Yahoo Autos Kia EV6 GT will do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, plus new pics and other specs revealed
The parade of new electric vehicles continues with the 2022 Kia EV6, a crossover-ish vehicle with surprisingly aggressive performance numbers. Although we have previously seen the EV6, today we get new pictures and key specs, including a maximum range of 316 miles on the WLTP combined cycle (EPA range would be less), a minimum 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds in the EV6 GT model, and a recharge from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes thanks to the 800-volt charging capability on every version.
The EV6 uses the same Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) as the Hyundai Ioniq 5, and roughly shares its available battery capacities. However, as is often the case with Hyundai and Kia vehicles that share a common platform, they clearly split early in the development process, as their dimensions, specs and designs show little sign of common DNA.
The EV6 wheelbase of 114.2 inches isn't as unusually lengthy as the Ioniq 5's (118.1), but is still considerably longer than the VW ID.4 and Nissan Ariya. Its overall length is greater than all of the above, however, at 184.3 inches (or 184.9 for the EV6 GT), a figure that puts it closer to the 186-inch Mustang Mach-E. At 61.0 inches tall, it is 2 inches shorter than both the Ioniq 5 and Mach-E, which themselves are pretty low for vehicles considered crossovers. In other words, like so many electric vehicles, the EV6 has unusual dimensions resulting from engineers and designers taking advantage of the inherent differences between a dedicated EV platform and an internal combustion one.
Like the Mustang Mach-E, the EV6 offers a diverse menu (some would say complex) of performance and range that's dictated by battery size, driven wheels and trim level.
The EV6 and EV6 GT-line (pictured in red above) offer a choice. Things start with a 58 kilowatt-hour Standard Range battery pack. When paired with a rear motor only, it results in a rather modest 168 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Adding a second motor for all-wheel drive pumps things up considerably to 232 hp and 446 lb-ft. Kia did not indicate range estimates for this battery pack.
The available 77.4-kWh Long Range battery pack kicks output up to 232 hp and 258 lb-ft with the rear motor only. It is this version that results in the best possible range, an estimated 510 kilometers or 316 miles on the WLTP cycle, which should likely put the EPA range in the mid-to-upper 200-mile range. The second motor/AWD yields 321 hp and 446 lb-ft, but no range estimate was given.
The EV6 GT comes only with the pairing of Long Range battery and more powerful motors on both axles that results in 577 hp and 546 lb-ft of torque (it also gets an electronic limited-slip differential). This is the version that Kia says will go 0-to-60 mph in 3.5 seconds. No Ioniq 5 comes remotely close to this performance, and you'd have to look to higher-end Teslas and the upcoming, top-of-the-line Mustang Mach-E GT Performance to get that sort of neck-snapping acceleration from an EV or any number of high-end ICE sports cars. We were not expecting that.
