Kia EV6 GT 2022 Review – International

By now, most of the world’s EV enthusiasts have cottoned on to the 2022 Kia EV6. And now the high-performance 2023 Kia EV6 GT could be the electric fastback SUV that crosses it over into mainstream consciousness.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world cottoned on to the EV6 before Australia’s infrastructure and subsidy managers did, so most of them won’t be coming here.

The few that do are sold out until 2024, even with the flagship EV6 GT-Line AWD priced at $82,990 plus ORCs, and Kia warns the EV6 GT will lift that up to around $100,000 – and there’s already a waiting list at its dealers around the country.

So, are we really now in a world with a $100,000 Kia? Yes. Yes, we are. And let us be the first to tell you: it’s probably worth it.

Beneath the moderately changed bodywork of the EV6 GT is more of everything.

Instead of the EV6 GT-Line’s 239kW of power, the EV6 GT shows up with a thumping 430kW of power.

The all-wheel drive flagship combines 160kW from a motor on the front axle with 270kW from the rear-mounted motor to deliver a combined 740Nm of torque from the instant the throttle pedal is stomped upon.

The suspension has also been upgraded (and locally tuned), as have all the skid-control parameters, including the driving-assistance set-up adding a GT Drive mode to the standard Eco, Normal and Sport modes.

Switching between each profile changes the settings on the EV6 GT’s motors, throttle response, steering, suspension, the electric limited-slip differential and the electronic stability control.

There’s a whole bunch of stuff in the 2023 Kia EV6 GT that the standard version doesn’t have, like a sportier set of heated front seats, with suede trim, that are both comfortable and lovely to look at.

The biggest shock – perhaps the only shock, beyond how good the car is – is that it has sporty pretentions and just two spokes on the steering wheel.

Somehow, that works, too, housing the drive mode’s selector system.

There are plenty of detail changes over the EV6, including metal inserts with ‘GT’ logos for the seats, plus green piping on the seats and a striped design feature on the upper door and the central armrest.

The basics are unchanged, meaning a pair of curved 12.3-inch infotainment screens that cover the driving, connectivity and entertainment functions.

The 2900mm wheelbase lends the EV6 GT the same significantly sized cabin area as its lesser siblings, with a flat floor giving it the impression of even more space.

There are some issues with the size of the head-turn blind spot, because of the thickness of the rear pillar, but there is 480 litres of luggage space in the rear (which can be boosted to 1260 litres with the seats folded flat), plus another 20 litres in the frunk.

Like the more junior EV6s, the EV6 GT runs LED headlights and tail-lights, flush-fitting door-handles, wireless phone charging, five USB ports (sprinkled between USB A and USB C) and the car can also be used to charge appliances, thanks to a pair of household power outlets in the rear.

It can send down 3.6kW of power and charge a 55-inch television and an air-conditioner at the same time, for more than 24 hours, and it can even charge up another EV if it needs to.

Don’t look for a spare tyre in the back, though, because you won’t find one. There’s just goop for the 21-inch tyres.

Like every other performance EV we’ve ever seen, the 2023 Kia EV6 GT suffers a bit from the big-tyre syndrome, where taller, fatter rubber adds enough rolling resistance to shrink the range.

For the EV6 GT, that means it posts 424km of range on Europe’s WLTP test cycle, because it retains the GT-Line’s 77.4kWh lithium-ion battery pack, despite the extra power it drains from it.

That’s quite a bit down on the range claims for the rest of the EV6 family, which range from 484km to 528km, but they only have a maximum of 239kW of power and the fastest sprint to 100km/h is 5.2 seconds.

The upside, though, is that the EV6 GT’s 800-volt battery system means there aren’t many fast-chargers in Australia that will challenge the maximum charging speed of the Korean machine’s chemistry.

So its 424km range becomes less challenging to long-haul life for anybody who stops for a coffee or a bite after four hours because it can refill from a 10 per cent residual charge to 80 per cent in 18 minutes.

The standard EV6 GT-Line runs a 697-volt electrical system, while the base EV6 uses 522 volts, so it charges faster than both of them.

The 2023 Kia EV6 GT has Albert Biermann’s fingerprints all over it, and Biermann was the man behind cars like the Hyundai i30 N and the last generation of the BMW M3 and M4, so this is right in his wheelhouse.

He was also in charge of the Hyundai Group’s Electric-Globular Modular Platform (E-GMP), so this was planned right at the start, and even then it involved Luc Donkerwolke’s design department.

The early involvement of the design department is the reason why the EV6 GT’s space-invading dash pieces, like the air-conditioning system, now live beneath the bonnet, rather than inside the dash.

It allows the Kia to have a relatively short dashboard, without the awkward acreage of the Volkswagen MEB cars between the driver and the base of the windscreen, giving the Kia an advantage in interior space, without the cab-forward pose.

But it is a solid piece of engineering, with a MacPherson strut front suspension and a multi-link rear-end holding up the 2.1 tonnes of EV6 GT.

The brakes are unusually significant for an EV, with 380mm front discs and 360mm rears (up from the 325mm discs on the rest of the EV6 range), showing it’s geared up for quicker driving, rather than simple one-pedal regeneration.

And it’s also set up for a more rear-drive feel, with an electronic limited-slip differential at the rear end and far more power than the front.

The first thing that stands out about the 2023 Kia EV6 GT is how utterly cohesive it is, in a way that makes you think that every single person involved in the upgraded EV pulled in the same direction, with the same passion.

There’s nothing out of place and everything feels right, from the first time the wheel rolls over a gutter, and that feeling never changes.

The speed is there, but what stands out is the refinement and the sheer seamless organisation of what must be a ferociously complicated piece of engineering.

It is a car that is more than comfortable aping a limousine around town, regardless of how lumpy the roads are, to being superbly stable at very high speed and astonishingly capable when the roads turn twisty.

The changes in the car’s character as you move from eco to normal are pronounced, and so is the step to the Sport mode that feels so very much the central player here.

But it’s the GT drive mode that sharpens everything to a peak, and it’s a very sharp peak.

Kia claims a 3.5sec burst to 100km/h and we can confirm it does indeed run out to 260km/h (though don’t expect to hang on to a 420km-odd range doing that) on an autobahn, and it is rock solid and calm while it’s doing it.

The 0-100km/h time is less important than the sheer urge available at any time, from any speed. It’s a jet, but it’s never a threatening machine and it has an odd way (for an EV) of keeping things calm and comfortable, yet never hiding the actual road speed from you.

The brakes are superb, but so is the regeneration when you ask it to haul things down, and it all just keeps piling on credit points to the initial impressions of a calmly poised, balanced, user-friendly fast car.

Here’s the single biggest point to make about the 2023 Kia EV6 GT: We had 40 other cars on test and more than 30 motoring writers. I surveyed them and every single one of them said they’d take the EV6 GT over every other car at the German Car of the Year test fest.

And there were Audi e-tron GTs, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT and a bunch of Alpinas. That’s the impression it left on a stunned, German-centric audience of experts.

It’s a very fast car that isn’t flashy or adorned in big decals or chrome. It’s a comfortable car that can switch roles effortlessly to whatever the situation demands.

And it’s a very expensive Kia. But it’s also the very best car Korea has ever built, and it just might be the best EV on sale today.

How much does the 2022 Kia EV6 GT cost?
Price: $100,000 (estimated)
Available: Late 2022
Powertrain: Two permanent magnet synchronous motors
Output: 430kW/740Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 77.4kWh lithium-ion polymer
Range: 424km (WLTP)
Energy Consumption: 18.4kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)