Kia brings the disparate brother of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 on the market in the fall. Both share the Group’s new 800-volt electric car platform, and many things are the same or similar. But actually they are two completely different vehicles. “Krone” engine editor Stephan Schätzl has already driven a prototype of the Kia EV6. His impressions here in the video!
Originally there was a release blocking period until August 22nd, but this has been lifted. We are therefore already showing the video now.
The design couldn’t be different. The Kia looks beefy, sporty and powerful, juicy curves shape the image, instead of edges like the Hyundai. The wheelbase is ten centimeters shorter, but at 2.90 meters it still breaks the class frame.
Unusual design process
It is interesting that the design of the EV6 was finished within two weeks: chief designer Luc Donckerwolke brought four Korean designers into his office in Bavaria, put a model of the blessed Lancia Stratos on the table and let them work. Mission: the creation of a new type of car, similar to how the Stratos was unique at the time. 14 days later the draft of the Kia EV6 was ready. The Stratos design itself should not serve as a model, but you can still feel reminded of it at the rear.
Upgrade in performance, range and chassis
The drive and chassis hardware are essentially the same as the Hyundai counterpart – and yet the Kia EV6 is privileged in several ways.
Here, too, there are two battery sizes to choose from. No difference with the small battery: 58 kWh. The large one, however, holds 77.4 instead of 72.6 kWh. Therefore, the Kia’s maximum WLTP range is an impressive 528 kilometers. The motor output also increases with the larger power storage, although the motors are the same. The rear engine in the version with rear-wheel drive has an output of 229 hp; with an additional front engine, all-wheel drive and a total of 325 hp are available. This enables a sprint from 0 to 100 km / h in 5.2 seconds.
With a small battery, the rear engine has 170 hp. Kia does not offer the version with a small battery and all-wheel drive in Austria. All versions mentioned have a top speed of 185 km / h.
Thanks to the 800-volt architecture, the Kia EV6 is particularly quick to charge. Electricity with an output of up to 220 kW flows on a corresponding fast charger. This should increase the charge level from ten to 80 percent in just 18 minutes.
Damper like with Maserati and AMG
The chassis of the Kia EV6 has a special feature: there is no adaptive chassis in the Kia either, but instead of the classic shock absorbers of the Ioniq 5, special shock absorbers from the supplier ZF are used here. They work with a technology called “Sensitive Damping Control 3”, which was previously only available from Maserati and Mercedes-AMG. This gives the car a particularly supple suspension and, overall, lies very harmoniously on the road. When it came to tuning, they definitely had driving fun in the Kia specifications – it’s fun to drive the EV6. The steering also provides decent feedback. The Kia looks more manageable, to which the shorter wheelbase also contributes.
By the way, all-round disc brakes are used for braking.
Super sports version already announced
The top model with the nickname GT will be launched next year. The drive power of the all-wheel drive will be 585 hp and enable a sprint value of 3.5 seconds. In terms of top speed, the GT clearly outperforms its weaker brothers: Kia specifies 260 km / h.
The prices
The price list for the Kia EV6 with 170 hp and 58 kWh battery starts at 43,990 euros. This basic version is the only one without a heat pump, which provides more efficient cooling and heating. Always on board are things like the curved double display with 12.3-inch screens, navigation system, reversing camera, rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control with lane following and holding assistant or full LED headlights.
The EV6 Pro is much better equipped. From 50,890 euros, there are also 220-volt connections on the rear seat, extensive safety assistants, LED matrix headlights, front parking sensors, Meridian sound systems and seats made of vegan leather. From 49,890 euros, the more powerful battery is in the vehicle floor instead of the additional equipment.
The price list for the “normal” variants goes up to 64,990 euros, which are made up of equipment packages. Everything that is good and expensive is then included, right through to the vehicle-to-load adapter, which can be used to charge e-bikes or other electric cars with up to 3.6 kW from the charging socket.
The GT with 585 hp will be comparatively cheap. With full equipment, it costs 69,990 euros – and is fully eligible, although its price apparently exceeds the funding limit. Since Kia does not have the top EV6 as its own model, but only as a normal EV6 upgraded with equipment packages, you can deduct 5400 euros from the list price.