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The Kia EV6 is the Korean brand’s current halo model, and the all-wheel drive GT-Line embodies its electrified future.
It’s all well and good to enjoy the idea of the EV6 with its swoopy contrasting design, unusual overall shape, and once-unprecedented-for-Kia price-tag, but is it a car you would actually buy?
It brings many questions to my mind, like, what is it really like to drive around every day in something which looks and feels like a concept car? Well, I have one for three months to use as my daily driver to find out.
I’ll be reporting on what the EV6 is like to live with, on the open road and in the day-to-day commute, what it’s like to charge, and whether a range of 484km (according to the WLTP cycle) is genuine or even enough for my lifestyle.
Kia EV6 2023: GT-Line AWD (with Sunroof)
| Engine Type | 0.0L |
|---|---|
| Fuel Type | Electric |
| Fuel Efficiency | 0.0L/100km (combined) |
| Seating | 5 |
| Price From | $82,830 - $95,260 |
| Safety Rating |
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What are some of the best things about the Kia EV6?
To give you some context for this test, I’ve come straight out of the EV6’s smaller sibling, the Kia Niro, which was also in GT-Line guise.
That car suited my lifestyle quite well. It was a small SUV so it fit in my tiny unit car spot pretty easily, it was compact enough that my partner enjoyed driving it, and considering its dimensions, punched above its weight when it came to cabin space.
It was also easy to charge and maintain, and I found it to be very accurate with its range calculation on the open road.
The EV6 had big shoes to fill, then, and I immediately noticed some significant differences from behind the wheel, despite these two cars now sharing many of the same interior features.
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For a start, the EV6 immediately feels more taught and aggressive on the road. It has firmer steering, a lot more weight pulling it down to the ground, and metric tons of traction thanks to its all-wheel drive system.
It also feels enormous. This car is a segment up from the Niro and it feels every square centimetre of it. I keep being surprised by its length, having to watch out in tight corners not to curb its rear wheels.
I’m also finding its width to be a challenge in parking lots and even my own parking spot at home, which requires an Austin Powers-esque manoeuvre to reverse into.
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The sensation of accelerating is largely the same, though, with the EV6 having a very similar demeanour when it comes to putting power to the ground as the Niro.
I put this down to its motors and software, which Hyundai group vehicles (including Kias and Genesis EVs) are particularly good at.
The sandpapered smooth feel of the accelerator and regen dance together nicely in traffic to make for a smooth and efficient drive.
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One thing which also immediately stood out to me was the EV6’s slightly different soundscape to the Niro.
It makes a similar sort of science-fiction hum, but the EV6’s version is deeper and more three dimensional courtesy of its internal speakers.
It can be turned up or down via the multimedia screen settings, but adds a kind of feedback not present in all other EVs. A similar system is employed in the new Mercedes EQE and EQS, for example.
It also packs almost twice the punch of the Niro, offering up a whopping 239kW/605Nm from its dual-motor all-wheel drive system. I’m keen to stretch its legs out a little and report back in future long term chapters.
What is it like to charge the EV6? What is the range like?
The EV6 has an almost identical on-paper range to the Niro I had before, weighing in on the WLTP cycle at 484km. This is more than enough for daily purposes to avoid range-anxiety, particularly around town.
In my first month with the car I covered roughly 400km and charged it up only once at a 50kW unit local to me.
With its 800-volt architecture, the EV6 is capable of charging up at 350kW which makes it one of the fastest charging EVs on the market today, although my nearest 350kW unit is some distance away.
Interestingly, and perhaps because of its overkill charging system, I noticed the EV6 could maintain a rate of 50kW well beyond the 80 per cent threshold where normally EVs start to throttle back the speed.
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I charged it up from 15 to 98 per cent in bang-on 70 minutes, and even when I was going to unlock the charger it was still maintaining a rate of 50kW. Impressive.
On the AC charger, which I expect to get more use out of in the coming months, the EV6 can charge at 11kW, allowing a roughly six-hour charge time from 10 per cent. It’s also capable of V2L, which I’m excited to try out in future instalments.
For my first month I landed on an energy consumption figure of 16.7kWh/100km which is reasonably impressive given it’s only 0.5kWh/100km higher than the Niro, which is much smaller.
Is the Kia EV6 practical?
Yes and no. What is the EV6? It says SUV on the tin, but the more I look at it the more I feel like its some kind of alternate-universe station wagon.
The front seats feel significantly more claustrophobic than in this car’s close relation, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5. I feel like I sit quite high in the EV6, and the roof is much closer to my head than it is in the expansive Ioniq.
The dark trims, which Kia uses to ram home the sporty intent of the EV6 don’t help this effect, and while the GT-Line specific seats come in a trendy suede-look, these sorts of trims don’t always age well, particularly if you throw kids into the equation.
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The back seat is huge, and has matching enormous doors, so I have no doubt ferrying passengers around in this car will be a breeze.
The floor is also flat, same as the Niro, so I have already used it to carry around awkward objects or even my grocery shop when I have poor access to, or can’t be bothered opening up the boot.
The boot itself seems large, easily absorbing the three-piece CarsGuide luggage set, with all the seats in place, or a larger-than-I-bargained-for Christmas tree with them down.
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There’s also a handy storage cutaway for charging cables under the floor, and the EV6 offers a 20-litre space under its bonnet.
The main practicality drawback for me then is the car’s footprint. As mentioned earlier, it’s so long and wide that it seems overkill for my purposes, and required some re-thinking to manoeuvre it into my unit parking spot.
Stay tuned next month, as I plan to take the EV6 on some longer freeway trips to test out its range calculation more thoroughly, and I’ll no doubt be taking some friends and family for a ride over the festive period to get their feedback on the car’s design and the amount of room available in its rear seat.
Acquired: November 2022
Distance travelled this month: 415km
Odometer: 5287km
Average energy consumption this month: 16.7kWh/100km
Pricing Guides
Range and Specs
| Vehicle | Specs | Price* |
|---|---|---|
| AIR RWD | Electric, 1 SPEED AUTOMATIC | $68,640 - $78,870 |
| GT AWD | Electric, 1 SPEED AUTOMATIC | $70,840 - $81,400 |
| GT-Line AWD | Electric, 1 SPEED AUTOMATIC | $72,380 - $83,160 |
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