MODEL ON TEST: K40 AUTOMATIC – MILEAGE – 5,041

You have to feel sorry for the KGM, because now I’ve swapped long-termers with James and grabbed the keys, it has been subjected to a fresh heap of first impressions. Not just from me either, but from family, work colleagues and even people craning their necks to look at it on the motorway.

The Torres EVX really does get quite a bit of attention. SsangYong had form for releasing some pretty daringly designed cars – who can forget the Rodius – and KGM isn’t shying away from giving its cars arresting design cues.The general consensus amongst car-loving friends is that the front looks really smart, the side isn’t bad either, but the spare-wheel-style rear styling and asymmetric number plate is the automotive equivalent of Marmite. Oh, and as James also mentioned, lots of people will ask you “What is it?”, firstly assuming it hails from China rather than South Korea.

The tale of two halves also continues inside and on the move. There are some things about the
EVX which I really like, and others that cause such a frustration even passengers notice and mention it, which is never a good sign. First up, the hardware is a solid start, with the BYD Blade battery and 204bhp front motor making a good duo that offers plentiful performance and a genuinely decent range. I’ve already been on some fairly lengthy days out to North Wales in the EVX, and real-world it managed to get from my place in Staffordshire to Caernarfon and back again with about 15% battery left from a full charge. That’s not bad for a 230-mile round trip, quite a bit of which was at motorway speeds, and you’ll frequently see efficiency figures not far off 4 miles/kWh. Thanks to KGM sending me a Type-2 cable, I can also now charge at 7.6kW using my home wallbox overnight instead of using the painfully slow three-pin charger.

Its driving experience is also pleasant, with smooth responses and the ability to quickly adjust the strength of regeneration in three steps using the paddles behind the steering wheel. It’s a car that’s ideally suited to cruising around though, you’ll notice the shortcomings of its body-on-frame chassis if you push too hard, and it can feel a bit bouncy over road imperfections, especially at the rear.

So what’s been driving us to distraction? Some of you might have guessed that it’s the ADAS, which makes a remarkably loud noise like a cheap alarm clock whenever you stray just over a speed limit.You can turn it off (which quickly becomes a must for every journey), but unless there’s a shortcut I’ve missed, you have to dig into the settings menu for its driver assistance features. Happily, the lane keeping is disabled with a long press on its dedicated steering wheel button, and the system that holds you in your lane on the motorway is actually very good. The upside, then, is that one of the worst things about the car could be a simple software fix. Slightly harder to rectify is the interface and touchscreen itself, which is nice and big, but somewhat laggy and not always the most responsive.

Whatever you think of the EVX, you certainly can’t call it boring, and I personally really like its chunky looks. Practicality is also a massive boon. More on that next month, but suffice to say it can easily swallow our two mountain bikes or all of our snowboarding gear with room to spare.
ANDY GOODWIN

WHAT’S HOT: We love the EVX’s chunky looks and huge boot.

WHAT’S NOT: ‘Beep, beep, beep’ blaring whenever you stray over a new speed limit.

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL OF OUR LONG-TERM REPORTS ON THE KGM TORRES EVX

FACTS & FIGURES

ARRIVED: 23rd June 2026

PRICE WHEN NEW: £39,295

PRICE AS TESTED: £40,045

ECONOMY: 3.9 miles/per kWh (official WLTP) 3.8 miles/per kWh (on test)

COSTS: None

FAULTS: None