The 300-Mile Range Kia EV6 is the First Electric Car We Would Buy For Ourselves

We know just about everyone is gaga about Tesla, but our money would be spent on the new Kia EV6 (especially in high-performance GT trim). The car has now been fully revealed with key specifications and trim details. The sporty crossover looks more like a racy wagon to us, and that's just what we love. If you're at all concerned that it won't be fun to drive, keep in mind that the GT will have 576 horsepower and about 300 miles of range on a full charge. Oh, and it's coming early next year. We're gonna start saving. Yep.

The GT will hit 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds. That's almost as fast as the Porsche Taycan Turbo.

The EV6 is the first Kia vehicle to make use of the E-GMP modular platform (shared with the new Hyundai Ioniq 5), and it will be available with single or dua motors, as well as two battery choices.  The base EV6 will be a single-motor, rear-drive version with a 58.0-kilowatt-hour battery and 160-kilowatt motor good for up to 167 horsepower.

There will also be another RWD model with a bigger 77.4-kWh battery and 160-kW motor with 218 hp. An AWD model with a 77.4-kWh battery, a 70-kW motor up front and a 160-kW motor in the rear ramps up to even more power: 313 hp and 0-60 time of 5.1 seconds. The top dog AWD EV6 GT gets the same higher output battery 77.4-kWh battery, but this time with a 160-kW front motor and 270-kW rear motor good for a whopping 576 hp and a very quick 0-60 time of less than 3.5 seconds.

In terms of looks, we think it's more attractive than pretty much every mainstream EV out there. It easily beats the looks of the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt EUV, and Tesla Model Y crossover. The "Digital Tiger Nose" is aggressive, especially coupled with those huge swept back LED headlights and the boldly creased hood that meets up with a very angled front windshield.

The body retains a simple crease, and the flush door handles smooth things out nicely. Perhaps the most notable styling element is the rear taillight with its integrated ducktail spoiler and the continuation of the line down to the EV6's side sills. The unique C-pillar creates a floating roof and blends nicely with the raked rear glass.  

The GT's interior has nice contrast trim to complement the EV6's open layout.

Even more interesting than the exterior is Kia's most attractive interior to date. The EV6 gets a pair of curved screens that act as the digital instrument panel and the expansive infotainment scren. Even the linear HVAC vents and teh controls are laid out to accentuate the broad dashboard. The floating center console rises up and houses cupholders, a drive dial, and a wireless phoen charger.

Those heavily bolstered GT sport bucket seats are gorgeous.

The EV6 boasts an environmentally-conscious 100% vegan interior, even though the top trim really does look like leather. The EV6 also features full interior and exterior LED lighting, “giga-steel” seat frames to keep room at the maximum for rear seat passengers. There’s 27.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats with a substantial 53.5 cubic feet with the seats folded flat. And like most EVs, the EV6 gets more room in the frunk (front trunk) since there's no traditional engine.

The EV6 GT-Line has a sporty look that's elevated above the base vehicle.

In terms of vehicle safety, the EV6 gets a rearview monitor, Blind-Spot Collision Avoidance, Forward Automatic Emergency Braking, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance, Automatic High Beams Parking Collision Avoidance, Rear Occupant Alert, Remote Smart Parking Assist, Safe Exit Assist, "Highway Driving Assist II" Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane-Centering and lane positioning assist during lane change. The EV6 also gets "Navigation Based Smart Cruise Control-Curve" that operates by automatically lowering the vehicle’s speed before sweeping curves. That is a ton of safety tech that other EVs just can't match.

Even the Base EV6 looks fantastic. 

The EV6's charging supports 400- and 800-volt charging, with DC fast-charging from 50 to 350 kW. That equates to 70 miles range in less than five minutes, which is super-convenient and won't delay commutes much at all. For Level 2 charging, the EV6 has an 11-kW onboard charger capable of charging the 77.4 kWh battery from 10% to 100%. There's also a nifty “vehicle-to-load” function that's essentially a mobile power source. It provides 1,900 watts to use to power appliances, power tools, you name it. It can also charge another EV to the tune of 1.1-kW, about the same as as standard electrical outlet. Can your EV do that? Like we said, this is the one we want.

The vegan interior looks pretty good to us, and we're meat lovers.

The Kia EV6 First Edition will start taking reservations on June 3. Only 1,500 units will be made, and it will get AWD, the bigger battery, black wheel arches, an augmented reality head-up display, remote smart parking, a panoramic sunroof, 20-inch wheels, a 14-speaker Meridian premium audio system, illuminated First Edition door sills, and a numbered interior badge. Details on the other trim levels is forthcoming, as is the price. We're guessing it will be north of $35K for the base model. As soon as wel know more, we'll pass it onto you.