[AMG Power]

If you needed proof that Kia is on top of their game this is it - the Kia EV6 GT.

1. 585 bhp with a 0-100 time of 3.5 seconds

2. Range of 510 kms

3. RWD and AWD variants

4. Faster than a Porsche Taycan 4S

5. Top speed of 260 kmph

6. Costs 1 lakh more than the Kia Seltos

Okay, I made up the last line, but I guess you get the picture, if not here are some:







Source

[vb-san]

Irrespective of what Kia is doing in India (with the crash-test ratings for India-spec cars), they are getting on with some nice remarkable models in the international scene, probably even better than the sibling Hyundai. The Stinger probably did not click well, but it showed what Kia as a manufacturer can do, and now this one looks absolutely stunning inside out, much better than the EV attempts from the mainstream Germans.

[VKumar]

I for one, have a different opinion. A few things are better left to experts only. Now, they may try to built something that goes quicker than Model S in ludicrous mode, faster than Taycan S, offer the comfort of an S, and features of, well, a premium Kia itself, but they need to find the buyers too.

But yes, in terms of design, it looks really promising. 10/10 to Kia for such a nice execution.

Secondly, if this doesn't come to India, I am least bit concerned about it, there are multiple vehicles out there which are awesome, but all we get is to praise them.

I always say this, if you are coming from a segment down, the vehicle from a segment up always feels wonderful (Ex. Someone moving from Swift to Creta). But if you have already experienced the premium ones, then only features can't cut it for you (Even a Jetta base trim owner is not going to like a Verna).

Secondly, I will never buy a so-called premium or halo product from a mainstream manufacturer in my life, I have very well burnt my fingers with this experiment, don't have any more courage left to deal with the same situation any more.

[Akshay6988]

Why every EV manufacturer is hell bent on top speed, acceleration? Every time a new EV is announced, I could always see 0-100kph figures and top speed. I would rather have an EV which gives max range and minimum charge time. How often an owner will gun his EV ? Just make the car deliver it's promised range and it'll be enough to boost the sales.

[viXit]

Originally Posted by VKumar

.....
Secondly, I will never buy a so-called premium or halo product from a mainstream manufacturer in my life, I have very well burnt my fingers with this experiment, don't have any more courage left to deal with the same situation any more.

Which car is this in reference to sir? The burning your fingers part.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Why every EV manufacturer is hell bent on top speed, acceleration? Every time a new EV is announced, I could always see 0-100kph figures and top speed. I would rather have an EV which gives max range and minimum charge time. How often an owner will gun his EV ? Just make the car deliver it's promised range and it'll be enough to boost the sales.

Because acceleration, 0-100 figures and that 'pushed back into the seat' feeling is what made EVs cool - Tesla being a prime example.

EVs have been around for longer (actually more than a century, but that's a different story) but became mainstream only when the market realized EVs could be fun just as they could be environment friendly.

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by Akshay6988

Why every EV manufacturer is hell bent on top speed, acceleration? Every time a new EV is announced, I could always see 0-100kph figures and top speed. I would rather have an EV which gives max range and minimum charge time. How often an owner will gun his EV ? Just make the car deliver it's promised range and it'll be enough to boost the sales.

Not everyone buys cars or EV’s for mileage / range. There are customers who look primarily at performance and are willing to sacrifice mileage / range for adequate performance.

This EV is intended for those customers and while it has a good range the highlight is a Porsche equalling performance.

It is for customers looking for that sort of performance that these cars / performance data are intended.

Those looking for mileage / range don’t need to buy Porsche’s or even this particular Kia. There are other cars that will meet those requirements. Although both these EV’s have a good range as per current standards.

So while you may be looking at mileage / range, there are several others looking mainly at performance and manufacturers are targeting those customers with performance data.

Originally Posted by VKumar

Kia...need to find the buyers..

Right now, Kia is trying to find cars, not buyers.

[mobike008]

Test Drive of Kia EV6-GT Line in Seattle

As we are contemplating our second car and I want it to be an Electric Vehicle. Now the market here in US is flooded with choices and it’s very difficult to choose any vehicle as within $500-$1000’s there are multiple choices and its rather exhausting to compare features and do all the math.

I’m not that type of a buyer who compares feature by feature and looks at value for money.

I buy a vehicle if it hits the right notes and pulls at my heart strings. After all, car is our second home and we spend a lot of time in there. It has to be a pleasure each time we get onboard.

I would buy the Tesla Model 3 or Model Y Performance with my eyes closed. But, I seriously want to see if there is anyone out there who is even remotely close to a Tesla.

You may have seen my brief review of Polestar 2 which was an average experience and I will not be considering it in my purchase process.

Here is the link of that short review :

Last Friday, I finished work early around 3:00pm and was on Kia Website and casually filled in for a test drive and submitted the button.

