2023 Kia EV6 GT Review
2023 Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD
MSRP: $57,600
Power: 576 HP
77.4 kWh
Range: 180ish
— Guy who did stuff: Yousef Alvi —
This is the 2024 Kia EV6 GT N-Line. Yeah, that’s a lot of random letters and numbers but the only thing to pay attention to is the ‘GT’ part. That’s what makes this thing special.
So what does this much hallowed ‘GT’ add to the already impressive EV6? It adds dual motors, torque vectoring and increased power which transforms this midsize crossover thing to a performance machine. Since it’s an EV, it will be easy just to concentrate on the 0-60 times (it’s 3.2 seconds btw) but that’s not what makes this EV6 GT so good…it’s the handling! The GT isn’t a svelte lightweight but with computional power that would make a Cray supercomputer blush, the GT will squeeze around any bend with such ferocity and ease it’s astonishing. Skipads numbers are 0.92 but that doesn’t truly tell the tale of the EV6 GT.
You have to change the way you tackle a corner to fully maximize the handling. Instead of slow in, coast and fast out. It’s slow in, feel right at the instant of understeer, apply throttle and smile. That understeer you felt, vanishes as the EV6 pivots around you like a ballerina. It’s pretty damn mesmerizing and the more you apply throttle, the more the EV6 will rotate around you! The torque vectoring moves torque from side to side in an instant! So instead of plowing your way into a ditch, you can powerslide your way out of the corner!
Now at this instant, I would’ve love to tell you how I took all of that knowledge to the mountains but alas…I can’t.
Here is the achielles heel to the EV6 GT, it’s the range. It’s advertised at 200 miles, which still rather sucks but our observed was a more sucky 180 miles. Or to put it into confusing EV-speak, we measured 2.2 kWh in our week of testing. Whatever metric you use, it’s not good and that’s with a mix of city and highway.
If you stick majority highway though (and since it’s EV), it’s crashes down to around 170 miles. The only saving grace is that it ‘can’ charge using a 350 kWh charger, which will supposedly get you from 10-80% in around 20 minutes.
BUT, good luck trying to find one that actually spits out that kinda juice and really good luck finding a fully operational one…because I tried and gave up.
Let’s go ahead and break down the Ev6 GT N-Line:
The Great
Power:
Making 575 HP and going to 60 in 3.2 seconds, it’s a rocket
Handling:
Defies the laws of physics
Space:
Pictures make this and its Ioniq twin seem small…it’s isn’t, it’s big
The Good
Looks:
It looks like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica
Brakes:
Offering excellent feel and feedback, the Brembo brakes offered in the GT model, is worth the price alone.
The Bad
CarPlay/AA:
Lack of wireless CarPlay and Android Auto is annoying. What’s more annoying is when any and all USB ports refused to enable it. In other words, never got CarPlay to work
Seats:
For it’s performance, the seats are completely lacking in lateral support and adjustability.
The Ugly
Range:
Lack of it. 180 miles in mixed driving is just not good enough in 2024. I’m sorry.
Price:
It starts at $60,000, that’s a lot of money for a vehicle that only goes 180 miles on a charge…regardless of performance.
Build Quality:
…yeah. See picture to the left.
Overall:
The EV6 GT N-Line can be best described as a performance midsize crossover, more of a X3M brawler than anything else. Heck it matches it spec for spec in a straight line. In the twisties I’m sure it will keep up with the higher priced Bimmer. But with all that performance comes at cost…range. Now, that would be wouldn’t be huge deal if public charging actually worked…but it doesn’t. So that 180 miles of range, drastically affects the way you drive and can drive the EV6 GT-Line, to the effect…is it worth it over the standard EV6?
In my opinion..it isn’t.
