2022 (22) Kia EV6 166kW GT Line 77.4kWh 5dr Auto

By Jonathan Crouch

Introduction

Kia is stepping up a gear in its EV offensive with this stylish EV6 battery-powered mid-sized performance saloon. This car has pavement presence, the potential of a decent 316 mile driving range and an uber-sophisticated cabin which challenges the premium makers for style and quality. There's even a super high performance GT derivative. This is, in short, a car that rivals need to take very seriously indeed.

History

Prior to 2021, Korean maker Kia's offerings had been worthy, sensible, good value and, whisper it, rather dull. But that changed with this EV6. The idea with this mid-sized EV crossover was to reinterpret full-electric technology for the affordable part of the mid-sized market in a sporty, desirable fashion. Kia didn't want potential customers to think e-Niro or Soul EV but instead, think Polestar 2 or Tesla Model 3. That was quite a challenging brief for a manufacturer not previously positioned as a premium brand, but Kia certainly went about it with enthusiasm. The brand had access to an all-new Hyundai Motor Group E-GMP platform for this EV6. And readied a top EV6 GT high performance model for the very top of the range with a Porsche Taycan-like 577bhp on tap. Mainstream EV6 models were more accessible, targeted not only at Tesla and Polestar but at sportier versions of cars like the Volkswagen ID.4 and the Skoda Enyaq. This then was a very important car that really showed Kia shifting gears in EV development: from the mediocre Soul EV of 2014 to the competent but rather vanilla e-Niro of 2018 to this, a car whose reflection you might admire in shop windows, with Hyundai Motor Group charging technology rivalled back in 2021 only by super luxury EVs from Porsche and Audi. Bar stool industry experts will tell you that EV6 is simply a Hyundai IONIQ 5 in a different frock. Kia said not, claiming that the two models were very different in concept and had nothing but a chassis and a bit of shared technology in common. In future, the Korean maker reckons we'll be talking about the EV6 as the car that changed the Kia brand. It's the earlier 2021-2024-era versions of this model we look at here. That fast EV6 GT performance model was introduced in 2023.

What You Get

In Kia's own words, the idea here was to 'make a bold statement'. Well, courtesy of the brand's 'Opposites United' design philosophy, that's what this EV6 delivers. It's all very angle-sensitive and not everyone will like it. Still, it was appropriate that as the Korean maker's first dedicated EV, this car stood out. The wheels are pushed right to each corner, emphasising the strangely short nose and the long rear overhang. In between, there are flush-fitting door handles and a character line that runs along the bottom of the doors, curving upwards towards the rear wheel arches, visually elongating the profile of the car. The front looks either a little weird or rather racy, depending on your perspective. At least there's no ugly grille blanking plate like on some other EVs, the nose instead decorated with Kia's 'Digital Tiger Face', an evolution for the electrified era of the previous 'Tiger Nose Grille'. Even more unusual is the rear end, with its tail design being of the aerodynamic 'Kamm' style used to distinguish old '60s sports cars like the Aston Martin DB6. Two spoilers feature, the larger one with unusual side-mounted 'ears'. This channels air down towards the raised lower spoiler that sits on top of the rather unique LED light cluster. At the wheel, you're very aware that you're behind the wheel of a new-era EV, but quite a few old-style knobs and buttons have been retained and you don't immediately feel that you'll have to spend hours perusing the handbook before you can operate anything. The driving position is lower and more car-like than you'd expect from a Crossover and the steering column's at quite a sharp angle, so it all feels a bit different, but nothing you couldn't quickly adjust to. Two giant 12.3-inch screens link together for the infotainment and instrument displays, but your initial attention will probably be taken by the two-part floating centre console - and by the fact that it doesn't join onto the dashboard ahead, which adds a very spacious feeling. The dashboard doesn't need the usual lower centre stack because it doesn't have to accommodate separate climate control buttons. Not because these have been hidden away on the upper touchscreen (though you can find them there) but because a clever narrow 'Multi-mode Display' flicks from infotainment monitor short-cuts to ventilation functions at the press of a button. The cabin's full of useful storage areas - and fashioned with all kinds of quite interesting materials, though none of them feel especially premium. Still, on the plus side, quite a few of them are sustainable and you sit on very comfortable 'Premium Relaxation' seats part-trimmed in vegan leather. In the back, legroom is generous - there's 990mm of it in an area that'd feel even more spacious if it was easier to slide your feet beneath the seat ahead. And because there's no central transmission tunnel, it'd be easy to take a third centrally-positioned adult in the back if you needed to. But then you wouldn't be able to use the centre armrest with its twin cup holders. Headroom is less impressive, an issue exacerbated by the fact that the rear seats are set a little higher than those at the front - and even more if a sunroof's been fitted, taking further precious millimetres of ceiling room. This shouldn't be too much of an issue unless you're fairly tall - and the seat backs do recline to ease the problem for loftier folk. That higher floor means that your knees are slightly higher than they'd normally be and your thighs a little less supported, so bear that in mind if you'll be using your EV6 for longer trips. Let's finish by considering the boot, which (rather disappointingly) is only electrically powered if you stretch to a version with top-spec trim. The tailgate rises to reveal what looks like a pretty cavernous space, but total capacity is ultimately limited by the high load platform - that huge battery pack has to sit somewhere. There's 490-litres of space (or 480-litres in the 'GT-Line S' model, thanks to extra space taken up by the Meridian Sound System's sub-woofer). Push forward the rear seat backs and though the area won't be quite flat, it offers up to 1,300-litres of capacity. Not all EVs in this segment give you extra storage space for the charging leads beneath the bonnet (the Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and CUPRA EVs don't for instance), but you get that here.

