Charlie Loves the KIA EV6 GT and Solid-State Batteries Explained

My dad used to bang on endlessly about hot hatches, how they looked, handled, sounded, and felt to drive. He is gone, but I think he’d have liked KIA’s EV6 GT. He was a happy man at 100kw in one of his old Golf GTi’s, and a 0-100 that needed a calendar.

He never had a mobile. He was an analogue kinda guy, the exact opposite of the EV6.

EV6 GT smells like success, even at $112,000 including on-roads. It takes off like Road Runner under an anvil with a 01-100 of 3.5 seconds. That is 0.1 second faster than the all-new Mercedes-AMG SL 63 4Matic+, a car that cost 3 times as much. Like the Merc, the EV6 GT has 430kw (and 730Nm), but unlike the Merc, it doesn’t have a crappy gearbox to shit itself the first time to take it out into the country. In fact, it doesn’t have a transmission, not as such anyway.

EV6 GT has a 77kwh battery which charges on the fastest 350kw chargers, if you can find them. If you can, join NRMA for a 20% discount on their joint-branded bowsers. EV6 GT has a 7-year unlimited KM warranty, and 7 years/150,000km on the battery, and 12 months of roadside assist, which extends to 7 years if serviced at Kia. That is a bit cheeky in a 112 grand jalopy that doesn’t come with free charging.

I don’t remember the days before power steering and power windows, and although EV6 GT has those, you have to shift the bloody seats yourself, like a peasant farmer. The hatch goes up and down like a bride’s nighty, but the seats need a lever! Good god, is this the 20^th century still?

The cabin feels like any of the other EV6 range, but the seats feel much harder. After an hour, you start to shift your bum around a bit, but all race/sports seats are the same.

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ABOVE: 2023 Kia EV6 GT

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The Drive:

Max and I headed out of town for a quick thrash up to the cottages for the weekend. What became obvious was: –

First: As the cloak of night descended, the lights came on. In gloriously full-auto mode, the matrix system worked well, but took a second to switch cells on and off.

Next: the suspension is lovely on smooth roads, but gets a bit shaky-wakey on the cement stuff. Once we got to Max’s cottage compound, the rubbish driveway made the EV6 GT feel dray-like. I thought the expensive dinner was going to make a second appearance as we bounced around like a jelly on springs.

Last: the sideview camera picture is very grainy at night. It shows on the LCD driver display and looks like an old digital camera on full zoom.

On the quiet backroads, GT mode makes poo come out. Slamming a foot to the floor gives an instant and thuggish response that would mix a mean cocktail. Any faster, and passengers would be mere stains on the seatbacks.

Highway driving is a relaxed affair. All the driver aids do the hard work, and the HUD shows navigation, unless you use Google via wired CarPlay, like we did. Kia is getting rid of the wires soon, but really needs to shake a leg if it is going to keep up with the others.

Diverting onto the winding ribbons of bucolic perfection really opens up possibilities for the EV6 GT. As its potential flashes in front of your eyes in CinemaScope and Technicolour, it is time to hit SPORT mode, and put your big-boy pants on. You need to turn off the regenerative braking and lane departure to really relish the raging mania of a full-on morning glory.

You then quickly feel part of the EV6 GT’s DNA.

Dabs of pedal get instant gratification. Unlike the uninitiated drivers of dinosaur-burning museum pieces, EV6 GT drivers don’t have to wait an eon for a turbo to spool up. The power is there, right at the end of your foot, whenever you need it.

There are drive modes, ECO/Normal/Sport, but it is the GT button you want to press. It unleashes a primeval beast that wants to kill you, and everything around you.

Among other things, it turns traction control off, yet things stay tidy even at full tilt. You never feel like you’ll wind up backwards in a shrubbery. This is supercar stuff. All those sad Lambo wrecks are the result of the stupid nong flicking the traction control off. Most supercars are undriveable for mere mortals without the traction on. EV6 GT shows no such slip-n-slide, but is it all too good to be true? There is a drift mode which I didn’t bother searching for, but it was the sport mode that was most rewarding.

Even in the scariest mode of all, EV6 GT is as quiet as a church mouse.

Cornering is a revelation, and although the seats grip like a kid on a candy bar, Max was tossed about like a big, gorgeous, rag doll. It was strangely attractive to catch a glimpse of his muscled chest in a tight T Shirt as it strained against the seatbelt.

But I digress: Max’s butch demeanour evaporates easily, and he squeals like a school girl when things get a bit eggy. Evidentially he doesn’t share my confidence in my driving ability.

We used 50% range on the trip up, but at least 10% of that was trying to get Max to scream.

Once ensconced on the Verandah of “Albert Park” (all the cottages are named after famous beats), we reflected on the journey.

“Range and charging” was the topic du jour. As we sipped red wine from old jam jars, yes that is a thing, the EV6 GT was Hoovering up the power, tethered at the bottom of the stairs. The entire compound has enough renewable energy to power a small sun, so a 35kwh top-up is an overnight doddle.

Solid State Batteries are not here, yet, but what will it mean when they arrive?

I had a coffee with an Associate Professor at University of NSW recently. Neeraj Sharma has been researching Solid State Batteries, and in particular, developing materials to extend the life and effectiveness of battery components.

Up to now, SSB’s have been too expensive and were too short-lived. Although the “solid” material was fine, the cathode and anode would quickly become unserviceable. Neeraj Sharma and his team are using a different kind of material to construct the cathode and anode, making them last longer.

What it means:

In the near future, we will construct Lithium-Ion batteries with a non-flammable solid ceramic-like electrolyte instead of a flammable fluid. Improvements in anode and cathode material will extend the battery life.

For the same amount of storage capacity, the SSB will be cheaper, half the size, fully charge in minutes, last longer (if not indefinitely) and eliminate heat. The heat is generated within the fluid electrolyte, and it is that heat which causes and fuels combustion. Eliminate that, and you eliminate the possibility of fire. Batteries will not explode when charging, or are compromised, thrown in a fire, or otherwise abused. We’ve all seen the personal devices which have burst into flames while charging, right?

With the Anode/cathode problem sorted, it is possible that the cheaper battery could last the life of the car, take less space with little or no degradation. That alone will have the doubters’ faces look like they’ve been chewing wasps.

Batteries make up around half of the price of current EVs. Cheaper batteries would make EV’s cheaper than an ICE vehicle of similar segment size, and recharge in less time than an ICE vehicle can fill with fossil fuel.

Meanwhile, the EV6 GT makes use of a conventional EV battery.

By the way, want to see an Audi e-Tron battery ejected during a crash? VIEW HERE

Wrap Up

EV6 GT will eat Porkers for dinner. It will lash Lambos, mince Mercs, abolish Audis, blast Beemers and make other supercars look like trashy wastes of money. EV6 GT is expensive, but to go any faster, you need to fork out a wallet the size of Tasmania. Relatively speaking, EV6 GT is a snip.

Considering the price, the Meridian audio system could use a bit more puff (Seltos’ Bose system is better), and not having electric seats is mean.