New Kia EV6 GT review

How do you make a car look sportier? Well, some go down the route of using go-faster stripes while others use colour coding on parts of the car. But how about splashes of neon green? That’s what Kia has gone for with the Kia EV6 GT.

That’s because the GT is the hottest version of the Kia EV6 – a former What Car? Car of the Year – and turns this electric SUV into a performance car. As well as the use of neon green on the brake callipers, steering wheel and seats, the GT gets bigger, 21in alloy wheels, bespoke suspension and an electronic differential that can automatically shuffle power to the wheels with the most grip.

Kia EV6 GT video review

Plus, the EV6 GT has had a mid-life update for 2025 with more kit to improve the way it drives. It has 64bhp more power and a new feature that simulates a six-speed automatic gearbox for greater driver involvement. It also gets a slightly bigger battery and a slightly lower price.

But all that performance trickery puts it up against several other rapid electric car models, including the Audi E-tron GT, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Porsche Taycan. So can the new Kia EV6 GT hold its own against rivals? Let's find out...

The stats for the Kia EV6 GT – 641bhp, 161mph, 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds – sound like the numbers for something properly exotic. Italian or German maybe, with a rowdy V8 under the bonnet.

And somehow the word "fast" doesn’t quite convey the way its two enormous electric motors allow it to build speed. 

In its most ferocious GT mode, the razor-sharp accelerator pedal response means a gentle flex of your right ankle is enough to make this particular EV6 want to sprint ahead. When you put your foot down hard at any speed the incredible G-force acting on your body might make you feel a bit giddy.

In fact, the GT is capable of beating the pricier, V8-engined BMW X6 M Competition in a drag race, and is only fractionally slower than the Porsche Macan Turbo Electric. It’s no surprise to learn that this is the fastest-accelerating car Kia has ever built.

If that seems a bit too easy, the Virtual Gearshift function might make things more interactive. It makes the GT drive as if it has a six-speed paddle-shift gearbox rather than a single-speed one. The steering-wheel paddles you usually use to adjust the strength of the regenerative braking allow you to shift up and down the simulated gears. And it works… sort of.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has a similar feature, with a simulated sound so you feel as though you're approaching a rev-limiter in each of its eight closely stacked "gears". While that sound is obviously digitised, the way it becomes more vocal and changes pitch provides enough indication for you to time your gear shifts instinctively.

However, in the EV6 GT, the digitised sound doesn’t build up in the same way and you end up having to rely on the pretend rev counter reading instead. 

The GT's bespoke adaptive suspension is designed to make it feel more agile than lesser EV6s when you’re cornering, but choosing the firmer suspension settings has pros and cons. On the plus side, there’s less body lean, but it’s still not as tightly controlled as the Ioniq 5 N.

What’s worse is that, unless the road is perfectly smooth, the GT is too easily unsettled by mid-corner bumps. It doesn’t inspire anywhere near as much confidence as the Ioniq 5 N because it sways and bounces around too much for the driver to get into a smooth rhythm.

Even at a cruise, the EV6 GT will thump and jostle occupants around in their seat when dealing with ridges and expansion joints.

We reckon you’re better off leaving the suspension in Normal mode and enjoying a smoother ride. Either way, you won’t get the sharp steering of the Ioniq 5 N or the feelsome, naturally weighted steering of a Porsche Taycan.

The GT's more powerful brakes help rein in all that extra performance, and the sticky Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres help too. But the EV6 is still a very heavy car (around 2.2 tonnes) and is also fairly tall, so it doesn’t stop or go round corners like a proper sports car.

The GT’s powerful motors, bigger wheels and those stickier tyres also mean the official range between charges drops to a so-so 279 miles (nearly all versions of the EV6 can manage more than 300). That’s the same as the Ioniq 5 N, while the Tesla Model 3 Performance can do 328 miles.

More positively, the GT isn’t particularly noisy when compared with a regular EV6. The suspension thumps more in its stiffer settings but there’s slightly less road roar from the sportier tyres than a GT Line S on 20in wheels.

The brake-pedal response is well weighted and still does a good job of blending the regen system with friction brakes, so it’s easy to bring the car to a smooth stop and judge how much input is needed.

"The way the EV6 GT picks up speed is startlingly impressive. The way it leaps and sprints towards the horizon from a gentle press of the accelerator pedal is similar to seeing how a cat responds to receiving an injection." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

Inside the GT, the most obvious clues that you're not in a regular Kia EV6 are the front seats. They're not full bucket seats like you get in some performance cars but they do hug you better than the seats in the non-GT versions. 

The GT's signature neon green is found on the seat piping, air vents, the steering-wheel stitching and the GT button (which puts the suspension and accelerator response in the most aggressive settings for enthusiastic driving).

The rest of the interior is much the same as a standard EV6's. That means the quality is on a par with the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and Tesla Model Y but can't match the Audi e-tron GT or Porsche Taycan.

The GT has a curved 12.3in infotainment touchscreen positioned high up in the middle of the dashboard. It’s easy to see and has a relatively intuitive operating system, so it's not too distracting to use while you're driving.

You also get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, and a 14-speaker Meridian sound system that sounds great.

The 12.3in digital driver’s display is clear and much easier to glance at for information than in the Model Y (which places the speed on the touchscreen). The only slight compromise is that the steering wheel can obscure the top row of icons if it’s been positioned a bit too low.

"The racier-looking front seats don’t just look great but they’re also superbly comfortable. You don’t get adjustable lumbar support but I find the back rest is shapely enough to make up for it." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The Kia EV6 GT's extra power hasn't affected its impressive practicality. You get the same limo-like rear leg room, respectable head room and large boot as in any other model in the range.

You’ll be able to fit four or even five six-footers inside, along with seven carry-on suitcases beneath the tonneau cover in the main 480-litre boot. There's a front boot too, although as with all four-wheel-drive versions of the EV6, its not very big (20 litres).

For lots more detail about the GT's space and practicality, see our main Kia EV6 review.

"It’s not very often I can fit my family into a car that accelerates this quickly, although they might be less impressed hearing their luggage being flung around in that big boot." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The Kia EV6 GT is much cheaper than the Audi E-tron GT and Porsche Taycan, and slightly cheaper than the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. The only other electric car offering similarly ballistic acceleration for the money is the Tesla Model 3 Performance.

The GT's peak charging speed is 258kW (the same as a regular EV6) but it can sustain a fast charging rate for longer than the Model 3 so a 10-80% charge can theoretically be done in just 18 minutes. You will, though, have to find a public EV charger capable of such high speeds to get close to that.

You get plenty of equipment as standard, including climate control, adaptive cruise control, 21in alloys, LED headlights, rear privacy glass, heated front and rear (outer) seats, a heated steering wheel, and a device that allows the charging port to double as a 3.5kW three-pin plug socket.

The EV6 was awarded five stars out of five for safety by Euro NCAP in 2022. The result doesn’t technically cover the GT version but it suggests it will do a good job of protecting you and your passengers.

In terms of reliability, Kia finished 11th out of the 31 brands ranked in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That was just above Tesla (15th) but just below Hyundai (10th).

The GT comes with a generous seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty that covers most components, while the drive battery is covered for eight years with the same mileage limit. That's longer than most manufacturers give you, although Toyota offers a 10-year conditional warranty.

"You get a good range of colours to choose from, but the new Yacht Matt Blue paint finish won a few fans during my time with the EV6 GT" – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

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