Kia has released more detail of the eagerly-awaited EV 6, electric SUV.

 

As with 50 Kias before it, EV6 is being tuned by Graeme Gambold. To further tease and already keen public, Kia gave us a look into the tuning programme.

 

Kia’s Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith, said that COVID had once again interfered with the usual tuning process, but that Kia, and Graeme, had pushed on.

 

“Kia Australia’s local tuning program is an important process for our product range and once again, despite the constraints thrown our way by COVID, our local product team and Graeme Gambold, along with our colleagues in Namyang, have worked together to customise a product to best suit Australian roads and driving styles.” said Mr Meredith. 

 

“The last twelve months has been a very exciting time for Kia in Australia with a wide range of new products arriving including Stonic our first light SUV, the latest generation of our well known and much-loved Carnival, another first with our entry into the domain of green vehicles with the introduction of the Niro range and most recently, all-new Sportage which really is a package capable of taking the medium SUV segment by storm.

 

“The next twelve months will be even more electrifying and please excuse the pun! With the imminent arrival of our first EV6 variants, Sorento Hybrid, next-generation Niro and the much talked about performance EV6 GT variant, Kia will well and truly be making its mark on the electric vehicle offering available in Australia.”

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ABOVE: Kia EV 6

“I just love driving the Kia EV6, it’s a car that just wants corners. It is so engaging and so rewarding to drive. Great car. Best car Kia has ever made!” Said Graeme Gambold.

“Personally, as a chassis dynamist, I think the biggest part of that enjoyment is the width of the battery in the car. A typical ICE vehicle has an engine and a drivetrain that has a high centre of gravity but it’s all in the centre of the vehicle therefore it works like a moment in roll. But with a dedicated BEV, it has a big flat battery in it, so it has to lift the energy on the inside to actually upset the car, creating a very flat roll dynamic.  This makes the EV6 feel very light, nimble and responsive.

“One of the things we are always tuning for in Australia is large body movements on country roads at 100kms per hour and that is always manifested with a high centre of gravity roll dynamic in conventional cars. Electric cars don’t have as much of that, they have a lot of vertical movement, because of the weight but they don’t have the lateral roll, so we can use that as a bit of a tuning tool.” Graeme explained.

Kia’s General Manager, Roland Rivero, said that he is “very proud of Kia Australia’s commitment to its Local Ride & Handling Program.”

“Our local tuning program is part of our DNA and a key component to Kia’s success in Australia. We’ve aimed to inject a fun-to-drive character in our products, but most importantly give drivers the feeling of control and confidence when driving a Kia in a variety of conditions.” said Rivero.

“I believe it’s now an expectation when car buyers are considering Kia products that this has been done and so, despite the unprecedented circumstances of COVID-19, we didn’t give up on the program and particularly not for our new brand halo, the EV6.


“It certainly helped that we’ve been on this journey with Namyang’s Ride and Handling Teams for a long time and we also have an established relationship with the team in ZF Sachs. They have travelled to Australia so many times in the past and have a thorough understanding of our local conditions, so during lockdown our history with them was vital, as it made the process of tuning via correspondence achievable.  Otherwise, if it was a case of sight unseen, the process of conveying our desired compressions and rebound forces would be difficult for them to understand, particularly as our tune is unlike any other region.” he added.

The EV6 is Kia’s first electric care to use the all-new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) and forms the first part of Kia’s transition to the new era of electrification under the new brand slogan, ‘Movement that inspires’.

Starting with the EV6, 11 new BEV (battery electric vehicle) models will be introduced through to 2026. Of those, seven will be built on E-GMP platform, and four will be EV versions of current models.

Kia debuted EV6 at AutoMobility LA alongside the Concept EV9.

Kia revealed that the interest expressed in the new EV 6 had exceeded that of previous models. It is anything like Hyundai’s IONIQ 5, we can expect all units to be presold, with those who have registered the names being offered first whack.

Australia should receive 500 EV6 SUVs in a mix of base and GT-Line trims. The allocation will be peppered thorough 2022, with Kia continuing talks with HQ for more cars.

The EV6 will be fairly allocated through the Kia dealer network , with over 90% dealers already set up to sell and service EV6.

The first EV6 models in Australia will come with the long-range 77.4 kWh in two grades. The base model will be rear-wheel drive only (RWD), and GT-Line will have a choice of RWD or all-wheel drive (AWD) options. The GT “performance” model will land late in 2022 or early 2023.

Kia will announce local EV6 specifications during the Australian Open 2022. The official launch of Kia’s EV6 base and GT-Line comes in the first quarter if 2022, so we can expect EV 6 to be on display at the major tennis event.

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