Staff Cars: Three Years with the Kia EV6 GTS AWD
The KIA EV6 redefined SUVs with stand-out styling, incorporating the latest and greatest technology to bring together a stylish, long range electric car, with huge practicality and super-fast charging speeds.
In a world being consumed by more generic SUV boxes, the EV6 sits proudly apart and deserves more attention than it gets.
I’ve now spent three years - and 25,000 miles - with the EV6, and, of course, you only truly get to know a car by living with it long-term, and by washing it yourself (something my dad taught me early on in life)
Having ordered the car in 2022, and not even sitting in one before, it eventually arrived in June 2023 (remember the supply chain crisis was in full swing back then).
Kia EV6 GT-S
A friend and I drove up to West Bromwich in my e-Niro, collected the new EV6, and we both drove the cars 180 miles home.
Coming from the e-Niro, the difference was striking - mainly the extra power. For a 2,200 kg car, it’s seriously rapid, and the dual-motor AWD gives it far better grip than the sometimes scrabbly e-Niro.
Since then, it’s been all over the country: Bournemouth to Norfolk, deep into Wales many times, including the inner mountain areas and interesting roads of Snowdonia and Anglesey, the Lake District (in every kind of weather), and even a fully loaded trip to North Holland and back for my sister’s wedding — three adults, luggage, and Tesla the dog. And I can honestly say that the EV6 makes light work of big motorway miles.
With its 77.4 kWh battery and real-world efficiency of around 3.5 mi/kWh (4 often), the car can easily outlast the bladder on long trips, and I quickly realised that I almost never need to plan any charging stops, as the humans always want a break before the car does. And thanks to the 800V architecture, when you do plug in, it’s so fast that I’m often rushing back from the loo or coffee queue because it’s already demanding to be unplugged or topped up to 100%.
On an ultra-rapid charger, it can add 50 miles in less than five minutes. And a 10–80% charge takes as little as 18 minutes! The charging curve is impressive — not quite the latest BYD levels, but more than enough in practice. I often miss the slower charging speeds of the eNiro.
Kia EV6 GT-S Using an Ultra Rapid Charger
So I’m happy to rock-up to a <150kW charger as it gives more time to carry out the necessaries.
As for range, I’ve seen the GOM (the guesstimated range) show over 300 miles, but 250–275 is more realistic in normal driving.
Around town I use the full one-pedal driving (a quick pull on the left flappy paddle to select), while on longer runs I switch to Auto regen. The regenerative braking is so effective I rarely touch the brake pedal.
I also use the Highway Assist (LKA + adaptive cruise/auto-steer) all the time, even with my wife in the car who isn’t a fan of ‘cars doing the driving’. It can steer, brake, maintain distance, and even change lanes automaticallywhen the indicators are applied. It’s a capable system, if a little cautious. It’s so natural that we once drove for 200 miles without my wife realising I was barely touching the controls. It’s something I will be nagged for if found out.
One frustration is battery preconditioning. On this pre-facelift model, it only works if you use the car’s built-in navigation to route to a charger — which is clunky enough that I rarely bother. The facelift cars fixed this with a simple app and car menu button.
The infotainment /Ui is functional but clunky and somewhat outdated now. The Kia Sat Nav and route planning is-for me- not worth the effort, to the point that it mildly enrages me, so I stick almost exclusively to using CarPlay (note: wireless CarPlay/Android Auto came with the facelift so I use a 3rd party wireless dongle that also runs videos/Netflix etc in the cars UI).
The rest of the spec is excellent for a range-topping GTS: heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, panoramic opening sunroof, HUD, 360° camera, V2L, remote park assist, and my favourite — the remote forward/reverse control. It’s brilliant for tight parking spaces or the garage at home.
V2L is genuinely useful too — I’ve used it to power the lawnmower and, during a power cut to run essential house circuits, and I’ve even used it to mow the front lawn and charge another eV.
Reliability has been faultless. No 12V battery or ICCU issues (despite some well-publicised recalls on these models — mine has been checked but not needed replacing). Kia have now extended the ICCU warranty for these non-facelift cars to 150,000 miles/15 years.
The original tyres are still on the car and it sailed through its first MOT recently with no advisories.
Space is another highlight. Rear legroom feels limo-like, and the boot easily swallows luggage and dogs (though the sloping rear glass limits headroom for taller breeds in the back).
Summary
Is it a perfect car? No, but what is? It feels its weight on twisty roads compared to something like a Tesla Model 3 but is still very engaging, competent and has very good feel through the wheel. As i’ve said, the software and Ui could be better-and it is (much) better in the newer cars; but after three years, I’m struggling to find a compelling reason to replace it. Or much that I’d like to replace it with. So I’m keeping it for at least another year: maybe longer as the UK ‘Luxury New Car Tax’ may scupper my appetite for anything else too ‘spicy’.
Pros
Really fast rapid charging thanks to the 800V architecture.
Excellent long-distance cruiser
Powerful, fun, and very comfortable
Spacious and well-specified
Cons
Feels its 2,200 kg weight
Pre-facelift software makes it feel a bit dated already and preconditioning limitations are annoying
No wireless CarPlay or phone-as-key (on this pre-facelift model)
Author
Newt is a lifelong car enthusiast and specialist in electric cars.
You can find Newt on 𝕏 at @eV_Newt
