2023 Kia EV6 GT Review: The Lad’s Weekend Away

In Charlie’s previous EV6 GT story, we talked about what solid state batteries will do to transform EV uptake, but this time we’ll tell you about our thrifty trip for a spot of weekend cottaging.

Charlie, Max, Luke, and I, headed for the compound. We rotated between the Kia and Luke’s Dad’s MKII Jaguar, a real example of chalk and cheese. The magnificent juxtaposition of the classic and the future laid bare both the true love, and terrible reliability of an old car when set against the cutting edge of motoring. We’ll leave the MKII for another time, but suffice to say every trip is an adventure.

Meanwhile, aboard the good ship EV6 GT, things were quieter and greener, if a little less satisfying.

KIA EV6 GT is in many ways, an enigma. It eschews many of the notions one has about electric motoring. Remember we were told that EVs would kill weekends? The disgusting conservative government, and its shabby “win at all costs” electioneering, ensured that EV take up was doomed to a decade of abject failure. It is this obsession with fossil fuel donors that ensured the essential switch to renewables was as slow as the rollout of EV charging infrastructure. While there is no point bleating about it now, instead, we forge a path out of the doom.

The difference between a standard EV6 and the EV6 GT is not immediately apparent. Our weekend ride wears the same shimmering coat of matte grey as is available to punters in the regular EV6. Only the badge, and a hint of green behind the sexy-AF 21” alloys gives even the slightest nod to the rambunctious beast within.

In the past, EV6 was a comfortable, quiet, demure semi-cross-over-SUV-hatch-sedan. Although it is considered an SUV, it is in fact, a low-slung, coupé-style, zen-like capsule. EV6 GT take that ethos, adding a nucleonic blast that is not possible in fossil-burning cousins of the same price.

We talked a little about how Solid-State Batteries will change humankind, and tasked each of lads to commit a few thoughts to paper (or in this case, their phones):

Video Review: 2023 Kia EV6 GT full review and We Talk Solid State Batteries #gaycarboys

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ABOVE: 2023 Kia EV6 GT at the Track

Alan:

As my age, I appreciate technology more than ever.

The more a car can do for me the better. In fact, modern rides have probably saved my life more times than I care to admit. Old curmudgeons bang on endlessly about how driver and safety aids have made the roads dangerous and its drivers lazy.

Flip that, and consider that there are more than double the number of cars on the road compared to when I started driving. In fact, the number might even be close to triple, yet mayhem and death is lower, reflected in statics that show training, regulation, and technology work.

The cars are safer, better built, and actively work to make trips less likely to be a disaster.

As far as EV6 GT goes, I yearn for wireless CarPlay, wires will do for now. I do as much as I can by voice, and I like simply laid out switches. The dual function for audio/climate can be a trial. I find myself always in the wrong function. If I want climate, I am in audio, and vice versa. A driver often uses muscle memory to perform tasks such as changing the radio station, temperature, volume, fan, and so on. I find the distraction of having to ensure I am in the right “menu” annoying. As I said, some of these functions can be done other ways, using steering wheel buttons or voice.

Using voice for navigation is far easier for example, and I prefer Google Maps for the familiarity and reliability.

Final comments: the performance is nothing short of stellar, but the ride is too hard for my tastes.

Luke:

If it wasn’t for the fact that GT Mode turns off the traction control, I’d be in the “green” permanently.

430kw, and a 3.5 0-100, makes my chest heave. The handling feels “expensive”. By that, I mean there is a bit of Porsche, M3, and Audi RS that you don’t expect for this money, because EV6 GT will slay most of them deader than a dead dingo’s donger.

I don’t like the looks as much as I do the performance, but I can live with them. The steering feels almost surgical, and although I live for the butchness of a pickup, I love a sports car. I love the throb of a V8 through my seat, but the feeling of silent hypersonic acceleration is far more addictive. Hypercar performance at $100k was unthinkable only a few years ago.

Final thought: I want electric and cooled front seats in a car of this price. I like that I can top-up at home, offset by my solar.

Max:

I love the geeky hi-tech approach. I drive a much-hated Ranger for the farm, so anything that doesn’t feel like a truck is OK by me.

The AWD is pretty decent over the lane up to the cottages. Only the last bit of the 5km road is sealed, with the rest being regularly graded dirt. Dirt roads in the EV6 GT are a challenge because it feels like it is shaking itself apart. To its credit, the near new EV6 GT is without rattles.

Space is well considered, and I love the bins, USBs and power outlets. On a trip, wired CarPlay is a bit annoying, but there is a lot of space for the detritus that accumulates after more than a minute’s driving.

There is a ton of flash about the cabin, with sexy lighting effects at night. Some places are day spaces and some are night spaces. To me, EV6 GT is a night space. There’s a bit of cheap plastic here and there that vanishes as the sun goes down. The seats are supportive and the upholstery is classy, in a modern classic-recycled kind of way.

I love driving the EV6 GT, even if just to get a break from pickups that tend to leave unwilling owners feeling short changed.

Last words: EV6 GT is a solid performer that will give Kia the halo it was lacking after Stingers untimely demise.

Charlie:

I never grew up. I am permanently 18, amazed by the new stuff that turns up in every new car. Gay geeks are a thing, so I’m told, and most of my friends like the latest and best. It is said that gay buyers have more disposable income with no kids to drain the coffers. That’s a bit crue,l but fairly accurate.

Max and I did most of the driving on the away leg. The contrast with the old Jag and a new EV6 GT is strangely romantic, like book ends of an undefined motoring era. The Jag doesn’t even have seat belts.

Think of EV6 GT as a sports tourer. Although it is on the same platform as the IONIQ 5 and will have the same or similar power to the upcoming IONIQ 5 N, they are a world apart in looks and space. EV6 GT keeps selling out so the page on Kia’s website goes from sale, to register interest.

The EV6 GT doesn’t have quite the same cargo space as IONIQ 5 but there’d be enough for all 4 of us if we had wanted to take just one car. The Jaguar was going into storage on the farm, so Max was bringing the ute back to town.

Final thought: I like EV6 GT’s looks, love the performance, but the charging would drive me nuts because I can’t charge at home. That means every charge is a fast charge and I worry that it will shorten the battery life.

Conclusion:

2023 Kia EV6 GT is not all things to all people, but it satisfies the need some have to go fast, have instant gratification, have the latest gadgets, and be noticed.

For the time being, EV6 GT is one of the quickest cars on the road, and the fastest Kia ever. It is 80% more powerful than the next model down, but the ride is too hard for my tastes.

We took turns driving, and liked the highway stuff the best. Track days and drifting are best left to those who enjoy it. We don’t.

2023 Kia EV6 GT