HEALDSBURG, Calif. – It will be difficult, even unnecessary, to write about 2022 That EV6 without mentioning 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. As such, we won’t even try to avoid it. They use the same platform, Hyundai Group Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), as we found with Ioniqis a solid foundation for a tram. The two EVs also share a lot of the same safety and infotainment tech, which we’ll dive into later. With the price already set quite high by its cousin Hyundai, our expectations were high when we headed to California’s Sonoma wine country to drive our first Kia EV6.
The most noticeable difference between the EV6 and the Ioniq 5 is of course the looks. While the Hyundai has adjacent proportions to the hatchback and the futuristic vibe that could have been shaped by “Robocop” production designer, Kia looks more like a traditional compact sports car intersection. It looks quite small in the image, but looking at it face-to-face, you can better judge that the EV6 has the same 114.2-inch wheelbase as Kia Telluride Three-row SUV. Interestingly, the Ioniq 5 is almost 4 inches longer even though its overall length is almost 2 less than EV6 inches.
So what does that mean for the interior space? The EV6 is spacious, with 103 cubic feet of passenger space, similar to the Ioniq 5’s 106.5 cubic feet. The EV6 has 24.4 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and 50.2 cubic feet when folded. rear seats – less than the Hyundai’s 27.2 / 59.3 cubic feet of cargo capacity.
The interior design further differentiates these two vehicles. While the Ioniq 5 feels open, airy and like a lounge, the Kia EV6 feels more conventional, albeit sporty and focused. The plastic pieces in our testers had interesting patterns. Vegan skin Seat upholstery is standard in all but the Light (which has a fabric seat surface), but both of our testers had the GT-Line’s optional microfiber suede seats, which are both comfortable and stylish. , with black perforated suede decorated with white leather.
One oddity is the unique, dual-purpose control touch bar at the bottom of the center stack that controls the audio and climate systems. In audio mode, the touch bar has shortcut buttons for various infotainment menus and navigation. To the left of that are physical buttons for front and rear defrost, air recirculation and automatic climate control. The left and right buttons control volume and track adjustment/search, respectively. Finally, among them is a button that switches the entire touch bar to climate control. In this mode, the buttons control the dual-zone temperature, while the audio buttons convert into buttons for controlling the thermostat, A/C, driver-only mode or temperature sync, as well as speed. fan degree. If you don’t know where to look, you might have a hard time locating these climate controls, and the touch-sensitive buttons for switching between the two modes will be larger with icons to better show the actual function. of the button.
The EV6 is offered with two the battery options, rear- or all-wheel drive and three trim levels. The most affordable model is the lightweight trim with RWD and a 58 kilowatt-hour battery. At $42,115 after destination but before any incentives (like a $7,500 federal tax credit), that’s good for a 232-mile driving range, with 167 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. -feet and 0-60 time is 8.0 seconds.
Moving up to the Wind version gets you the same 77.4 kWh battery as the rest of the lineup. With RWD drive ($48,215), it delivers 225 horsepower, 258 pound-feet of torque and a 0-60 time of 7.2 seconds, as well as a 310-mile driving range. The Wind AWD ($52,115) adds a front-end motor for a total of 320 horsepower, 446 pound-feet of torque, and a 0-60 sprint time of 5.1 seconds. AWD sacrifices some driving range, though, at 274 miles.
The GT-Line RWD ($52,415) and AWD ($57,115) share the same performance and performance specs as the Wind, but add features like automatic pop-out door handles, a sunroof, assist Our winning system-enhanced remote smart parking assist, blind-spot warning system Technology of the Year Award 2020and a more advanced suite of Highway Driveway Assist II driver-assist technologies including machine learning, adaptive cruise control, automatic lane change, and evasive steering assist.
Regardless of which version you choose, every EV6 features the same 800-volt battery architecture that enables ultra-fast DC charging, capable of filling the battery from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes with a 350 kW charger. They all have the same MacPherson front and five-link rear suspension, dual 12.3-inch curved screens, wireless phone chargers, and heated front seats. All but the Light trim are vehicle-loadable, allowing you to power devices using a three-prong plug in the socket under the rear seat or via an adapter in the vehicle’s charging port.
