13 October 2023
Kia’s hot EV6 aims to ruffle feathers, and win fans, in the performance car ether
The notion of high performance has always been implicit in the promise of the modern EV. In fact, so used are we now to the idea of the electric performance car that some critics seem already to have written them off as sterile, one-dimensional and fundamentally unengaging.And so the likes of this week’s road test subject – the Kia EV6 GT – may face an uphill battle convincing some people that they can fulfil their primary purpose as enthusiast’s cars. Watching how each of them addresses that challenge will be interesting over the coming months and years. Having entered UK showrooms earlier this year, the EV6 GT is nothing less than the fastest, most powerful, most dramatic and most exciting production car that Kia has ever built – or so the company’s promotional literature has it.Sharing the chassis of the critically acclaimed standard EV6, the GT adds not only power but technical sophistication too. Its new high-output rear motor may take care primarily of its eye-catching 3.5sec 0-62mph acceleration claim, but elsewhere the application of adaptively damped suspension, proper mechanical torque vectoring and detailed performance tuning is meant to take this car’s dynamic capabilities to far greater heights. And that they do all of that – in tandem with 577bhp of peak power output – for little more than the price of a 345bhp Porsche Cayman S or a 369bhp BMW M340i might not have escaped your attention.Range at a GlanceModelsPowerFromRWD Air223bhp£45,190RWD GT-Line223bhp£48,190AWD GT-Line321bhp£51,690RWD GT-Line S223bhp£52,690AWD GT-Line S321bhp£56,190AWD GT577bhp£62,645The EV6 comes with a 77kWh battery in all guises. Beyond that, you choose between one (RWD) or two (AWD) motors, before getting to the performance-tuned GT. At the foot of the range, the EV6 Air goes without adaptive headlights, electric front-seat adjustment, an electric tailgate, wireless device charging and a parking camera. The GT, by contrast, comes almost fully laden, but metallic paint, racing stripes, locking wheel nuts and rims up to 21in in diameter can be added.