During my travels over the last one year, I observe that well into the rural heartland the electric vehicle revolution has already taken deep roots. Some of the biggest electric two-wheeler brands have been accepted by buyers in these small towns. While the e-scooter dominated markets there may have a distance to go in terms of maturity, EVs within the passenger car market continue to grow at a rapid pace. Every car buyer’s default query today is whether they should wait for an electric in the price segment that they are contemplating to buy into. Of course, premium EVs are simply being sold out, and manufacturers aren’t able to keep up with the demand and assemble enough of them.
One of the new premium EVs that witnessed an overwhelming response and that caught the manufacturer completely by surprise was the Kia EV6. With bookings crossing nearly five times the planned volumes for 2022, the EV6 showed that a well-designed, tech-loaded yet practical EV from a reliable brand can find a lot of takers. The last time I test drove and experienced the EV6 was at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. Being on an F1 racetrack obviously is enough to pump up the adrenaline in anyone’s blood stream, and trying to tackle corners takes precedence over evaluating the everyday usability of an electric. So, I was waiting for an opportunity to drive the EV6 on regular tarmac, to better understand the potential of the tech in the car, the in-cabin experience, and more everyday concerns like safety, driving range and ride quality. Last month I spent a few days driving the EV6 across town in Chennai and its suburbs. Here’s my take on what Kia’s premium electric offers to its buyers.
Unique design
One of the first things I observed was that the EV6 still holds a lot of novelty in the onlookers eyes. I found fans and followers every time I took it out for a spin. The EV6’s design is unique and novel without trying too hard to impress. It has won numerous global awards in the SUV category though its aerodynamic profile is hardly a match to the classic block-like body style of a SUV. Take a closer look and you’d observe that 19-inch rims, the raised stance and the crossover, coupe-like design gives it a dual purpose. Behind the wheel it feels like a premium SUV, however, its focused aerodynamic surfaces, retractable door handles and sporty stance lends it a fastback vibe. Kia calls the design philosophy ‘Opposite United’, and that about sums up the EV6’s design. This is also quite a wide set vehicle and its design’s perception of width is further enhanced by the unique LED headlamp design, the flowing part clamshell bonnet and the signature LED tail-lamps that run across a raised lip at the rear.
Everyday Practicality
The EV6’s mix of attributes is quite impressive for an electric, and while the design offers it the necessary appeal, it turns out that it is equally effective at delivering practicality and everyday usability. One of the biggest concerns in the minds of EV buyers is range anxiety and that is not something that would afflict buyers of the EV6. The EV6 is one of the electrics with the longest driving range on a single charge. With its 77.4kWh lithium-ion battery pack, it offers an ARAI-rated driving range of 708kms. The international WLTP driving range is about 528km. During my test drive cycle, it almost tracked that kind of mileage in Eco mode, and about 500kms in Sport mode. Of course, the range will be affected by driving conditions, driving style and time spent idling etc. The EV6 gets the latest generation of Kia’s smart regenerative system that recuperates energy from the wheels during deceleration and charges up the battery for extending the driving range. It offers four levels of regenerative braking, including a one-pedal mode, which Kia calls i-Pedal driving mode, where the optimised regen braking enables the driver to simply let the EV6 slow down to a stop without applying the brakes.
Electric Performance
This style of driving is best suited for crowded city roads where constant use of the brakes may otherwise be inevitable. But the EV6 is no slowpoke. All that peak torque of 605Nm being available from the moment I floor the pedal helps it deliver enviable acceleration. The 0-100kmph run is a rated 5.4 seconds. This is one of the EV6’s highlights and caught me off-guard with a seat crushing experience, despite my time behind the wheel at BIC’s racetrack. The born-electric e-GMP (electric global modular) platform on which the EV6 is based means that the battery is positioned under the floor of the vehicle. And that delivers a low centre gravity to the EV6 making it inherently capable of tackling corners with confidence. While that is relatively easy to appreciate on the track, on regular tarmac too the better handling, the more precise wheel placement and confidence during overtakes shines through.
Kia offers the GT Line trim for the Indian market and both the RWD (rear-wheel drive) and the AWD (all-wheel drive) variants of the GT Line get a 77.4kWh Lithium-ion battery pack. All the variants get permanent magnet synchronous motors, but while the RWD variant gets a single motor that sends torque to the rear axle, the AWD gets two motors — one each for each axle, sending torque to all four wheels. The output varies with max power for the RWD being 229PS and 325PS for the AWD. But max torque is a substantially higher 605Nm for the AWD and only about 350Nm for the RWD. The 800-volt unit allows the EV6 to taken ultra-fast charging solutions like a DC 350kW charger, which can then deliver a charge of 80 per cent from a low of 10 per cent in just 18 minutes. The 50kW charger is becoming quite common place in the major metros and these can deliver a similar amount of juice to the battery in about an hour and a half. The 22kW wall socket charger supplied by Kia with the EV6 will probably take about 5-6 hours to do the job.
Safety-focused
The Kia EV6 is also one of the safest electrics in the market. It offers an extensive suite of safety features as part of standard equipment including eight airbags, vehicle stability management, multi-collision brake assist, electronic stability and brake assist. It also gets a long list of advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) features. Some of them like rear cross traffic avoidance, safe exit assist, blind spot detection and pedestrian junction turning detection were actually useful during my test drive on Chennai roads. There are quite a few more ADAS functions that will come in handy on many of the expressways, new and old around the country. The smart cruise control function can be particularly nifty in automatically slowing down and picking up speed based on the speed of the vehicle in front. It can also bring the EV6 to a complete stop and start off again all by itself (an altogether advanced take on adaptive cruise control).
Comfort
The EV6’s cabin is also very comfortable place to be in. One of the first points that struck me during my drives was that unlike the over-isolated and sanitised driving experience inside the cabin, the EV6 cabin doesn’t feel dead. The generated engine noise progression via the speakers while sounding rather ‘electronic-y’, still managed to offer some feedback. I have actually felt mildly disoriented inside some of the other EVs due to the extreme levels of sensory isolation. The EV6’s cabin also some well-designed kit, with textured panels, ambient lighting, a shift-by-wire electric drivetrain, and excellent music system. The curved driver display is another cabin highlight and integrates two 12.3-inch screens — a touchscreen navigation and infotainment display and the instrument display. The cabin also features several eco-friendly materials including stuff like vegan leather. At the time of going to print, the Kia EV6’s ex-showroom prices were ₹60.95 lakh for the GT Line and ₹65.95 lakh for the GT Line AWD.