Regenerative System in computerized mode signifies that you will not find yourself as annoyed by these fixed adjustments in acceleration; the EV3 has you lined. 

And as soon as once more, it is really outstanding that this method debuts on all variations of a automotive that ought to price round $30,000 or $35,000 within the U.S. (if not doubtlessly much less) and never some new six-figure Genesis EV. A bunch of recent reasonably priced 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 in opposition to. 

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