Review | Kia EV6 - What’s All The Fuss About?
I'm pretty lucky when it comes to cars and bikes that I get to drive, ride and review. Often it's the fastest, most luxurious and most technologically advanced cars on the market. Yet, here I am writing about quite possibly the most 'ordinary' car I've taken delivery of so far for Driven. Why? Well, every once in a while, a seemingly ordinary new car comes along and causes something of a frenzy amongst motoring journalists and drivers, and the Kia EV6 seems to be doing just that - what I want to know is, 'why?'
This is the Kia EV6 GT-Line S RWD, and on top of it being a seemingly 'ordinary' car, it's also one of the cheaper and less powerful models in the Kia EV6 range with 77.4kWh. Converted to break horsepower, this works out to be 226bhp with 350Nm of torque. The GT-Line S has a top speed of 114mph and will sprint from 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds. Being a full EV, it's a single-speed automatic gearbox, but there are a few options and driver modes to suit different driving moods or economy preferences. This particular car has a few optional extras, including interior luxuries like a 14-speaker Meridian Surround Sound system and a few driver aides, but, on the whole, this EV6 is mid-spec-mid-range with a price tag of £53,645, which in comparison to equivalent cars from other marques with similar tech and luxuries, represents pretty significant value for money.
Being that it's a full EV, the EV6 does have some of the less-than-positive characteristics we're now frequently encountering with the 'new era' of electric motoring, namely, size and weight. At 2,425kg, it's a heavy thing, and whilst the weight is hidden on acceleration thanks to the electric drive train, it can be felt in the braking and cornering. Due to the requirement of battery size and placement, it's on the larger size of life too for a family car, comfortably filling the average car parking space at 4.7 meters in length and 1.9 metres wide.
The range and charging times are achievements worth celebrating on all EV6 models, but on this GT-Line S RWD, they’re particularly good. In the best case scenario (i.e. a city environment), Kia claims that up to 426miles can be achieved on just one charge with this model, however as is the norm with these sorts of claims, there aren't any real-world conclusions to this test as far as I can find. This is also perhaps why Kia makes more of a point of boasting the 328 combined range in their advertising and press releases. I only had the car on test for one week, and in that time, the most I saw from a full charge as a predicted range was just shy of 250 miles - almost 100 short of what the billboards boast. I'm willing to give grace on this subject, though, as my loan of the car took place in the cold winter months, which does take a toll on the battery, not to mention the additional battery-draining comfort features I was making the most of, such as air conditioning, heated seats and the heated steering wheel - all of which were excellent.
Where the EV6 really excels is the ability to add charge very quickly. With a fast charger (240KW+), the EV6 can charge from 10% to 80% in as little as 18 minutes - that's an easy additional boost of 200+ miles to help complete a journey. With the more typical 100-150KW chargers, 10 to 80% is a little over double that at 40-45 mins - still, pretty good. The ability to plug in and charge at home is necessary when considering an EV, and with a wall box fitted at home, an overnight charge should easily fill a battery for the following day. One other clever feature on the EV6 I tested is the Heat Pump. This innovative system keeps the battery packs warm in colder weather which can preserve mileage rage by up to 80%.
Other worthy celebrations are the convenience and comfort factors that come as standard. The extra large size of the EV6 brings multiple benefits, including internal space, passenger comfort, plus lots of storage. In terms of room for the driver and passengers, headroom, legroom, and space on either side of all occupants when seated is ample. Continuing the family car thought train, another big plus is storage. As well as the usual glove box and door pockets, there are additional shelves and storage bins in the car, handy for stowing road trip essentials without impeding any seating space. Boot space is good at 490 litres, and the rear seats fold flat for even more stowage capability when needed. On the RWD models, thanks to no front motor, there is also the added benefit of 52 litres of storage under the bonnet, ideal for items you would rather keep away from other luggage, such as muddy boots or spare fluids.
The EV6 does feature a collection of seemingly desirable driver aides, but they're not without their gripes. Adaptive cruise control is a fantastic comfort feature, although I'd have liked to see an option to have cruise control without the adaptive radar feature. As is the norm with many of these systems, the smallest gap possible to set between you and the car ahead is still large enough for other drivers on motorways and duel carriageways to slip in front just before or just after overtaking, which causes the adaptive cruise control to have a minor panic, hit the brakes and slow you down to get back to the set distance.
There is also steering input to assist with lane discipline and cornering, plus a clever setting on some models which monitors the distance of the car in an adjacent lane on a motorway. If the car beside you starts to drift too close toward you, the EV6 will gently move further away whilst monitoring its surroundings. Unfortunately, I had to turn the adaptive steering and lane assist off due to the car's desire to stay precisely in the centre of the driving lane. On more than one occasion, I found the car to be rocking very slightly from side to side due to the minor constant adjustments from the steering, which for the first time, gave the sensation of sea-sickness whilst in the driver's seat.
A big tech-positive on the EV6 is the cameras all around the car, which are helpful for parking and tight manoeuvres. The cameras also help with blind spots by displaying a view from cameras mounted on the very bottom of either wing mirror, showing a view of the blind spots directly onto the dashboard instrument cluster. This feature is one of the greatest yet most simple modern innovations I've experienced on a new car, ensuring safety for you and anyone you might need to overtake - especially cyclists. These cameras also allow for 360 degrees of AI imagery, allowing you to see what's happening all around the car by swiping the screen and giving the impression of an external top-down and close-by view of the car you are inside. One other clever setting I found is called Quiet Mode. When activated, this feature reduces the speaker volume in the front of the car, turns off any audio in the back and dims the internal lighting in case anyone in the back needs some well-earned rest without disturbance.
Aside from some of the driver aides being a little clunky at times, on the whole, the EV6 has been seriously well thought out in almost every aspect. The more time I spent with the car, the more I found it to be intuitive, intelligent and an enjoyable and comfortable place to be as both a driver and a passenger. Kia has made a sporty 'GT' version of the EV6 with a faster 0-60 sprint and higher top speed, but I can't figure out what the point is in that model. The EV6 GT is more expensive, less comfortable and has a reduced electric range, and I can't say I felt the GT-Line S needed much more power than it already offers. My advice: spend less and get more with the AIR or GT-Line models.
I was keen to discover why the EV6 had caused such a storm in the motoring press, and admittedly at first, I remained unsure. Following a week with the car, considering what you get for the money, it is, on the whole, a remarkable thing. An entry-level EV6 can be purchased for just under £45,000, which in today's market is almost unbeatable when considering what else is in that price bracket. This one, at just a few thousand pounds more with the luxuries and tech it has, is likely to set a new benchmark in terms of quality vs value for cars in this bracket - and deservedly so.
words: John Marcar
pictures: John Marcar & Richard Fullbrook
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