Minnie Driver has credited Kia’s smallest electric car with saving her life, after the EV2 she was travelling in was caught up in a serious collision in rural France. “The reason I am not dead honestly is the car that we were driving,” the Good Will Hunting and Emily in Paris star told fans.
Timing could scarcely be kinder to Kia. Its smallest, cheapest EV starts at £24,245 for long-range versions now sold with the full £3,750 Electric Car Grant, having joined the government’s approved list of eligible cars, and an official range of up to 281 miles helps it take the fight to the Renault 4, Ford Puma Gen-E and Mini Aceman.
Driver, 56, broke the news to followers in early August, appearing in an Instagram video lying down in a neck brace and explaining that she was back in London after a stint in Paris. “I got into a really bad car accident a few days ago with my friend Ben,” she said. “And we somehow walked out of it. Well, we didn’t walk out of it. We crawled out of it. But we did get out of it alive.”
The actress was clear about where the blame lay. The crash was “not our fault”, she said. “We were driving on a country road in the middle of France and a car didn’t stop at an intersection and was going at speed and we just T-boned it.”
“I’m fine,” she reassured fans. “I’ve got a sprained neck, and I’m really in shock and sort of cry all the time, but I’m going to heal.”
‘Frankly astonishing’
Then came the sort of endorsement no press office could buy. Driver singled out the “little, tiny Kia EV2” and its “kind of 360-degree airbags” as “what saved our lives”, adding: “The fact that the entire car didn’t just concertina and crush us is down to the design of that car, which is frankly astonishing.”
The EV2 has yet to face Euro NCAP’s crash testers, though it sits on a version of the E-GMP platform that underpins the bigger EV3. It has been racking up good headlines regardless, leaving rivals trailing in a real-world range challenge, and Kia is running a UK-wide test drive programme for anyone who wants a closer look.
There were jokes, too. Driver noted she is “a mini driver, pun intended”, before quipping in an Instagram story: “Even though I wasn’t driving, I’m still changing my name to Kia Driver.”
View this post on Instagram
In the caption to her video, she thanked “the van driver who stopped and helped us before the ambulances arrived”, with a rather cooler mention for “the car who slowed down took in the scene and drove off without stopping. I guess this is the Dao of the world, the light and the dark.”
“My brain keeps replaying the crash which is very hard but seems to be a necessary part of processing,” she added. “Weeping too, feels good and helpful.”
Famous friends were quick to respond. “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry this happened Minnie… Sending you much love and wishing you a thorough and speedy recovery!!!” wrote Annie Lennox, while actress Naomi Watts added: “Glad you’re ok. That’s so scary. Sending love and strength xxx.”
“I am so grateful to be alive,” said Driver, who went on to thank the South Korean car maker directly.
