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John Mahoney25 Nov 2024
NEWS

Huge power gains for 2025 Kia EV6 GT

Kia’s facelifted performance halo gets IONIQ 5 N power and virtual shifts as part of comprehensive facelift

After months of speculation, it’s finally been confirmed the 2025 KIA EV6 GT will be an equal to its bonkers track-focused sibling, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N.

Fresh details of the facelifted high-performance crossover have come to light ahead of its public debut, including the adoption of the IONIQ 5 N’s 478kW/770Nm powertrain, marking a 48kW/30Nm jump in outputs.

The announcement was made during the updated EV6 portfolio’s first public appearance at the LA motor show late last week, however the GT flagship was strangely absent from proceedings as well as the press imagery.

Kia has yet to reveal how the extra power has impacted the EV6 GT’s performance, though the expectation is for it to at least match the IONIQ 5 N’s 3.4-second 0-100km/h time, trimming the old model’s time down from 3.5s.

2025 Kia EV6 GT-Line
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As well as more power, the EV6 GT also gets the IONIQ 5 N’s virtual transmission – also adopted on the new EV9 GT – which emulates an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission along with the power band, redline and sound.

The virtual gear-shifting is done via the regenerative braking paddles and can be turned off if you’re not in the mood, at which point the EV6 GT reverts back to being a typical single-speed EV.

Sustaining the uprated motors is the same advanced 84kWh battery pack and the IONIQ 5 N that’s set to boost the GT’s WLTP range from 424km to roughly 450km.

Odds are the new EV6 GT will mirror the cosmetic changes made to the rest of the EV6 range – new bumpers, fresh alloy wheels, narrower front lighting signature, new Tiger nose – albeit with a few choice GT-spec enhancements to mark it out as the halo.

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It’ll be the same story within the cabin with new trim, graphics, steering wheel, the aition of fingerprint authentication and wireless phone charging, not to mention the ccNC operation system which brings over-the-air updates, wireless smartphone mirroring and new menus.

Other new tech will include walk-away locking, auto toll payments, remote auto-parking, cabin air filtration, a digital rear-view mirror and large 12-inch head-up display.

The core EV6 range also receives a retuned suspension, more soundproofing for the rear motor, a thicker B-pillar and a revised body shell to improve rigidity for safety. Post-facelift, the airbag count rises to 10.

In Korea pricing for the 2025 Kia EV6 has remained unchanged, suggesting a similar approach might be taken to the EV6 GT in Australia, that currently starts from $99,590 plus on-roads.

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Written byJohn Mahoney
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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