Believe you me, I got a call from Kia dealership in 30 seconds flat. Lady on phone said, they have top of the line EV6 GT Line available for a test drive. I asked if they can come home. But, apparently they are understaffed (who isn’t these days), so requested me to come over.

Within a couple of hours, I was at their dealership and after a few minutes of formalities completed. We were off on the road with my sales consultant- Quincy Jones (Not the famous Jazz singer and no relations as well- He confirmed that to me. Haha!)

Looks

EV6 GT looks very impressive and almost like a concept car that we used to see a few years ago in Automotive shows. Beautiful aggressive lines and a super clean design. I loved how the car looked from side profile and rear. Front isn’t too appealing and looking Bull Frog’sh.

While the car may look small in picture, it isn’t. It’s quite a big car. It’ s been stretched from both front and rear to increase the which means better interiors. I’ll come to that in a moment in the interiors description.

Overall, the exterior looks radical and will definitely stand out in the crowd compared to an old timer like Tesla.

Interiors

When you step into interiors, it doesn’t give you an SUV feeling but, more of a sedan or hatchback but, on stilts. Having said that it’s not as uncomfortable as a regular sedan but, Ingress/Egress is also not comfortable as an SUV.

Interiors look futuristic and wonderful and materials used is high quality for dashboard and doors. However, the center console near the gear shifter knob is glossy finish which gives it a slightly cheaper feel. I was surprised by space in backseat. It has got plenty of space and I being 6ft. 1inch tall had absolutely no issues with headroom as well.

GT Line comes loaded with technology and there are plenty of reviews on YT that explains in detail.

However, I was impressed with 3 features :

1. EV6 comes with Paddle Shifters on steering wheel which is used to change the REGEN braking from Level 1-4 which is a fantastic option as most other EV manufacturers just give you an ON/OFF option.

2. EV6 comes with an actual camera pop on front cluster when you engage your indicator. Absolutely awesome feature as you can see clearly in that crisp camera if there are any cars in your Blind Spot.

3. HUD is pretty common (my BMW comes with one of the best HUD’s and super crisp clarity). However, Kia took it to another level. They have given augmented reality as one of the option in HUD. Pretty awesome feature, I must say.


Ride & Handling

Ride is super smooth inside and feels like a proper electric vehicle. Kia has also given 4-5 different sounds that you can enable to enjoy a different driving experience which is a cool feature.

Steering is well weighted and has a flat bottom like a nice performance car’s should be. This version that I drove is the AWD and comes with dual motor (Front + Rear) and is rated at 320 HP. While the acceleration was not mind-blowing but, on hindsight I may have not have explored it properly as sales guy was constantly talking (I didn’t like it and was a bit of a distraction) which didn’t allow me to explore the performance better.

Reviews on YT says, its 4.4 seconds for a 0-60mph which is really fast.

This car feels slightly on heavier slide but, handling is very good and feels planted when I was exiting and entering freeways.

My benchmark is Tesla Model 3 and Model Y which I drove about 1.5 years ago and they feel nimble. I need to drive both these vehicles again to see if anything has changed in 2022 models.

Storage

Storage is limited in both front and back unlike the “FRUNK” of Tesla. You cannot even put a small suitcase inside these storage spaces.

Finally, the most important aspect the Battery

AWD comes with 2 batteries (Front + Rear) and has a realistic range of 275 miles which is lesser than 300 miles as claimed by Tesla for their AWD models.

Charging times is super impressive 20%-80% in 20 mins.

Overall, it’s a brilliant car and I would love to buy this if I can slightly compromised on the performance aspect that I was looking at in an EV as from all other aspects, it ticks of the boxes pretty well.

I got a quote back from dealership and they are all making hay while the sun shines.

Price is quoted for over MSRP and is coming to $67,000 and payments are $1200/month with $5000 downpayment and a waiting of 6-12 weeks.

I won't be surprised if there are folks out there who are paying for it. But, this is beyond my budget. Sigh !!

Ridiculous pricing for a Kia. !!!

https://youtu.be/YnOUsywv7WY

[venom_op]

Mod Note : Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by mobike008

I got a quote back from dealership and they are all making hay while the sun shines.

Price is quoted for over MSRP and is coming to $67,000 and payments are $1200/month with $5000 downpayment and a waiting of 6-12 weeks.

I won't be surprised if there are folks out there who are paying for it. But, this is beyond my budget. Sigh !!

Ridiculous pricing for a Kia. !!!

I believe there was some miscommunication with your dealership coz that is definitely a Wind AWD trim and not a GT Line. The bumpers and wheel arches are different in the GT Line.

