Review: Kia EV6

If you're looking for a simple way to underline to any petrolhead that their days are numbered, try pointing this out: Anyone now under the age of 6 will never learn to drive in a car with an internal combustion engine. They will likely marvel that we used to load up our vehicles with 70 liters or so of flammable liquid and then go on our merry way, spewing noxious gasses in our wake.

Kia knows this all too well. Despite great success with its more conventional models, such as its increasingly ubiquitous Sorento SUV, which has a waiting list that stretches well into next year in the UK, the company is diligently forging ahead with electrification—and doing so seemingly without breaking sweat. Remember the Soul EV and e-Niro? Yep, we loved them.

Photograph: Kia

Now the Korean brand has introduced a new pure-electric flagship to its lineup: the EV6. Its importance to the company is such that it is the first Kia to sport its new slanty rebrand logo, and it is very much a call-out to other manufacturers. Quality build? Check. Range comfortably north of 300 miles on a single charge? Check. The usual Kia value for money? Check. In the UK, prices for the EV6 start at an emphatically competitive £41,000. US prices are still TBD, but that's about $55,300, so you get the idea.

Kia is owned by the Hyundai Motor Group, of course, so it's not surprising to see this crossover on a version of the same E-GMP architecture that underpins the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Given how accomplished the Ioniq 5 is, this is no bad thing. Crucially, however, the EV6 has better battery performance, eliminating our main issue with the Ioniq 5, which was its max 280-mile range on the top-spec model. 

The EV6 is initially available in two flavors: a 321-bhp four-wheel drive and a budget single-motor, 226-bhp rear-drive. The usable battery capacity is 77.4 kWh, regardless of which motor setup you go for. In the UK, there are no plans to add a smaller battery version, but such a model will be landing in other countries. If range is your primary concern, you'll be pleased to learn that the cheaper single-motor version has the best distance, 328 miles compared to the 314 miles on the all-wheel drive model.

And thanks to that Ioniq 5 architecture, EV6 owners get to enjoy the same party piece of Hyundai's electric ride: patented tech that operates the motor and inverter to boost 400V to 800V for stable charging. Stop yawning. This is genuinely cool. Why? It means you can go from a 10 to 80 percent charge in just 18 minutes with a 350-kW charger—18 minutes! If you can't wait 18 minutes, you can get 62 miles of range in a mere five minutes. Home wall charger? You’ll need to allow around 7.5 hours.

Photograph: Kia

There's more. Again, like the Ioniq 5, the EV6 has V2L, or "vehicle to load." It basically turns the EV6's battery into a giant personal power plant on wheels. You can plug any standard household appliance—yes, including TVs or microwaves—into the car, and they'll run just like they would at home. It makes the sporty-looking EV6 an ideal camping companion for those who like their creature comforts (you know, Netflix on a 60-inch TV and a food processor to take the drudgery out of chopping vegetables for fireside cooking. In fact, with an EV6, you can now bring the oven, which is altogether more civilized).

This V2L wizardry even lets you charge other electric cars, transforming you into some sort of automotive Samaritan, rescuing stranded EV drivers from the side of the road. However, this will take “a long time,” so you'd better be feeling exceedingly charitable if you do decide to offer such a service.

Let's get to how the thing drives. It looks sportier than the Ioniq 5 for a reason. Kia wants you to think it is a lot sportier than the Hyundai's pleasant cruiser, despite the shared components. Kia has even provided a list of stuff it has boosted to help in this regard. The EV6 has a shorter wheelbase than the 5 (2.9 meters versus 3 meters), so it's supposedly slightly better in corners, with marginally higher spring rates, marginally greater damping force, and 1-mm thicker front and rear anti-roll bars. Note the "marginally" in those elements. Yes, the EV6 is sportier and stiffer than the 5, but, you guessed it, the difference is marginal.

This doesn't mean the EV6 is not fun to drive. It most certainly is. Top speed, whether you have two- or four-wheel drive, is 114 mph. Standstill to 60 mph is 7.3 seconds with one motor (168 kW, 229 hp). If you have dual motors (239 kW, 325 hp) then cut this to 5.2 seconds. One the road, however, you can't really tell the difference between the two models, only when you put your foot down hard. Yes, the car is quick, but this is not a performance car that will give you almost shocking acceleration. For that you will have to wait until the GT model arrives late 2022 with 430 kW (580 hp) and a 3.5 second 0-62 mph time.

This coming GT model might be the one to go for if you are drawn in by the performance promises from Kia's marketing campaigns. The slight criticism I have with the EV6 is that while it may be more nimble than the Ioniq 5, it doesn't feel like a sports car and so is stuck between camps. Indeed, flip on Sport mode and the chassis almost can't cope with the boost in speed. I think I prefer the honesty of the Ioniq 5 in this regard. I also prefer the Ioniq 5's retro stylings over the more conventional look of the EV6. But the car's rear is a particular success, with its sweeping lines traveling the width of the vehicle.

Photograph: Kia

To give you some idea of real-world range, a 31-mile trip in the RWD version, starting out near sea level and then climbing to the top of a mountain and back again, was done using just 10 percent of charge, giving it a range of 310 miles. Not bad at all, and this highlights the efficiency of the brake regeneration system too.

Inside is also a win. The cabin is like a Sith version of its gleaming white Hyundai sibling. Black and dark hues everywhere, but none of the extras, such as a movable center console or folding flat seats. It's all beautifully presented, though, with no obvious cost-cutting in sight. I did find the wind noise in the EV6 louder than in the Ioniq 5, oddly.

The dash is dominated by a pair of 12.3-inch curved displays, running a version of UI very similar to Hyundai's (but in Empire blacks and reds of course). You get the usual suite of augmented safety systems (collision avoidance, people and object recognition), but the smart parking is still no use if you live in a crowded city with small parking slots. It works if the empty parking space is the size of a small bus, though. And don’t go looking for yet-to-be-turned-on autonomous systems either, as there aren’t any.

Photograph: Kia

There’s a novel approach to a touch-sensitive panel under the media screen where the button options flick between ventilation and audio controls. This mostly works, apart from one major drawback: The volume control disappears if you are on the heating settings. It took me about 10 confusing minutes to puzzle out this quirk. Another audio oddity was the fact that, yes, the EV6 has Apple CarPlay, but you have to connect with a cable rather than wireless. This is odd for a new purportedly cutting-edge flagship EV.

The rear cabin is not as fine as the Ioniq 5's, either, but there’s a flat floor, of course, so three adults fit with room to spare, though the lower roofline squishes headroom a little. Trunk capacity is a serviceable 490 liters (about 17 cubic feet), but a disappointing lack of hooks to keep shopping bags in place is a minus. Rear-drive EV6s also get a 52-liter (1.8 cubic feet) storage box under the hood, which is cut to 20 liters (.7 cubic feet) for four-wheel drive versions.

But despite these minor failings, and regardless whether you prefer the styling of the Ioniq 5 over the EV6, what we're left with here is a simple, compelling offering. More than 300 miles of range, plenty of tech, a fine ride (if not as sporty as claimed), superb build quality, and exemplary battery management, all for a competitive price. What's not to like? Maybe that darn volume button.