Battery size: 84kWh
Miles per kWh: 3.35
E-Rating™: B
Max charge rate: 258 kW
Range: 279 miles
Introduction and model history
The Kia EV6 is a large-ish, posh electric family crossover that's earned a reputation for being great to drive and easy to live with. It's properly desirable, yet also comes with sensible things like a seven-year warranty and ultra-rapid charging.
Now, the high performance Kia EV6 GT has received the same facelift as the rest of the EV6 range, and it's also gained a bigger battery for a WLTP range of up to 279 miles, and more power. As if it needed it! Still, it's now got 601bhp and can do 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds. Take that, Tesla...
Range, battery and charging
The new Kia EV6 GT has had its lithium-ion NMC battery capacity upped from 77- to 84kWh, which has resulted in WLTP combined range inching up from 263- to 279 miles. Not bad given the EV6 GT's performance, and that range is now on a par with the brilliant Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, although the Tesla Model 3 Performance manages usefully longer range of 328 miles.
Charging on the Kia EV6 GT has also been boosted, so it'll now achieve charging speeds of up to 258kW. That'll get you a 10-80% rapid charge in just over 15 minutes, or 100 miles of additional range in around ten minutes, provided you plug into a powerful enough rapid charging station. Nice!
You also get Vehicle-to-Load charging that allows you to charge any electrical device from the car's high voltage battery.
Practicality and Boot Space
It’s a stocky car, the EV6. Perhaps its swoopy lines disguise its size a little, but you’re looking at something that’s longer and wider (albeit lower) than the Audi Q4 e-tron SUV, for instance. And yet it has less boot space. A 480-litre capacity isn’t bad at all, and is usefully more than you get in the Ford Mustang Mach-E, but it’s still probably a bit less than you’d hope for in a car this size. There’s a further 20-litre storage in the EV6 GT's shallow frunk area.
There's plenty of space in the rear seats for a couple of chunky car seats or average-sized adults, but the big sports seats of the GT model do eat into legroom a bit. That roofline cuts into rear passenger headroom, too – as well as slicing the window area – which could make some occupants feel a touch claustrophobic. You'll still have more space in the back of the EV6 GT than you will in a Tesla Model 3 or used Porsche Taycan, although we'd say that the boxy Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is more practical than all of them.
Interior, design/styling and technology
If you think the outside of the EV6 looks a bit busy, just have a look at what’s going on in the cabin. There are two screens, a button for every day of the year and a space-age floating centre console. You sit quite low in the EV6, so don't expect an SUV-like driving position; it's much more like a hatchback or saloon from behind the wheel.
The dashboard is a very modern affair. A touch-sensitive black panel display beneath the main touchscreen shows shortcut buttons either for your nav and media, or you can hit a button and the panel changes to offer climate controls, instead. That takes a bit of getting used to, but it works okay and we like having separate shortcut buttons. Otherwise, the materials all feel good quality, the rotary controls for the volume or air-con feel nicely damped, and - while the Kia isn't quite up there with BMW and Mercedes for interior quality - the dash in the EV6 is classy, solid and fairly easy to use.
I love the Lime Green (I still think it's yellow, but Kia says otherwise...) colour flashes that you get on the EV6 GT, too. It matches those very cool brake callipers. I also find the sports seats supportive but comfortable, even on longer trips, which is good news.
The EV6’s dual infotainment display is powered by a much faster processor, now, which allows you to flick between screens and menus at a considerably quicker pace. As you'd expect, you get sat-nav and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto at last (original cars were hobbled with a wired connection). Heated seats and steering wheel, nav-augmented cruise control, a host of LED lights and more charging ports than most of us will have devices for are all featured on the EV6 GT, too. It’s a tech feast, and I love it! I really do find this infotainment system straightforward and easy to use, too. More so than the system in the Audi A6, for instance, which the Kia EV6 GT is getting close to in terms of pricing.
Motors, performance and handling
Well, what can I say?! I really enjoy the Kia EV6 GT; it's pretty amazing how it manages to feel comfortable and uncompromised in everyday driving, and then also delivers utterly rabid pace and fun handling when you want it. Kia really has done well. I wouldn't say the EV6 GT drives massively differently from how it did before, and I would still add that the Porsche Taycan is more incisive, involving handling. I'd also say that the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is going to be more for you if you want something that feels really intense, and that's worthy of a track day. The EV6 GT is more of a rapid, luxury tourer, to be honest, and that's fine with us.
It really is comically fast when you fancy it, and the rest of the time you can enjoy the well controlled ride comfort, decent range and clever brake regen' that you control via paddles on the steering wheel. There's an adaptive mode for the brake regen', and a one-pedal mode, as well as various levels that you can toggle through, so it's really adjustable and it's always predictable and easy to gel with.
Body control is good, the steering feels direct and has a satisfying sense of connection with the wheels, and the torque-vectoing all-wheel drive helps to make it feel really secure yet a little bit playful. Overall, the facelifted Kia EV6 GT is a comprehensively capable performance EV, and you'll love the way it drives.
Running costs and pricing
One of the best things about the new Kia EV6 GT? It's cheaper! Yes, it costs under £60,000, which is less than it cost before despite the improvements. You won't need to add a whole lot to it, either, as the EV6 GT comes with all the kit you could want as standard, including a really excellent semi-autonomous drive mode. It's only the fancier paint finishes, like the lovely, silky matte blue of our test car, that you'll have to pay extra for.
Verdict
The Kia EV6 GT is a fantastic car; full of shock and awe when you want it, but relaxed and cosseting the rest of the time. But I'm not sure that it's overcome the issue of being... well, a bit unnecessary? And yes, you can say that of any performance-oriented car. But with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N offering a more extreme take for similar money, the Tesla Model 3 Performance offering similar straight-line pace and tech for usefully less, and the everyday Kia EV6 models looking very similar and also delivering peachy dynamics and similarly enviable road presence for less cash, the GT remains a niche choice. A brilliant choice. But niche, nonetheless.
In short, you've got to really want that launch mode and lurid green callipers to justify the excess. If you can, then we salute you and we look forward to turning Lime Green with envy.
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