Kia EV6 GT review: the attainable, guilt-free supercar

Kia’s EV6’s quick and fun flavor gets a big upgrade at an affordable premium. But there are pitfalls.

We’ve long passed the point of asking how much horsepower is too much horsepower.It was a matter of engine capability. When turbochargers became mainstream, it became a drivability issue. Then, once the industry figured them out, it became a matter of grip. When the tires started catching up it became a matter of liability and then pure decency. Now the only question is this: how much do you want?

The car you see here is 576 horsepower — a 576 horsepower compact Kia SUV. Nissan’s all-conquering R35 GT-R? That makes 565 horsepower and costs well over $100,000.

Still, you’re looking at a practical, comfortable, and relatively affordable car at just over $60,000 that not only looks amazing, but runs entirely on batteries. All thanks to the beauty of electrification and the genius engineers at Kia who gave us the EV6 GT. Great car, but it has its pitfalls. This car is effortlessly fast, which takes most of the fun out of it.

make power

This GT flavor of Kia’s double-take machine EV6 sees quite a few upgrades to the $48,700 base rear-wheel-drive model. This GT model makes 576 horsepower and 545 lb-ft of torque, while that car makes do with the (still mighty) 225 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. This comes from two motors (one at the front and one at the back) that power all four wheels.

The front motor produces 160 kW and the rear 270 kW. An electronically actuated limited-slip differential distributes power to the rear wheels to ensure that the power reaches the ground. (Usually mine were snow tires anyway, more on that later.)

The power has increased significantly, but the size of the battery pack has not increased to match. And that’s the first rub on the GT: range. EPA range tests say his basic rear-wheel-drive EV6 can go up to 310 miles on a single charge, while the GT’s range is a bit more modest, at just 206 miles according to the EPA. .

My tests averaged 2.5 miles per kWh. This theoretically equates to a maximum range of 193.5 miles from a 77.4kWh battery. However, some very important caveats should be mentioned. First, there are the aforementioned Pirelli Scorpion snow tires. Even modern EV-optimized snow comes with a measurable range penalty, so keep that in mind.

Second, I tested in mid-January, and temperatures were in or slightly above freezing most days. The EV6 GT has a heat pump to maximize efficiency in chilly conditions like this, but cold temperatures aren’t the EV’s friend.

The third caveat is the most important. I just kicked the hell out of this thing. Aside from flying the drone on the highway, I spent most of my time in GT mode at maximum power and responsiveness, demanding all the power I could get from the two motors.

GT mode is accessed via a small green button on the bottom right of the wheel. The button has a color that makes it hard to miss, but it’s easy to spot because the car will come forward as soon as you touch it.

This may be seen as playful, but it can also be seen as a failure of the car to mitigate throttle map changes. Shows how powerful it is. Aggressive throttle maps like GT mode mean you can accelerate quickly with just a light touch of the gas pedal. Loosening the throttle map like the Eco requires more movement.

Most cars make transitioning from one mode to the next easier, but not the EV6 GT. Jumping into the GT while touring in eco mode, the car immediately snaps to this next twitchy mapping, throwing the passenger’s head back into the headrest. put away. Eventually you’ll learn how to let the gas out before hitting the GT button, but you don’t have to.

This spasm at least gives everyone in the car a fair warning of the violence to come. Simply put, the EV6 GT pulls no punches. It’s ridiculously fast around town. See the traffic gap? You’re there. Are the lights going red? Hit the accelerator and that spectrum shifts completely.

Acceleration is less brutal once you hit highway speed. Here, the torque of Kia’s electric motor gradually decreases. I really don’t need a car that jumps at that speed. We recommend switching to a calmer drive mode to save a few watts and soften the adaptive suspension in the meantime.

The EV6 is still solid on rough roads, even in comfort mode, and it’s a bit squashed by things like separation joints, but for the most part, it’s a fine cruiser that’s comfortable and quiet. In fact, I think the EV6 GT is better at cruising than corner attacking. Even in GT mode, the suspension is at its stiffest, so handling remains calm. I think this mainly comes down to the steering feeling off-center and sluggish thanks to the variable ratio. The throttle pedal wants to scream, but the steering wheel is always muted.

strange and wonderful

The EV6 deserves another look in the parking lot, but the GT even more so. Kia’s chosen color palette (red, blue, white, black, or silver) leaves a little to be desired, but the Chartreuse GT looks fresh and clean in red, despite his clashing calipers. . The EV6 is like no other on the road. Its styling is wild, weird and wonderful, a medley of organic forms bisected by folds and LED lighting that looks like a cyberpunk canvas.

The inside is less radical, but no less attractive. A funky pattern etched across the soft-touch dashboard blends nicely with the faux-brushed steel in front of the rotary shifter and the overall jumble of shapes and planes. Plastics and materials are generally excellent, from the suede door card inserts to the leather on the custom GT seats. Only the glossy fingerprint-like expanse of piano black dampens the overall effect.

Black is very much the theme here. Chartreuse stitching and piping on the front seats help a little. Also, RGB customizable accent lights illuminate the night light.

Either way, the interior is very practical, seating five adults comfortably, with plenty of headroom front and rear, and acres of legroom on the flat floor in the rear seats. Of course, these seats fold down to give you 50.2 cubic feet of space, but you don’t have to go hunting for extra storage up front. Yes, there’s a small cargo shelf under the hood, but it’s not big enough to store a charging cable and perhaps a personal pie, but only if you prefer a thin crust.

Kia’s UVO infotainment experience runs on two 12.3-inch displays joined at the waist, with large bezels in between. This system is now everywhere, and you’ll find some flavor in basically every modern Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis, so it’s hard to get excited about finding it here. Feed your media through the Meridian sound system. Although basic, the UVO is nimble and responsive, supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and unfortunately isn’t wireless.

Are you sad again? UVO has never seen any real customization of the EV6 GT. Decent performance editions of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and others have fancy lap timers and integrated G-meters, dials and knobs for messing with differential settings, and all sorts of things that make these performance cars feel special. ‘s goods are substantial. exorbitant premiums.

If you don’t mind using a mediocre built-in navigation experience, there’s nothing like it here, even a cool augmented reality heads-up display that projects arrows to the next turn on the road.Kia did not add a new dynamic sound mode. These fake engine noises are fun sometimes. Dynamics in particular does an almost convincing job of mimicking a combustion engine with just a hint of digital flare. It even has a slightly lumpy idle to help get your juices flowing a bit, but it probably won’t take long to turn it off again.

Oddly enough, the pitch of these sounds seems to be related to how far the accelerator is pressed down, rather than the power output of the motor. So at a given speed, the EV6 GT is actually louder in eco mode. than GT. that is not correct.

Gauge clusters dynamically reconfigure for drive mode. Pressing his GT button on the wheel switches the meter cluster to a sportier, cleaner mode with steep descents.it wouldn’t look out of place TronIf Tron There were many fluorescent greens and few cool blues.

Slightly subdued rocket ship

It’s a real shame the EV6 GT doesn’t have the flair and feel to match its wild performance. It’s an absolute rocket ship, a car where speed is delivered in an almost one-to-one ratio with the angle of your right foot. Its ease of acceleration is a thrill, but the lack of engagement from the steering and somewhat relaxed handling make the whole thing feel a little less special than I would have liked.

But special or not, the EV6 GT is a phenomenal car and a fitting achievement. Remember, this is Kia’s first performance-oriented EV, and it sells for his $13,000 less than the base EV6. If you don’t mind losing range, this is one of those splurges that’s hard to resist. That’s not every day.

Photo by Tim Stevens of The Verge

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