What to Look For

We've come across reports of issues with the 12-volt battery, which is crucial for powering auxiliary items in the car) sometimes needing to be replaced in a relatively short period. We've also heard reports of occasional electric glitches and error messages related to the motor and the drive system. Some owners cite issues with paint quality, mentioning that the paint on the panelwork chips easily. And with some cars, you have to turn the powertrain off before it can charge - annoying if you're sitting in the car waiting to charge. We've also heard of problems with the cabin heating system and the charging door suddenly not opening or closing. There was just one recall for this earlier model, relating to an electrical issue that could result in the car disengaging the park function. Make sure this has been attended to. Check out owner feedback on www.kiaevforums.com The drive battery should have quite a bit of life in it, unless you happen to be looking at one of the very earliest '21-plate versions. When the battery is on its way out, you'll obviously find that it won't go as far on each charge - and when it starts to run low on charge, you'll find that the car will particularly start to struggle going uphill. When it gets old, the lithium-ion battery used here can suffer from the ionised liquid in the battery freezing certain cells; those cells are then unable to receive charge. Before going to all that trouble though, make sure the issue really is the battery. If the car won't charge, it could be a problem with your home electrics (or those at the public charge point you're using). Check the charge light to make sure that electricity really is going through the charge port. And make sure there really is charge in the socket you're using to power from - plug something else into it to see - say, your 'phone. If that charges OK, it could be that your charging cable is demanding too much power, so try another power source. Another problem could be that the circuit may have tripped due to a circuit overload. Or perhaps there could be a problem with the charge cable: this needs to be cared for properly. Repeatedly driving over it (as previous owners may conceivably have done) will damage it eventually. Make sure you do a charge-up before signing for the car you're looking at. When you do this, make sure that when you plug in to start the charge cycle you hear the charge port and the cable locking and engaging as they should; that's all part of the charger basically confirming with the car's onboard computer that everything's good to go before releasing power. But if the charging cable fails to lock as it should, then that won't happen. If there is a failure to lock, the issue could be actuator failure, caused by a blown fuse. Otherwise, it's just the usual issues we tend to brief you on. Check all the media tech on your test drive - and the workings of the navigation system to see if it's been kept up to date. As we said, check the touchscreens and Bluetooth connectivity. Check the faux leather upholstery for cuts and stains. Inspect the alloy wheels for kerbing damage. And insist on a fully stamped-up service history.

Replacement Parts

(approx based on a 2021 EV6 77kWh AWD - Ex Vat - autopartspro.co.uk) Front brake pads sit in the £24-£73 bracket; rear pad sets are around £30-£90. Front brake discs sit in the £51-£87 bracket; rear discs are around £38-£52. A cabin filter is in the £15-£28 bracket. Wiper blades are in the £4 to £23bracket.

On the Road

Acceleration from the get-go in an EV6 depends a little on the variant you've chosen. There are two in the mainstream range, both using a 77.4kWh battery. The base rear-driven model has only just enough power - 226bhp - to make this two-tonne EV feel business-like away from rest. The sprint to 62mph time for that base variant is 7.3s but 350Nm of torque isn't really quite enough for a contender this heavy. The spec of the AWD dual motor model is much more like it. Here, the 165kW rear electric motor fitted to all EV6s is joined by a smaller 74kW motor at the front, boosting total output to 321bhp. That provides for 62mph in 5.2s and nearly twice the amount of pulling power - 605Nm - on the way to the 114mph top speed that all versions of this Kia share. It doesn't actually feel that fast on first acquaintance, which for us is a good thing, the delivery of torque and speed pleasantly linear and combustion-like. If you want an EV6 that does kick you in the back away from rest, Kia will attempt to sell you a top GT model with the same battery and AWD combo but a twin motor output uprated to 577bhp, with a thumping 740Nm of torque. You don't really need that GT model's manic speed - rest to 62mph in just 3.5s en route to 162mph; and you don't really need its standard adaptive damping system either because the passive 'frequency selective' mechanical springs that feature on mainstream models (which couldn't be upgraded) combine with the multi-link independent rear suspension to produce an actually very well judged quality of ride over poor surfaces. There are three drive modes ('Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport'), none of which improve the rather gloopy feel of the steering. But the six available brake regeneration settings (most operable by steering wheel paddle shifters) are effective and careful use will get you somewhere near the quoted combined cycle drive range figures, which vary between 300 and 328 miles, depending on variant. The car's sophisticated 800-volt electrical architecture means it can use ultra high speed DC chargers, one of which would replenish the battery from 10-80% in just 18 minutes. A more common 50kW rapid charger takes an hour and 13 minutes to do the same thing and your 7.4kW garage wallbox will give you a 10-100% charge in seven hours and 20 minutes.

Overall

Few brands are able to satisfy both the affordable and the luxury ends of the mid-sized EV market, but back at the beginning of this century's third decade, Kia wanted to be one of them. This EV6 took the technology that impressed us with cars like the e-Niro and evolved it to a level appropriate for a customer looking for a faster, more premium kind of mid-sized EV. Earlier, we talked about this Korean maker's aim to make 'a bold statement' with this EV6 and that's not just about the avant-garde styling being served up here. Unlike most of its segment rivals in this period, this Kia has an 800 volt electrical architecture, so it's already been prepared for the fastest ultra-rapid public chargers. And you can even charge ancillary devices from its battery. It's all rather impressive. We'd wish for more feelsome steering and slightly more engaging drive dynamics. And there are a few areas of cabin trim that aren't quite up to this car's price point. Overall though, the EV6 proved to be the Korean brand's most accomplished car to date. In terms of design, style and technology, it can equal anything on offer from the German premium brands from its period, yet do so at a more affordable price. Certainly, if you were about to choose something like a Polestar 2 or a BMW i4 from the 2021-2024 period, the EV6 is a car you should try first. We think you'll be surprised at what you find.