We start the day on the GT-Line RWD with a vibrant Runway red (one of nine available exterior paint colors). color). Away from the streets surrounding the young vineyards and past the main lobby of the Montage Resort, we passed a family checking into a hotel. Their eyes fell on the red EV6, and the father loudly declared, “Wow!” before he wakes up and gets away. We leave the resort and hit the sunken roads of Sonoma County, roads winding between farm and vineyard with near-constant elevation changes.
Finally, we’ll make our way to higher hills, where locals toss their antique pickups through blinding turns and twisty roads with the confidence that only years away. A single person’s tire tracks are enough to banish the thought of plunging off a dense cliff. Here, the EV6 chased those locals like a dog chases a rabbit. The handlebars feel connected, light enough and precise enough to confidently turn from corner to corner. It’s a nicer car than the Ioniq 5, though not quite the same. The slightly shorter wheelbase makes this EV6 a bit more willing to turn around, and catching the accelerator at just the right moment while exiting a corner causes the tires to spin and the rear to sway playfully.
Then we’ll go into a matte steel gray GT-Line AWD. The biggest benefit to the all-wheel-drive version of the EV6, at least on dry, well-paved roads in California, is the extra power of the engine. Power added 95 horsepower and 188 pound-feet of torque down 2.1 seconds in the 0-60 time. In practice, this means that you need a shorter runway with dotted yellow lines to move through that box. vans that has kept you over the mountains. For all practical matters, we’re happy to live with the RWD EV6’s still-quick acceleration, but the AWD version shows more confidence on the straight road and giddiness in the seats. .
While the EV6, independent of the powertrain, can easily accelerate through these mountain roads, we have to work hard to get the rewards. Turn a corner too quickly, and the car will start to plow, until we hit the gas just enough for the wheels to push the car’s weight back into the right direction. These adjustments are a little easier in AWD vehicles, with pulling the front tires helping to redesign the car, with less unruly behavior at the rear.
Dragging the left handlebar paddle summons full recovery brake force, making slowing down at each corner a smoother, more intuitive process than trying to perfectly time when and how much to lift off the accelerator to perform regenerative braking. The result is smoother driving and cleaner, smoother corners. You can also turn off the throttle regenerative brake and do it the old-fashioned way with Coast mode. There are four levels of regen available.
When not over the mountains, the EV6 offers a relaxing driving experience. Shared with two top trim levels of Ioniq’s 5 and more Genesis GT-Line’s Highway II Driver Assistance system is an excellent adaptive cruise control system with sophisticated lane centering and includes semi-automatic lane change activated by the turn signals. Nhan. For the second case, it will check the clearance in the traffic and move the car to the next lane smoothly. The available augmented reality head-up display provides a wealth of useful information at an easy-to-read distance in front of you, including highlighting the vehicle you’re following and providing helpful navigational cues. Useful to tell you where and when to turn.
If you’re considering adding an EV to your driveway, it’s hard to get better than the Kia EV6… or its Hyundai Ioniq 5 cousin. Which you choose is largely a matter of personal preference – and if you’re wondering, we’d still prefer the Hyundai (at least in AWD, as we haven’t driven the Ioniq 5 RWD) for its looks, a There’s a bit more subtlety of flying, the cabin feels open, and the fact that the price when fully loaded is $1,390 less than the Kia. Hyundai also includes three years of free 30-minute charging sessions on the Electrify America network, while the Kia EV6 only has 1,000 kWh of free charging on the same network. That will probably solve 20 less fees between 10-80%.
However, there is one big advantage the EV6 offers: availability. While the Ioniq 5 is initially only available in 18 states, Kia will offer the EV6 in all 50 starting in a few weeks. In fact, Kia hopes to have an EV6 in every agency in the country at the time its major TV show aired in Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022. Depending on where they live, that might just be the deciding factor for customers in the market for a fun, fast, high-tech electric crossover.
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