SHOCK AND AWE
Kia’s new performance EV will set you back six figures but it’s a relative bargain
Quicker than a Porsche at half the price – that’s the sales pitch for the new Kia EV6 GT. Granted, the first $100,000 car from Kia is not cheap but it represents extraordinary value when you consider alternatives capable of similar performance.
Porsche’s Taycan GTS electric sports sedan costs about $260,000 and delivers 440kw of power, enough to reach 100km/h in 3.7 seconds before topping out at 250km/h.
The Kia EV6 GT uses 430kw to hit 100km/h in 3.5 seconds before running to 260km/h. It’s yours for $99,590 plus on-road costs. It wasn’t long ago that the sub four-second club was exclusive to high-end supercars.
There are a handful of four-door cars with similar straight-line performance, though none can match the Kia’s combination of a sevenyear warranty, family-friendly space and generous standard equipment.
This car is loaded with all the gear you could expect from a range-topping model. It has the same 77.4kwh battery as the regular EV6, though the GT’S fat tyres reduce its claimed range to 424 kilometres – 60 less than less powerful all-wheel-drive models.
Standard gear includes matrix LED headlights and twin 12.3-inch digital displays with smartphone mirroring, a 360-degree camera and wireless charging.
Tech includes a clever smartphone app, 14speaker stereo, head-up display and much more. All the modern safety features are here, though it misses out on the ventilated and electrically adjustable “premium relaxation” seats of the less focused EV6 Gt-line, trading them for supportive bucket seats that hold you in place while cornering.
Sporty upgrades include 21-inch wheels with Michelin performance rubber and wholly revised front suspension that sharpens responses while allowing the use of bigger brakes.
It has much quicker steering than the standard EV6, along with multi-mode suspension that constantly adapts to the road surface and a torque-vectoring electronic limited-slip differential linked to a new drift mode best left to the track.
The only option is premium paint in metallic ($520) or matt ($3295) finishes. The latter includes special ceramic protection that makes it more durable.
Big wheels, bright green brakes and modest GT badges are the only way to pick the halo model out of an EV6 line-up. Kia played it safe with the car’s styling, but not its driving experience. The EV6 GT is shockingly fast.
It slams you back in the seat with real ferocity during full-throttle acceleration, shortening straights like a thoroughbred supercar. Better still, it’s great to drive.
The GT’S fast steering and taut suspension deliver impressive responses on a winding road. It feels far more athletic than its 2.1-tonne mass might suggest and offers precise control in fast corners.
Locally-tuned electronic suspension is particularly smart – it firms up the front, rear and sides as required to control excessive pitch and roll from the body. The shocks adjust their movement to account for smooth or bumpy roads and have markedly different responses when you select preferred driving modes.
Better still, the car allows owners to set preferences for key elements and save them in a customised setting linked to a button on the steering wheel. Those who want to drive without touching the brake pedal can ask for heavy energy regeneration and folks who prefer the car to coast off-throttle like a petrol sports car can have it their own way.
Kia’s engineers did a masterful job finessing the transition from battery-saving motor regeneration to conventional friction-based braking when you squeeze the left pedal.
That torque vectoring differential helps the GT feel like a rear-drive sports sedan when you power out of a corner, the tail wriggling under acceleration. The ride is firmer than regular EV6 models but not uncomfortable. Tauter than anything else in the Kia catalogue, the EV6 still feels softer than 400kw four-doors from European marques.
Kia reckons 80 per cent of orders are from people new to the brand. They’re in for a shock.