THE JOY OF SIX (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 67

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.

Modelsword count: 11

5dr Hatch - EV (Air, GT Line, GT Line S, GT]

Historyword count: 309

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 Getword count: 746

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.

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