Kia Motor’s EV6 Electric Crossover debuts with over 500km of Range

South Korean automaker Kia Motors just laid out a lot of what there is to know about its Electric Vehicle EV6 — at least for the most expensive models. The EV6, to release in “select global markets” in the second half of this year, including North America, will be a fun and fast electric car with a refreshingly modest footprint.

The Kia EV6 is the first car of the company that is built to be electric from the ground up. The Kia Niro EV SUV? According to a report by The Verge, “that was, at a high level, a gas car that was retrofit to run on batteries.” The EV6, however, is built on E-GMP, Kia will use this to power six future EVs. It has also been used by Hyundai to power the Ioniq 5 EV.

AROUND 300 MILES AT THE HIGH END

The company made sure that the EV6 is full of attractive features and leading technologies but it still will not blow buyers away with its range. It will be available in rear-wheel and in all-wheel-drive configurations. And battery pack options will be standard range (58kWh) or long-range (77.4kWh). “Kia says the rear-wheel-drive EV6 with the long-range pack can go 510 kilometers, or roughly 316 miles, based on the European WLTP testing standard.” That means the EPA range will perhaps be under 300 miles. No range estimates for the other configurations have been provided.

Depending on the real-world results, out of a battery pack of that size, that’s fairly good efficiency. But the fact that Kia’s promoting just that one range figure, means that all other versions of the EV6 will likely get less. Even though it is still plenty for daily driving, some versions of the EV will not be well suited for long road trips.

One way compensation is being done by Kia is by the very fast charging, at least relative to the current state of EVs. Like what’s found in the Porsche Taycan, the E-GMP platform uses 800-volt battery packs, which makes it possible to charge an EV6 in just 18 minutes from 10 percent to 80 percent.

Another is performance, at least for the All-Wheel Drive (AWD) variants. The AWD GT version of the EV6 is the top-spec and only comes with the long-range battery version. A combined 430kW, or roughly 576 horsepower, is produced by its two motors and can go from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in just 3.5 seconds.

TWO-WAY CHARGING, FOR ALL YOUR OUTDOOR EXCURSIONS

What could turn out to be more exciting than performance or tech specs is that the EV6 supports two-way charging just like Hyundai’s Ioniq 5. The EV6 can put out up to 3.6kW of power — enough to power an air conditioner and a 55-inch TV for more than 24 hours and it can also tow up to 1,600 kilograms (roughly 3,500 pounds) as long as the battery is more than 35 percent full.

Kia calls the EV6’s exterior styling a crossover, which isn’t wrong. From some rear angles, it bears some resemblance to the Polestar 2, however, it also has big hatchback vibes and from the side, it’s a longer, meaner Ioniq 5. “It’s certainly not bubbly or unassuming, like many of the SUVs that currently make up Kia’s lineup. Rather, it’s aggressive without being ostentatious; eye-catching, if not eye-watering.” The EV6 is a breath of fresh air in a world that’s increasingly full of big, bloated vehicles.

The EV6’s interior is more on the familiar side. “There are two 12-inch curved displays that sit inside a structure that rises up from the dashboard, one in front of the driver and one for infotainment purposes.” There’s also an AR heads-up display, which Kia promises will all be updatable over-the-air.

There is no word on the pricing of the various configurations by the South Korean company, while also conveniently leaving out specs for what will certainly be the more affordable models. 

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