The 2023 Kia EV6 GT Is A Wickedly Quick EV With Compromises

I’ve had my GT for almost two months now. I have an above average commute of about 70 miles round trip every day into Seattle and back. The range, for me, is not an issue as at the end of the day, I still have enough charge to do whatever I have to do after work and then I plug it into our level 2 charger we had installed and I’m good. However, I have not attempted a road trip in this car, nor would I. My wife’s Ioniq 5 gets nearly 300 miles of range (286, I believe? Maybe?), so we’d go that route if we wanted to head to the mountains or the coast. So in my average daily use of the vehicle, it suits me just fine. But those are a very specific set of parameters: I drive roughly 70 miles and some change a day, though it’s on the highway which impacts overall range, I only charge to a max of 80% and I’m able to do so at home on a level 2 charger. So while an extremely fun car, it’s certainly not for everyone. That could be said about most EVs, though. We’re still kind of the tip of the spear here. Range and charging times will improve and charging infrastructure will expand and improve once the government figures out the way to squeeze the most money out of us for it.

Please add pricing to the Powertrain Specs screen. That would be really helpful.

Too bad Kia dealerships are some of the worst when it comes to dealer markups. Great review as always!

Great review. I hope Kia takes your critique seriously enough to improve the 2024 release, starting with audio quality and the seats, followed by the acid green highlights would benefit from additional color options.

I had an absolute blast driving this car for a week but boy are you NOT buying it for efficiency or range. at least it can charge quick!

Other than the range being a bit low, I would consider one, I love the design. And for people complaining about manual seats, have you seen a Mustang with Recaros or a high performance Porsche? They also have manual seats and cost way more. Kia could have put power seats in it, they just didn't.

I recently test drove this GT model and months ago the GT-line and found the GT to be the only one I would buy. I never drive more than 100 miles in a day so I am OK with range. It is just that much more fun to drive and as one reviewer suggested might have a more comfortable and adjustable ride with its adaptive suspension settings than the lower trim levels. I found it to be surprisingly nice even in GT mode. The power does not seem crazy or harsh either but very usable in all the modes. I even parked it back in the lot in GT mode - no problem. Don't care about the power seats but rather the adjustability is what is missing and side bolstering is a little much for everyday driving. This can be addressed by upholstery specialists which is actually done in a lot of high priced cars so should not be a deal breaker. This vehicle is really the only EV I have driven that I liked enough to buy that is also less than 6 figures.

PROPER color... stuntin on central Pennsylvania w/ dat Runway Red. Enjoy Redline crew

Let's not forget about the Genesis GV60 Performance. I own one. It's beautiful and almost as fast.

Agree with you. Not a fan of only having a dark choice. Manual seat is a deal breaker. Ventilated seats is a strong must have for me. How much does it really cost to have 1 touch windows all around?? The sound system should be at least as good as a Stinger from 3-4 years ago. The display screens look really nice. No wireless CarPlay or OTA updates seems lazy. LOVE the charge time. They got that part right which is a good thing because the range is lacking. It would be great to see a bigger battery to allow for better range. Rear seat legroom looks really good!

I've been waiting for a small electric sedan or hot hatch to hit the market. I broke down and spent some money on some expensive tuning upgrades for my S5 recently and now this comes out. Oh well, maybe I'll try and find one for a test drive anyhow.

A couple of miscues need correcting. In both Sport and Normal mode I have seen 429 hp listed not 480. Moreover I believe the GT-line only gets about 46 miles more of range so more like 250 in awd trim not 270. Perhaps you were listing what the 2 wheel drive gets which is a whole different animal with half the power. There is also a download fix for the stereo system available though my tester sounded pretty darn good. Lastly if you put the car in drift mode people are saying it is even faster to 60 mph maybe right about 3 seconds wow. Thanks

Excellent detailed review!

I can't understand why reviewers are so bothered about the seats being manually operated. I get a new car, adjust the seat and thats it done. I may have to adjust once per year after a mechanic has been in it but apart from that it never moves. Added to that, manual adjustment is much quicker. I just don't get the fuss.

The styling is fantastic. Option availability needs to be adjusted (no power seat, mediocre 'up-level' stereo?) 😲

I have one and I am getting much better range than in this review. I do live in the SF Bay Area where temperatures are more favorable. Yesterday it was 55-60 degrees and I drove 79 miles - almost all on the freeway at 70mph and got 3.2 mi./ kWh. which equals 240-250 miles of range. This was in Normal mode, not Eco. Normal has plenty of power. The day before I did 40 miles, half freeway and half surface streets and got 3.5 mi./ kWh. - roughly 270 miles of range. I have read many complaints about lack of range for this car but, so far, I am doing way better than I expected - and overall I love the car. The fit and finish is top notch, the seats are wonderful (I couldn’t care less that they are manual) and all the driving aids and electronics work very well. It’s also blazing fast. I had an order in for a BMW i4 M50, but after one test-drive in the Kia, I forgot all about the BMW.

I looked at this car. Dealers and manual seats killed it for me.

Felt the same way about the seat front portion by the knee is to pointed up, so youre leaned back, but I was much impressed with the interior. The seat was comfortable to me. 3.8 seconds in normal mode lmao, thats fast.

I would love for you to do a comparison test between the Jaguar I-Pace and the EV6 . Although vastly different in price, it is very similar in many other ways .

I'm curious how the range would be in Eco mode compared to the GT-Line AWD? Seems to me that if it also disconnects the front motor the range would be pretty close between the two models in Eco mode...