RAY MASSEY: Has Kia's eye-catching EV3 got the winning formula?

Timing is everything. Just a few days after I handed back Kia’s new EV3 after a weekend’s driving, I was at the What Car? Awards where the car was crowned best small electric SUV.

So, was it a worthy winner at the ‘motoring Oscars’ and can it emulate the success of Kia’s EV6, which has become a firm favourite on the driveways of Britain’s middle-class electric car-owning families?

From the outset, the EV3 is an eye-catcher, with contemporary boxy crossover looks. It attracts attention and approving glances without being too loud.

The car I drove, a £35,995 EV3 Air, was in a fetching shade called Frost Blue – a premium paint adding £625 to the bill.

The EV3’s styling takes cues from its big brother, the substantial, squared-off EV9, rather than the sleeker EV6. A similarly styled EV5, to sit in the middle of Kia’s electric SUVs will also soon arrive.

The Kia EV3 was a very civilised and elegant car to drive, giving me the advantages of an SUV but without the bulk.

Small is beautiful: Kia wins big with its civilised and sporty EV3

With a good high driving position and plenty of room in the back for passengers, alongside decent luggage space, it’s perfect for families who need flexibility.

The cabin combines a large digital dashboard screen with practical push buttons, for things like temperature, mode and music volume, inside a smart interior.

But while there is decent space for a growing family and the EV3 will take four with comfort, five may be a pinch.

On the road, there’s more than enough pace from the electric motor and a good view from the high-riding driver’s seat over the traffic. I kept the car in sport mode most of the time, which gave me a good bit of pace for more engaged driving.

My perky front-wheel drive EV3 Air was swift enough. In this higher-level version of the Air, power comes from an 81.4kWh battery, delivering 201bhp, which can propel it from rest to 62mph in 7.7 seconds and up to a top speed of 105mph.

There is a claimed 375 miles of range – enough to get you from London to well beyond Edinburgh on one charge.

Opting for the standard EV3 Air’s smaller 58.3kWh battery lops 0.2 seconds off acceleration and reduces range to 270 miles but knocks the price down to £32,995.

Even this base-level Air trim comes pretty well-packed with features, including front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera system, lane-keep assist, and a heated steering wheel and front seats.

Good all-rounder: Over the course of a weekend behind the wheel, Kia’s small SUV proved easy to drive, a practical and competent performer

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There are also three higher-specification all-wheel drive versions of the EV3, the GT-Line (from £39,495) and GT-Line S (from £44,520 or £43,895 with a heat-pump).

Switch your EV3 on and getting moving requires the driver to rotate the drive-controller, which takes the form of a Volkswagen-style ‘twist to select’.

This twist-lever sits just behind the steering wheel, at about 5pm if it were the dial on a clock. It’s fine once you get used to, but with my seat and steering wheel set-up, it was just out of sight and hard to see and so took a bit of fiddling. Less ergonomic than I would have liked.

Practicality is a vital selling point for the families who are snapping up small SUVs and the electric Kia adds an extra bit thanks to a 25-litre front trunk – or so-called frunk – where a petrol car’s engine would normally go. This is handy to hold the charging cable.

There is also a generous 460-litre boot, expanding to 1,250 litres with the rear seats folded, and roof rails as standard.

Over the course of a weekend behind the wheel, Kia’s small SUV proved easy to drive, a practical and competent performer, and a good all-round family runabout.

All What Car? Award winners revealed: See the full list of Britain’s best new cars

New seven-seater Citroen on the way

Citroen has a new family crossover with up to seven seats arriving soon.

Order books for the new Citroen C3 Aircross opened this week ahead of first deliveries in late spring.

Three versions of the family crossover with either five or seven seats are available – in petrol, hybrid and pure electric versions.

Prices start from £20,240 for the new C3 Aircross Turbo 100 petrol, with a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder engine.

Choices: Three versions of the family crossover with either five or seven seats are available – in petrol, hybrid and pure electric versions

The e-C3 Aircross, with a 44kWh battery and range of up to 188 miles, is keenly priced from £22,990 (less than the hybrid) and is aimed at daily commuters. It recharges to 80 per cent in 26 minutes with a 100kW DC Rapid charger.

An extended-range version is planned later this year.

The automatic Hybrid 136 48V powertrain version costs from £23,740 and allows pure electric driving for almost 50 per cent of urban use, says Citroen.

Hybrid and electric versions come in two trim levels: the Standard Plus and Max, which adds a £2,000 premium. The seven-seater is available only as a £765 option with the Hybrid Max.