But yeah you are lucky to get a test drive at all. I called 5 dealers around the Bay Area all the way till Stockton and nobody had a single EV6 for a Test Drive.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Finally, the most important aspect the Battery

AWD comes with 2 batteries (Front + Rear) and has a realistic range of 275 miles which is lesser than 300 miles as claimed by Tesla for their AWD models.

Charging times is super impressive 20%-80% in 20 mins.

Overall, it’s a brilliant car and I would love to buy this if I can slightly compromised on the performance aspect that I was looking at in an EV as from all other aspects, it ticks of the boxes pretty well.

I got a quote back from dealership and they are all making hay while the sun shines.

Price is quoted for over MSRP and is coming to $67,000 and payments are $1200/month with $5000 downpayment and a waiting of 6-12 weeks.

I won't be surprised if there are folks out there who are paying for it. But, this is beyond my budget. Sigh !!

Ridiculous pricing for a Kia. !!!

Thanks for sharing.

The Hyundai-KIA group is on a roll with the Ioniq 5 and the EV-6. I look forward to driving them. Australia gets 500/lot or something and they get sold out soon.

I think we are done with the days of inflated dealer stock and discounts.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by venom_op

I believe there was some miscommunication with your dealership coz that is definitely a Wind AWD trim and not a GT Line. The bumpers and wheel arches are different in the GT Line.

But yeah you are lucky to get a test drive at all. I called 5 dealers around the Bay Area all the way till Stockton and nobody had a single EV6 for a Test Drive.

Thanks for correction. But, are you sure its the WIND?

Because the lady on phone and sales consultant both repeated multiple times its the GT Line. In fact, that car belongs to the owner of the dealership and he was lending for test drives as there was a shortage of TD cars.

I can imagine no cars being available for TD as this seems to be really hot in the market and everyone seems to be looking to buy it.

Originally Posted by kiku007

Thanks for sharing.

The Hyundai-KIA group is on a roll with the Ioniq 5 and the EV-6. I look forward to driving them. Australia gets 500/lot or something and they get sold out soon.

I think we are done with the days of inflated dealer stock and discounts.

It's a lovely car for sure and I would buy the top-of-line variant if it was priced at $50k-$55K range . It is most definetly not worth the 67 grand asking price. I will buy the Tesla Model Y Performance for that price.

If they need to sell and beat Tesla, they need to price it below them.

Also, any idea if EV6 GT is released? I mean the 570 Horsepower engine.

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Thanks for correction. But, are you sure its the WIND?

Because the lady on phone and sales consultant both repeated multiple times its the GT Line. In fact, that car belongs to the owner of the dealership and he was lending for test drives as there was a shortage of TD cars.

I can imagine no cars being available for TD as this seems to be really hot in the market and everyone seems to be looking to buy it.

I have to correct myself, it is not in fact a Wind trim but a First Edition trim. It is still different from the GT Line and that was the first 1500 units prebooked for the car. You can see it in the interior shot where the centre console has a badge that says 781/1500.

Externally it's the same as the Wind trim while the interiors had much of the same design as the GT Line including the ambient lighting which you dont get on the Wind AWD even with the technology pack.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by venom_op

I have to correct myself, it is not in fact a Wind trim but a First Edition trim. It is still different from the GT Line and that was the first 1500 units prebooked for the car. You can see it in the interior shot where the centre console has a badge that says 781/1500.

Externally it's the same as the Wind trim while the interiors had much of the same design as the GT Line including the ambient lighting which you dont get on the Wind AWD even with the technology pack.

Yup, I am aware that it's a 781/1500 car in USA. I forgot to mention in my review.

Is GT Line and GT same car or different?

[Turbanator]

The bookings in India will start from 26th May and deliveries from September.

We are getting GT Line trim with 77.4 kWh battery and RWD and AWD variants.

AWD gets the augmented reality HUD as well meridian 14 speaker premium system. Loadings are similar to what they offer in Europe. Have the spec sheet but don't know if it's ok to post it here. Prices are expected to be between 50 lac-60 Lac. I believe, Kia will this more as brand building exercise than earning profits.

Almost all of the reviews are very positive about this car, will be interesting to see how it fairs in India. We have in past not been very kind to high price launches by non-EU manufacturers barring Toyota.

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Yup, I am aware that it's a 781/1500 car in USA. I forgot to mention in my review.

Is GT Line and GT same car or different?

The GT Line gets 325 ponies but the GT gets much more at 585. GTL does 0-100 in 5 seconds while the GT does it in 3.5.

Honestly, unless the GTL AWD will fit the bill for most people. I drove my brother’s Polestar 2 for almost a 1000 miles while in the US and that thing has 408 HP and 0-100 in 4.5 seconds. I’d say it’s more than enough car for most people. Same applies to the GTL AWD.

GT isn’t out yet and will be available in the US sometime by the end of the year or early next year.