Highlights
- Efficient all-electric performance
- Stylish inside and out
- Superb handling
- Comfortable ride
Introduction
If you fancy going electric, check out the EV6. Its combination of range, speedy charging, spirited performance and comfort will tick the boxes of most motorists, and of course Kia is still offering a class-leading 7-year, 100,000-mile warranty.
It's a strikingly designed mid-sized SUV, and with the Air specification driven here, the beauty is anything but skin deep.
Design and Practicality
The new Kia EV6 is a masterpiece of automotive design.
Edward Stephens
With muscular front haunches, a bonnet with two stylish bulges in it, side panels with nicely flared shapes in the metal and a skyward curved rear, this Kia certainly catches the eye.
As one of the longest of the new breed of electric cars, it’s almost identical in length to a Jaguar I-PACE and not dissimilar in styling.
Build quality of the EV6 is up there with the best of the best. Everything feels well put together and solid and the doors close easily but with a solid clunk, while the rear tailgate is nicely weighted making it easy to open and close even for youngsters.
Powertrains and Performance
The EV6 is available in two formats. With a single electric motor driving the rear wheels, or with twin electric motors – one on each axle – making it four-wheel drive.
The model driven here was the less pricey rear-wheel-drive version, which offers 226bhp, as opposed to the 321bhp of the four-wheel drive model.
And while the latter will hit 62mph in just 5.2 seconds, the model I drove is no slouch, hitting the same speed in 7.3 seconds, more than a match for most hot hatches on the road. Both have the same top speed of 114mph.
On the road, you have the choice of driving the car as a normal automatic or switching to the one-pedal driving mode much beloved by electric car makers to give you more regenerative braking and extend the car’s battery range.
Paddles behind the steering wheel also allow you to take a halfway house option by not quite going to single pedal drive but introducing a stronger level of regenerative braking at each pull of the left-hand paddle.
Handling and road holding are top-notch with the batteries situated under the floor and between the axles ensuring there's a low centre of gravity to give plenty of stability when you want to push on enthusiastically.
In the case of the EV6, range anxiety soon fades into the background with a car the manufacturer claims can cover an average of 328 miles on a single charge.
Using an ultra rapid 350kW charger, if you can find one, the EV6 can be charged from 10 percent to 80 percent in just 18 minutes.
More realistically, a 50kW charger, of which there are plenty around, will do the same job in just under an hour and a quarter.
Equipment and Technology
The interior of the EV6 is minimalist yet futuristic. It features a seamless high-tech curved high-definition audiovisual and navigation screen with all essential information focussed immediately in front of the driver, while onboard features like radio and satellite navigation details sit above the centre console.
A comfortable central armrest with storage space leads into a floating centre panel housing the circular gear shift and the buttons for the heated seats and heated steering wheel. Below is a useful storage tray capable of accommodating numerous large items.
Summary
The EV6 ideal for large families, or if you just want an electric mid-sized SUV that offers a superior amount of rear legroom. Entry level Air specification brings extra sleep styling and a serious amount of onboard features and technology to the range.
