Yahoo Autos The Kia EV6 Is a Spaceship for the Road
Who fancies the idea of a good-looking, quick, easy-to-use EV that’s bound to make your neighbors jealous? If your first thought is “Oh, has Tesla released another car?” you’re barking up the wrong tree. This one’s a Kia. The EV6 arrived, seemingly from left field, and kinda melted the internet in the process.
A stablemate of Hyundai’s Ionic 5 and the upcoming Genesis GV60, the EV6 brings a sleeker design than those it shares a platform with. Many people, when they saw Kia’s quasi-futuristic styling, wondered what was up: How can a Kia be quite this cool? Up front it’s wide and aggressive, while its rear has hints of Aston Martin crossed with peacock. From the side its long nose gives way to lots of metal. See, while the EV6 may look like a compact package, it’s actually pretty big (by European standards, at least). Thankfully, its shape works well with its dimensions, since the Ionic 5, in my opinion, doesn’t. Score one for Kia in that particular EV triumvirate.
When you see them out in the open, especially en masse, you wonder just how long you slept for the previous night. Has a small invading Martian fleet appeared on Earth? Or were you unconscious for a decade? Either way, the EV6 is a refreshing sight.
Its interior is less out there, more traditional. The two-spoke steering wheel looks a little strange if you’re used to, well, not two spokes. The majority of the car’s functions are accessed via a hefty touchscreen. It’s smooth, not something you’d end up lamenting a lack of buttons for. That said, it can be a bit fiddly to switch between the infotainment screens and the air-conditioning settings at first; it just takes some getting used to.
Kia’s infotainment setup is slick. The nav is intuitive, the satellite-radio controls don’t unnecessarily hide stations behind menus, and Bluetooth phone calls are a breeze. Much like most modern cars, though, having both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto onboard means drivers don’t need to pay Kia’s efforts any heed at all.
A flat floor in the rear means passengers won’t need to worry about sitting three abreast, and if the people up front are on the shorter side, they’ll have more than enough legroom. In the back, there’s enough trunk space for a family of four to have a weekend away, but not much more than that.
Kia is offering a few trims, but the current range topper is the $71,600 (U.K.–U.S. exchange at the time of writing) GT-Line S. This comes with two motors, one up front and one at the rear. Their combined power output is 321 hp and 446 lb-ft, good for 0–62 mph in 5.2 seconds and a top speed of 114 mph. That’s brisk enough for the day to day, don’t you think? Kia’s paired those motors with a 77.4-kWh battery that gives the EV6 a 300-mile combined driving range (according to the European WLTP cycle)—more than enough for 99 percent of drives (but kudos to drivers who manage more than 300 miles per day). Kia’s (U.K.) math works out to be 3.45 miles per kWh. When it comes to keeping the battery topped up, you can sling it on a 150-kW fast-charger and charge from 10 to 80 percent capacity in just 18 minutes, which isn’t much time at all. No, it’s not as fast as brimming a tank of gas, but that’s sounds too tedious, maybe EVs aren’t for you just yet.
Kia’s given the EV6 a bunch of paddle-mounted energy regen settings, all the way from none at all to not needing to use the brake pedal to slow down. While you’re driving, you can flip the paddles and pretend you’re skipping down gears if you want to, but it’s best to just find your groove and leave it.
The same goes for the car’s three drive modes: Eco, Normal, and Sport. They offer suitably different experiences, but you don’t need to be constantly flicking between all three. Eco does what it does in any other car—softens the controls and uses as little energy as possible to keep you trucking longer. Normal feels the most, well, normal, and Sport makes the car feel far more aggressive than its looks suggest. If anything, you don’t need to bother with Normal, as the other two cover all the bases you could possibly want.
Throttle response in all modes is smooth, braking is strong, and steering gives you feedback suitable for a family SUV. Sport mode is a giggle, as it does a decent job of flinging you down the road, but the EV6 is easy to overwhelm if you push it a little too hard. It’s a heavy car at 4607 pounds, and no matter how trick Kia’s springs are, if you try to fling it into a corner with too much enthusiasm, you’ll cause some problems. At lower speeds, the car is neatly balanced, but even a little bit of extra grunt nets you some body lean. You have to find the sweet spot and remember that it’s a family wagon. Though a hotter version is on the way.
The all-wheel-drive GT-Line S does feel planted in all conditions, with power finding the way to the road neatly. Lower-spec RWD versions can get a little tail-happy if you’re not careful—the joys of EV insta-torque.
Cruising around in silence is no longer the novelty it once was, but to do so in Kia’s latest is a good time. It’s a relaxing, brisk ride that stands out in a landscape full of homogenous boxes. It’s far from perfect, but it’s certainly good enough to warrant eyes moving from other, more obvious competition.
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