Kia EV6 review: Still one of the best EVs on the road

When it comes to electric cars, there’s one company that’s really making strides. That company is the Hyundai Motor Group, which underpins the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands. I don’t use the word “underpins” casually either, with a number of award-winning models all sitting on the same E-GMP platform.

That’s perhaps a strange place to start a review of the Kia EV6, but there’s no escaping the fact that much of what you get from this Kia is predictable. That could sound like a negative, but when those predictable elements are efficiency, great interior tech, interesting design and good performance, we’re off to a great start.

The Kia EV6 is old enough to be moving into a mid-life facelift. That means that some of what you see here is cosmetic decoration, while some pushes this car forward from the strong position it already possessed.

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The Disconnekt Downlow

The Kia EV6 is a practical and efficient electric car, coming with a sporty design and plenty of performance too. A bigger battery means more range on this latest model, while a couple of design and feature tweaks add to the appeal of what was already an excellent electric car. Generous standard equipment meets plenty of cabin space making this a great family car, while the sporty performance on higher models will appeal to those who want a little more pep when they put their foot down. It’s an easy recommendation and still one of the best electric cars on the road.

See the Kia EV6 from £45,575 on Kia.co.uk

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Kia EV6 fun stuff: Design, interior and technology

As a facelift model, the design and interior of the Kia EV6 will be familiar. One of the most dramatic changes to this car comes around the front: having established a recognisable light pattern for the original model, Kia has shifted the light design to be more intricate. It uses a style that Kia calls Star Map, where the lights appear to join points together. Marketing speak aside, there’s a newly-recognisable design to the daylight running lights. These are now connected with a lightbar between them on the front, joining the long light line that defines the rear of the car.

There have been nips and tucks in a couple of places, with slightly revised bumpers on higher trim levels to make this car look even more sporty – along with the new colour pictured here, called Wolf Grey. The EV6 remains a distinctive model: it doesn’t sit too high, with a sporty stance. The most distinctive element is the sloping roof which meets a high line for the boot lid, framed with that red light bar.

Slip into the interior and the Kia EV6 hasn’t changed from the 2021 model. It still has that futuristic look, with clever use of materials to lend a sense of quality. It’s not lavishly wrapped in leather like you might find on some premium German rivals, but the use of plastics is smartly done.

Back to that E-GMP platform I mentioned and it’s on the interior where you see the benefit. The flat floor means there’s loads of space on the interior, exactly as you’ll find on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 or the Genesis GV60, both of which sit in the same sort of position as the EV6 (and use the same platform). There’s a 420-litre boot, with front storage too (52 litres on RWD, 20 litres on AWD).

One of the advantages of an electric car is that you don’t need a transmission tunning running down the centre of the car and the EV6 really takes advantage of that. Between the driver and passenger seats there’s plenty of space, which is really useful for stowing your bag. What’s slightly odd is that this is where the USB connections are, so if you wanted to charge your phone via cable, you’d be plugging it in by your feet.

There is, however, a 15W wireless charging pad in the armrest, along with plenty of storage and my favourite feature of the interior: the start button. This sits on an angular raised element, just in front of the new fingerprint sensor. I just think it looks really futuristic compared to many other cars.

There’s another piece of great design on the interior and that’s the lip in front of the display. This gives you somewhere to rest your hand when interacting and it makes using the touchscreen much easier – especially if you’re trying to type in a destination while driving along a bumpy road.

Unchanged from the previous version of this car is the curved display that runs from behind the steering wheel into the centre of the car. The infotainment system is pretty good, but I get the feeling that Kia knows that people are just going to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, both of which now work wirelessly.

With that in mind, the experience when using your smartphone has got better, because things like navigation instructions will appear in the head-up display too, which is a real advantage. Some cars won’t pass that through to the head-up display, but here you can navigate using Google Maps or Waze and get the instructions right in your eyeline.

Kia EV6 essentials: Range, performance and handling

All models of the Kia EV6 come with the same 84kWh battery. This is Kia’s fourth-generation battery technology and sees the EV6 getting an increase from 77.4kWh in the older models. More battery means more range, with Kia saying you’ll get up to 361 miles.

There are options for rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, with the RWD car the more efficient, while the AWD model gives you higher performance. I tested the GT-Line S AWD, which is essentially the top model until any future Kia EV6 GT comes along. The RWD model gets a single motor with 225bhp, while the AWD model has twin motors and 320bhp.

The Kia sits on an 800V architecture and supports a charging peak of 258kW, which means you’ll be able to get it from 10-80 per cent in 10 minutes, if you happen to find a fast charger. I found that I was averaging around 3.3 miles per kWh during my test drives, but that really was without trying to drive economically. That would equate to about 280 miles of range, but my experience driving other models on this platform suggests that elevating this closer to the cited 361 miles shouldn’t be too hard.

On the road the Kia EV6 is incredibly easy to drive. The regeneration can be controlled by the paddles on the steering column, moving through different strengths to find one that suits the conditions you are in. I like to be able to coast on the motorway, but in urban areas, a stronger regen helps recoup energy in stop-start driving.

There are a couple of extra options too. The first is iPedal, where you basically get one-pedal driving, so when you lift off, the car brakes. That’s fine in busy conditions and once you get used to it can be a really efficient way to drive the car. The second option is auto, where the car tries to apply appropriate regen for the conditions. I found this to be a little unpredictable, so it’s not an option I’d choose to turn on.

There is a whole array of safety features incorporated into the car (some of which is a legal requirement by the EU) and it can feel like this is a little overzealous at times, trying to stop you crossing the centre line, alerting you to speed limits and so on. But I did find that the adaptive cruise control with lane switching worked well.

On the road I found the Kia EV6 comfortable and lovely to drive. It’s not too harsh, even on the 20-inch wheels, with the range and 0-62mph time of 5.3 seconds on this AWD model making for a fun drive.

Should I buy the Kia EV6?

The Kia EV6 presents a compelling choice of mid-sized electric car, practical enough as a family car, with a sharp enough design to get reassuring nods from those you pass on the school run, and enough space and range for a weekend away.

To Kia EV6 drivers none of this will come as a news, because it’s a repeat performance for this great electric car. The bigger battery is welcomed as Kia drips refinement into this popular model. Best of all, everything is executed with surprising serenity: there’s a quiet confidence to the Kia EV6 that makes a strong case for itself against premium marques. It’s a seriously good car.

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