SIX PACK(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 68

Kia is stepping up a gear in its EV offensive with this updated version of its stylish EV6 battery-powered mid-sized performance saloon. This car has smarter pavement presence, a now-bigger 84.0kWh battery 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 still need to take very seriously indeed.

Background word count: 146

Prior to the 2021 arrival of this EV6, Korean maker Kia's offerings had been worthy, sensible, good value and, whisper it, rather dull. But that changed with this car's introduction. The idea here was to reinterpret full-electric technology for the affordable part of the mid-sized market in a sporty, desirable fashion. As with rivals like the Polestar 2 or Tesla Model 3. That was quite a challenging brief for a manufacturer not previously positioned as a premium brand, but Kia went about it with enthusiasm. The brand developed an all-new E-GMP platform for this EV6, shared with its close cousin the Hyundai IONIQ 5. And introduced a top EV6 GT high performance model for the very top of the range with a Porsche Taycan-like performance. By 2024, with competition fiercening, it was time for a mid-term update, which brought us the car we look at here.

Driving Experience word count: 309

The big news with this update is provision of a larger 84.0kWh battery pack (up from 77.4kWh before). As you'd expect, this improves EV driving range, now rated at 361 miles for the volume rear-driven variants (33 miles better than before). It's a best of 339 miles for the dual motor version. Performance remains eager. The 225hp motor of the rear-driven model takes this Kia to 62mph in 7.7s. With the AWD EV6, that rear electric motor is joined by a smaller 74kW motor at the front, boosting total output to 320bhp. That provides for 62mph in 5.3s and nearly twice the amount of pulling power - 605Nm - on the way to the 114mph top speed that all versions of this Kia share. The car doesn't actually feel that fast on first acquaintance, which for us is a good thing, the delivery of torque and speed pleasantly linear and combustion-like. If you want an EV6 that does kick you in the back away from rest, Kia will attempt to sell you a top GT model with a twin motor output uprated to 577bhp and a thumping 740Nm of torque. You don't really need that GT model's manic speed - rest to 62mph in just 3.5s en route to 162mph; and you don't really need its standard adaptive damping system either because the passive 'frequency selective' mechanical springs that feature on standard EV6s (which can't be upgraded) combine with the multi-link independent rear suspension to produce an actually very well judged quality of ride over poor surfaces. There are three drive modes ('Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport'), none of which improve the rather gloopy feel of the steering. But the six available brake regeneration settings (most operable by the steering wheel paddle shifters) are effective and careful use will get you somewhere near the quoted combined cycle drive range figures.