DRIVES
KIA EV6 GT
TESTED 18.6.25, WARWICKSHIRE ON SALE NOW
Kia borrows a few tricks from Hyundai’s game-changing Ioniq 5 N to update its own hot EV
Three years ago, Kia surprised us with the original version of its hot EV6. These were the dark days before our world got lit up by the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Here came Kia with a car that didn’t just have a power figure to raise eyebrows but was supposedly capable of pushing plenty of traditional driver’s car buttons too. I liked it when we did our first ‘fun EVs’ test, even if a full road test later showed it not to be the fully rounded dynamic item.
Now, with the facelifted EV6, arrives an updated EV6 GT as well. At first glance, it looks like Kia has simply copied Hyundai’s homework. It adopts the same dual motors (223bhp at the front axle, 378bhp at the back, a bit more at either end for short bursts) and bigger (84kWh) battery as the Ioniq 5 N, as well as its virtual gearbox. In reality, of course, the two teams are very closely connected, and this evolution was always planned.
The question remains what this Kia adds to the party. The pitch here from Kia is that, as the name suggests, the EV6 GT is more of a grand tourer: same performance, similar driver involvement, more comfort. That’s slightly odd, since the regular EV6 is positioned as a sportier alternative to the loungey Ioniq 5, but fine, we’ll go with it. The right tuning can make an enormous difference to how a car feels – and there’s no shortage of things to tune in this sort of car: dampers, steering, limited-slip differential, synthesised noises…