Genesis G80 Magma EV to pave way for future supercar

Luxury Korean brand Genesis is plotting a high-performance Magma version of its all-electric Genesis G80 Electrified that’s a hot tip to be unleashed at the Beijing motor show later this month.

Although he stopped short of confirming the G80 Magma sedan, Genesis global design chief Luc Donckerwolke told Australian journalists at the New York motor show – where the Genesis GV60 Magma was revealed – to watch this space for a potential Tesla Model S Plaid rival.

“Let’s meet on the 24th of April in Beijing. And then Goodwood,” he said.

The latter suggests that a working prototype is set to drive up the famous hillclimb course.

When it arrives, the G80 Electrified Magma should pump out significantly more power than the current twin-motor luxury sedan that musters 272kW and 700Nm of torque.

It could also share the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N’s wild dual-motor powertrain, in which case it would produce around 480kW and 770Nm.

It’s thought the G80 Electrified Magma will also come with a bespoke chassis tune, new rear limited-slip differential, enhanced levels of torque vectoring, wider front and rear track, plus a wild new aero.

According to Donckerwolke, high-performance Magma models and a production version of the Genesis X Convertible could serve as the groundwork for a bona fide supercar.

“First we have to take care of what we have announced before … but we have to make sure we are not only doing limited series models and not core products,” he said.

“The fact that we’re doing Magma obviously is a step in the emotional direction [of a supercar].”

When asked why the 2018 Genesis Essentia concept never came to fruition, Donckerwolke said that despite investing lots of time into readying the wild two-door coupe it was simply “too early” for the emerging brand.

Now with the Genesis marque more established, Donckerwolke thinks the time might be right to challenge the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini.

“We are selling 300,000 cars a year when in 2018 we didn’t have an SUV on the road yet. We basically had a few sedans and that was it. Now we have nine vehicles going all the way up to personalised limousine that sells for $US350,000,” he said.

“The scope of the brand has increased a lot. So yeah, we’re going in this direction.”

According to Donckerwolke, the Genesis brand has already learnt that timing is crucial with the launch of a supercar and it won’t make the same mistakes Lexus did with its ill-conceived LFA supercar.

“The Lexus LFA was a fantastic product in terms of performance, but the brand was never ready to sell a $US300,000 car,” he said.

Donckerwolke did not disclose when the brand would roll out its next concept that would hint at its future supercar plans, but suggested that for the car to be sold in Europe its future high-performance vehicles would have to be all-electric.

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