The Kia EV6 heralds a new era for Koreans. It is the brand’s first car developed purely as an electric model. The EV6 introduces not only a fresh design language but also a new modular platform. It reaches more than 510 kilometers on one battery charge and gets, among other things, a fierce GT version with 584 hp. It is expected to be at the dealers in September.
Highlights Kia EV6
- Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover
- New modular platform and new design
- Range: up to more than 500 kilometers
- Also as a 584 hp GT version
- Expected in the Netherlands in September
Kia has been working on the road for some time in the EV field. The electric e-Niro has proven to be a resounding success in our country, but the EV6 is a car of a completely different order. Where the e-Niro stands on a platform that is also used by its hybrid and plug-in hybrid brothers, the base of the EV6 is fully focused on electric powertrains. Like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, it is built on the all-new E-GMP platform, a modular basis on which many other brand electric cars will be built in the future.
The Kia EV6 is 4.68 meters long and has a very generous wheelbase of 2.9 meters. The distance between the front and rear axle is therefore ten centimeters shorter than that of the technically almost identical Hyundai Ioniq 5, but it is nicely 8 centimeters longer than that of the Sorento. The total car length is about 4.65 meters, making the EV6, just like the Ioniq 5, comparable in size to the Jaguar I-Pace.
Kia EV6
Design
We start with the design, which is just as stubborn as the technology of the Kia EV6 is interesting. The electric crossover has been designed according to the new ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy. That is more than just a term that makes good marketing sense. The EV6 has a front that is the brand Digital Tiger Face and that is in fact an evolution of it Tiger Nosedesign that has characterized Kia’s in recent years. The EV6 has a rounded and relatively low-ended nose that incorporates striking headlights. The sharply-lined units have LED daytime running lights that are made up of small segments, both below and above. The refreshed brand emblem sits between the viewers. That is not for nothing, the EV6 is a symbol for ‘the new Kia’.
Kia EV6
The roofline slopes slightly and ends in a rear spoiler with a fairly flat rear window underneath. The visual attraction is the design of the rear lights. Although the EV6, as the current design mode dictates, has an LED strip running across the entire width of the rear, Kia does not just blow along with that design trend. The rear lights run diagonally down towards the wheel arch edges, in a line that is then picked up again beyond the wheel and flows into the sills. The LED rear lights themselves are made up of small stripes. More design ingenuity: the rear lights merge at the bottom into boomerang-shaped reversing lights, which in turn are fused with a chrome strip that runs the entire width of the rear. Original and bold.
Engines and technology
The Kia EV6 shares most of its technology with the Hyundai Ioniq 5, but is not entirely identical. The international delivery list includes a 58 kWh and a 77.4 kWh battery pack, which can be combined with both rear and all-wheel drive. However, the EV6 with the 58 kWh package will not be marketed in the Netherlands as a 235 hp four-wheel drive. You don’t have to be sad, because the choice is still huge.
The EV6 with a 58 kWh battery has a 169 hp electric motor on the rear axle that delivers 350 Nm. The range is not yet released by Kia. Count on a 0-100 sprint in about 7.5 seconds, although extensive specifications will only follow at a later stage.
The versions with the 77.4 kWh battery pack logically come a lot further than the EV6 with 58 kWh battery, but are also more powerful. The rear-wheel drive EV6 with the largest battery has a 229 hp and 350 Nm electric motor and reaches just over 510 kilometers on a single charge. The rear-wheel drive Ioniq 5 with 77.4 kWh battery is slightly less powerful with 218 hp. The all-wheel drive EV6 with 77.4 kWh is no less than 325 hp and 605 Nm strong and buzzes to a speed of 100 km / h in 5.2 seconds.
That it can all be a bit more intense, Kia proves with the all-wheel drive EV6 GT. This top version has two 584 hp and 740 Nm strong electric motors that catapult it to 100 km / h in 3.5 seconds. With this, the EV6 GT pushes the Kia Stinger GT with 366 hp 3.3 T-GDI V6 off the throne as the fastest accelerating Kia ever. The top speed of the EV6 GT is at least as impressive at 260 km / h, especially for an EV. It has the 77.4 kWh battery in its bottom, from which it is expected to squeeze fewer kilometers than the other versions. Kia gives this sporty top version, among other things, an electronic limited slip differential. Depending on the chosen version, the EV6 can pull up to 1,600 kilos. However, you must still have at least 35 percent battery capacity.
Kia EV6
Load and let it load
Thanks to its new technical base, the Kia EV6 can handle 400v and 800v charging structures without the need for special adapters. In theory, it gives the Korean very short loading times. Using a 350 kW charger, the EV6 battery pack can be pumped from 10 to 80 percent with electricity in 18 minutes. In less than 4.5 minutes, enough power is charged for about 100 kilometers of driving range. Also interesting: it can charge bi-directional. Via a V2L connection (Vehicle to Load), devices such as laptops as well as other cars can be charged with a maximum charging power of 3.6 kW. There is a connection for this on the outside, but also at the rear seat.
Interior
The interior promises to be quite spacious thanks to the 2.9 meter long wheelbase. In any case, there is no shortage of luggage space. The rear volume is 520 liters. If you throw the back seat flat, you have plenty of space with about 1,300 liters. There is also storage space under the ‘hood’. These so-called frunk has a capacity of 52 liters in the rear-wheel drive EV6 and consumes 20 liters in the four-wheel drive version. The interior looks less unconventional than the outside, but that does not mean that Kia has not made any work of it. For example, the thick two-spoke steering wheel looks nice and stubborn and Kia places an enormous curved display behind it in which the 12-inch instruments and the 12-inch infotainment system are incorporated. We do not find more than the ventilation grilles, which optically run across the entire width of the dashboard, and a panel with touch-sensitive buttons with haptic feedback for, among other things, the climate control. There are cup holders in the center console, but also the start button, an induction charger and a rotary knob to select the desired direction of travel. More pampering comes in the form of a head-up display that projects its information directly in front of the driver.
Kia EV6
It also seems to be fine with some safety systems. Kia is giving the EV6 a comprehensive package of active and passive safety systems, including Safe Exit Assist, Lane Following Assist, Remote Parking Assist and Highway Driving Assist 2. With the latter system, it is able to keep itself in the middle of the lane while the car also automatically maintains a distance from the vehicle in front. The EV6 even overtakes on its own when you switch on the turn signal.
The first …
… but not the last. The model name EV6 of Kia’s latest electric topper indicates that the brand uses a different naming strategy for its upcoming electric types. All EVs are given ‘EV’ in their name, followed by a number indicating their placement in the gamut. By 2026, Kia will have launched seven all-new EVs on the E-GMP, including this EV6. Not every new EV from the brand follows the EV6 naming convention. For example, there will be a new Niro, which will be available as an electric model as well as a hybrid. A total of four new EVs will be placed on a platform that is also suitable for combustion engines. By 2025, 20 percent of all Kias sold worldwide must be fully electric.
The Kia EV6 will soon be built at the Huwasung factory in South Korea and is expected to hit the Dutch market in September. Prices are not yet available, which will follow in the run-up to the market launch. In any case, the Kia EV6 can be pre-reserved at the beginning of April. This allows you to be one of the first to place an order once the prices have been released.