We purchased our first valid glimpse at the EV6 remaining March and, almost a One year later, in the end purchased to sit down in it, power it, and push each and each button within the cabin remaining week all the intention in which via a day-long press tournament in Northern California. It’s the first Kia automotive to be produced below the company’s new Idea S electrification strategy and is anticipated to be joined by almost a dozen other new EV fashions by 2026 – with Kia noting that “All dedicated Kia EVs will birth with the ‘EV’ prefix, followed by a number that signifies the automotive’s dimension and space within the lineup, now not its chronological space within the launch cadence.”
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And that’s factual autos built on the Hyundai Community’s (which owns Kia) E-GMP battery-propulsion platform. When the EV6 arrives in all 50 states later this spring, it’ll be going up in opposition to the likes of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Volkswagen ID.4, the Tesla Mannequin Y, the Ioniq 5 and Nissan’s Ariya — to now not point out Kia’s be pleased Niro EV and its brother from a Hyundai mother, the Kona EV — also potentially the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra after they at remaining near as effectively.
The EV6 will be made on hand in three tidy stages: Light, Wind, and GT-Line. Technically there’s a fourth version, the First Edition, however the 1,500 fashions in that introductory lot equipped out in one thing esteem 11 hours so your possibilities of catching one on the market at the local dealership are slightly low.
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The EV6 Light is Kia’s introductory tidy stage, retailing for $40,900 and offering efficiency to match. Its 58 kWh nickel-cobalt-manganese battery powers a 168ok W rear motor to manufacture 167 horsepower. That translates into an 8-2nd 0-60 with an electronically restricted 115 MPH high urge and an EPA-rated fluctuate of 232-miles. Through effectivity, the Light will receive you around 136 eMPG within the metropolis (thanks, regenerative braking!) and 100 eMPG at parkway speeds. Take care of its better-appointed brethren, the Light employs MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link suspension within the rear.
Its drivetrain, unfortunately, can handiest take care of a 400V charging structure which lengthens the quantity it takes to fully recharge it. It’s now not bad, tips you, with a plump effect off a 50W DC rapid charger taking factual over an hour — and a fab 18 minutes need to you’re lucky ample to snag a 350W location. At home, the recount of a 240V / 48A connection (ie a home-charging field), you’re trying at factual below 6 hours for a plump effect however with a archaic 110V / 12A socket (esteem what you slump your espresso maker into), that’s going to make a selection days. Literally it’d need to sit down on effect for extra than a weekend — 51 hours and 5 minutes particularly, in step with Kia’s numbers — to max out its battery ability. You’re now not going to respect the identical delays with either the Wind or GT’s on tale of them the recount of the identical 800V-vogue drivetrains that we’re starting to respect on increased-slay EVs esteem GM’s Hummer EV, the Porsche Taycan, Audi’s E-Tron and even the Mach-E.
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What’s extra, the Wind (starting at $47,000) and GT (starting at $51,200 and topping out at $55,900) both offer higher 77.4 kWh packs as effectively as the likelihood of having both front and rear motors, enabling AWD. You’re trying at 310 miles of fluctuate with a 7.2 2nd 0-60 and 117 MPH high urge with the RWD iterations; 274 miles of fluctuate and 5.1 2nd 0-60 for the AWDs. The AWD notches 134 eMPG in cities and 101 eMPG on freeways, though the AWD’s effectivity takes a noticeable hit, 116 eMPG and 94 eMPG, respectively.
Through charging, the Wind and GT will require 73 minutes for a plump effect on a 50W DC connection (and again, 18 minutes with a 350W port which supplies roughly 217 miles of added fluctuate), about 7 hours on a 240V slump and a whopping 68 hours the recount of 110V. They’ll also offer but every other first for Kia, V2L (automotive to load) capabilities akin to the Ford F-150 Lightning meaning that you’ll give you the likelihood to make recount of the EV6 as a huge, rolling battery to energy numerous accessories, 110V energy tools and varied household objects within the tournament of a blackout.
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Other than the tidy stages and powertrain differences, the various EV6s are practically identical from the birth air given the final E-GMP underpinnings. Every measures 114 inches at the wheelbase (same as the Telluride SUV) with an overall length of ~184 inches. The crossover is 74 inches wide and 60.8 inches immense. The EV6 may glimpse esteem a svelte sports actions coupe from its promotional images however in proper life, right here is one chonky boi — now not slightly as immense as the Mach-E however factual as enormous and wearing stout 19-plod rims (dubs are optionally available on the GT). It in actuality fills out a archaic parking build, though Kia is offering a fab valet feature (optionally available on Wind, commonplace on the GT) with the EV6 that enables you to line up the automotive with a parking build, gain out of the automotive and then recount the principle fob to remotely abet it into the distance.
The EV6 has a rattling overjoyed inner. Its cabin is disconcertingly peaceful with the doorways closed and windows up. There’s a total of 102 cubic toes of build within the EV6, 24.4 of which is devoted to storage within the rear cargo build (50.2 cubic toes need to you fold the seats down). You’ve purchased heaps of head and leg build no topic whether or now not you’re sitting within the front or abet, though you may perchance also need to plod rather to match three sets of shoulders all around the rear bench seat. On the plus side, there may perchance be no central power shaft working below the cabin (thanks, e-motors!) so there’s no dash to endure need to you’re sitting within the heart.
