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With only the large 77.4-kwh battery pack offered for 2023, and a new GT performance variant, the Kia EV6 offers quick to blistering acceleration, balanced handling for its size, and comfortable cruising. It’s a 7. The EV6 GT would be an 8 if rated alone.
The base Wind and GT-Line models come with a single motor rated at 168 kw and rear-wheel drive. The permanent magnet motor makes 225 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. A second permanent magnet motor comes on most EV6 models, and is standard on GT-Line and GT models. That smaller front motor is rated at 74 kw, and together the output increases to 320 hp and 446 lb-ft of torque.
The GT model moves that large rear motor to the front, and drops in a 270-kw rear motor that combine to produce 576 hp and 545 lb-ft of torque.
How fast is the Kia EV6?
The rear-wheel-drive Wind holds up the pack with a 0-60 mph time of 7.2 seconds. Then things speed up. The dual-motor Wind and GT-Line models reach 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, according to Kia, and a top speed of 117 mph. The low profile and relatively low ground clearance of 6.1 inches bolster Kia’s sport mission and dissuade any off-road considerations.
The light and dull steering feel strays from the sports car mission, and even though the EV6 can cut through corners with more agility than other electric crossovers, there’s a distance between the road and the ride, like it’s trying to satisfy two missions.
It does, for the most part. The EV6 rides on a front strut, rear five-link suspension tuned to the firm side, but even with 20-inch wheels on AWD models, the cabin is still calm, quiet, and mostly comfy while cruising.
EV6 GT performance
The larger motors in the EV6 result in a 0-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 161 mph. It’s quicker than a Mustang Mach-E GT or Tesla Model Y Performance, and creeps into the rarefied space or the Porsche Taycan. Unlike the Porsche, it doesn’t pin in your seat and threaten your lunch at launch, but from 20-50 mph, whoomp, there it is, in a way the Kia Stinger GT couldn’t approximate. Three additional modes, including a GT mode access by a lime-green steering wheel button, ramp up the excitement, but Kia hides the most exciting Drift mode deep in a series of awkward dance steps.
Kia equips the GT with a sport-tuned suspension with adjustable dampers, but it never fully takes the squish out of corners. The monoblock calipers grab larger 15.0-inch rotors up front but they could use even more bite. That’s understandable for a car weighing 4,795 pounds. Once in the corner, the EV6 GT shines, with an electronic limited-slip differential that helps maintain grip (and speeds) on the 21-inch Goodyear Eagle F1 summer tires, then a rear-drive bias that whips the tail. It self-corrects without ever damping the fun.
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