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Kia also sprinkled USB and USB-C ports for the period of the front and rear seating areas so you acquired’t need to stretch very some distance to slump in. Heck there’s even a wireless charging pad on the front armrest (subsequent to the engine birth button and power selector). My handiest bugaboo with the seating structure became a minor one: the front seats recount a rather elaborate headrest that tends to imprecise the forward facing wait for folk within the rear of the automotive and, conversely, block out a noticeable a part of the rearview replicate.
Blind spots are now not in actuality a difficulty, alternatively, seeing what number of cameras Kia managed to pack into the automotive. Shall we train, while you occur to utilize your flip signal, a dwell rear-facing video feed from the side replicate pops up on the motive force’s instrument cluster so you don’t minimize off bicyclists or merge into the accelerate of a tractor-trailer. You’ve also purchased a slew of 21 completely different ADAS (driver aid) facets at the side of rearview cameras for parking, lane maintaining aid, lane departure warnings, automated high beams, and forward collision avoidance.
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I became particularly impressed with the EV6’s stage 2 toll road autonomy using feature, Highway Riding Assist 2. Simply click on the actual button on the guidance wheel and the adaptive cruise retain watch over will automatically center the automotive within the lane, asserting its route and urge even via turns. There were a handful of instances when the map and I (and the automotive within the subsequent lane over) mildly disagreed when a flip on the street either started or completed however so long as I kept my hands on the wheel, minor route corrections were no gargantuan deal.
If one thing, the diminished need to defend my eyes on the street allowed me enough time to work out strategies to work the rather confusing central infotainment map. The EV6 comes equipped with a 12.3-plod shade TFT touchscreen navigation demonstrate unit mounted into the heart console. It supplies AM/FM/Sirius radio working via a Meridian sound map, Bluetooth connectivity, a WiFi hotspot, and Android Auto/Apple Carplay — ugh, the phone has to to be bodily tethered to enable Carplay/Auto? Of route? Here is what we’re doing in 2022?
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I’m partial to the physical quantity and temperature retain watch over knobs that Kia integrated into the gain, now not so mighty partial to the decrease, secondary touchscreen which alternates between a brief different bar for the media, navigation, and local climate menus. The problem is that the button build that flips efficiency between the menu score veil veil and the dedicated local climate retain watch over menu is now not effectively outlined or in actuality delineated in any basic intention (I in fact belief it became the button for the hazard lights till a Kia PR catch showed me otherwise) so unless you either know what you’re particularly buying for or tap it at random, there’s no bid approach to change the cabin temperature, alter the fan speeds or activate the defogger — or, conversely, mercurial entry the navigation map or radio. And asking the onboard virtual assistant for aid in doing so became esteem talking to an (even extra) incompetent Siri; there became no quantity of enunciation that may gain this thing to savor the phrases that were coming out of my mouth.
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There became one feature that in actuality stood out to me, without grief redeeming the secondary touchscreen’s discovering out curve, and that became the AR demonstrate. It’s fully vivid. I gushed about Kia’s recount of AR abet in 2019 after I drove the Niro EV. That one appeared extra a proof-of-realizing with its minute pop up veil veil mounted on the guidance shaft. The EV6’s, as an alternative, is a much extra completed and polished product beamed straight onto the front windshield with startling clarity. The automotive’s urge, the street’s urge limit, the distance of a immense different of cruise retain watch over facets, and upcoming turns all appear to be floating a couple of automotive length earlier than you. It’s an improbable, streamlined different to the, in my belief, overly busy structure of the motive force’s cluster. The records is ceaselessly rather sophisticated to read when carrying shades (particularly the polarized style) however as an alternative of that, the demonstrate is effectively comprehensible no topic how shiny or sad it is birth air and need to mute even be adjusted to tale for the motive force’s height and viewing preferences.
Of route all these technological bells and whistles would be rendered moot if it handled esteem the decrepit Elantra I customarily power. Fortunately, the EV6 would now not. It isn’t as overtly aggressive as the Mach-E, nor is it slightly as nimble via turns as the Polestar 2 — it with no doubt isn’t shut to as pretentious as the Mannequin Y — and the EV6 doesn’t need to be. Kia, from what I gathered from the company’s pre-power presentation, is positioning the EV6 to be a Gen Z household sedan, a Taurus SHO for millennials, and for that I applaud them. Cranking via hairpins on the 175 and opening up the throttle along peaceful stretches of the 101 were fun and all however this automotive is now not built for racing — it’s now not going to suck the fillings out of your teeth while you occur to ground the accelerator, you’re now not going to be taking street bikes on the within via turns in it. What the EV6 will elevate out is aid ferry your anklebiters to soccer be aware sooner than you plod errands around metropolis for the afternoon — even perchance pick the household out glamping on the weekend — and elevate out it in comfort, vogue and safety.
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