Kia EV6 GT

[TikTak]

Do like the look of these, even if they're a little bit on the large side. The KW V3 coilovers really sold the look of this car for me and if I was going to splash the cash would be looking at that too.

Maybe a tad still on the expensive side, but I'm sure there are some bargains to be had out there and quite honestly one of the few EV's I'd want.

More like this and the switch date for us normies creeps closer no doubt.

[fatjon]

I bought one, nice car until it goes wrong and you fall into the hands of Kia customer services. What a shower of st. They really are the worst bunch of couldn’t give a toss aholes I ever had the misfortune to deal with.

That 7 year warranty is worth less than the paper it’s written on and whilst I often distrust internet reviews, trust pilot has them just about right. Every description of peopkes dealings with Kia chime perfectly with my own.

Very fast, quiet, comfortable, nice looking, handles well but FFS do not buy one.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.kia.co.uk

[740EVTORQUES]

fatjon said:

I bought one, nice car until it goes wrong and you fall into the hands of Kia customer services. What a shower of st. They really are the worst bunch of couldn’t give a toss aholes I ever had the misfortune to deal with.

That 7 year warranty is worth less than the paper it’s written on and whilst I often distrust internet reviews, trust pilot has them just about right. Every description of peopkes dealings with Kia chime perfectly with my own.

Very fast, quiet, comfortable, nice looking, handles well but FFS do not buy one.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.kia.co.uk

What went wrong with it?

I’ve had zero problems and very good customer service,
no different to my previous BMW or Porsche.

[ChocolateFrog]

It seems most dealers are the same these days and the warranty is little more than an incentive to keep FMDSH for the duration.

[fatjon]

The battery coolant pump died when it was 10 minutes old. 2 weeks of lies and being ignored.
The pump is in stock in the UK… It wasn't
It’s on it’s way… It wasn't
We’re on it today… It’s not been powered up for 10 days and it’s right where I left it on day 1.
Throughout all of that calls not returned until I eventually lost it and went to dealer in person so they could explain to me why it was right where I left it, untouched.




Flat 12v battery 3x per week, another well known fault but they need the car for a week to “test it”. I gave up on that one and bought a decent battery at my expense, which fixed it.

Then zombie mode (look it up). Kia UK and dealers “never heard of it before”. They flatly deny existence of the problem and the update that is supposed to fix it and then send it back 10 days later unrepaired. No courtesy vehicle as warranty does not include that.
When faced with a video of the problem the hatches come down and I’m totally ignored.

By several accounts I’m led to believe that the update in fact does not fix it. Kia’s solution is deny everything. Not simply say yes, there’s a problem and we’re working on it give us a few weeks. Just hatches down, lie, deny, ignore. £65k car and that’s how Kia propose to push their way into the premium market. Sorry but premium market is not just about the car.

[Kuwahara]

fatjon said:

The battery coolant pump died when it was 10 minutes old. 2 weeks of lies and being ignored.
The pump is in stock in the UK… It wasn't
It’s on it’s way… It wasn't
We’re on it today… It’s not been powered up for 10 days and it’s right where I left it on day 1.
Throughout all of that calls not returned until I eventually lost it and went to dealer in person so they could explain to me why it was right where I left it, untouched.




Flat 12v battery 3x per week, another well known fault but they need the car for a week to “test it”. I gave up on that one and bought a decent battery at my expense, which fixed it.

Then zombie mode (look it up). Kia UK and dealers “never heard of it before”. They flatly deny existence of the problem and the update that is supposed to fix it and then send it back 10 days later unrepaired. No courtesy vehicle as warranty does not include that.
When faced with a video of the problem the hatches come down and I’m totally ignored.

By several accounts I’m led to believe that the update in fact does not fix it. Kia’s solution is deny everything. Not simply say yes, there’s a problem and we’re working on it give us a few weeks. Just hatches down, lie, deny, ignore. £65k car and that’s how Kia propose to push their way into the premium market. Sorry but premium market is not just about the car.

Jeez that’s a horror story ,I work in the emergency services and we have about a dozen Ceed’s sitting with hydro locked engines in the 1.6 diesel and Kia are being less than accommodating…

Seems to be a design fault maybe…

[TikTak]

fatjon said:

Very fast, quiet, comfortable, nice looking, handles well but FFS do not buy one.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.kia.co.uk

Must say, I like them a lot (the EV6 and Kia as a whole), a few friends have various Kia's but those reviews, and the others under different business names are shocking.

Would be enough for me to stay clear tbf.

[740EVTORQUES]

Well that does sound unfortunate. I must be lucky as I’ve had zero issues in 15 months and 17,000 miles.

[Prolex-UK]

What is the range like at 70/75?

Rough figure is fine

Regarding warranty.... Its often dealer related as they get reimbursed from Kia UK at much lower rates than publics labour charges.

Hence reluctance to do the work.

Utter st show for you though.

I own Kia Stinger 21 vintage. All good so far

[fatjon]

Prolex-UK said:

What is the range like at 70/75?

Rough figure is fine

Regarding warranty.... Its often dealer related as they get reimbursed from Kia UK at much lower rates than publics labour charges.

Hence reluctance to do the work.

Utter st show for you though.

I own Kia Stinger 21 vintage. All good so far

I don’t do much motorway mileage but judging by the miles/kw on the dash I would say 170miles give or take.
It’s very temperature dependent.

[Prolex-UK]

fatjon said:

Prolex-UK said:

What is the range like at 70/75?

Rough figure is fine

Regarding warranty.... Its often dealer related as they get reimbursed from Kia UK at much lower rates than publics labour charges.

Hence reluctance to do the work.

Utter st show for you though.

I own Kia Stinger 21 vintage. All good so far

I don’t do much motorway mileage but judging by the miles/kw on the dash I would say 170miles give or take.
It’s very temperature dependent.

Thanks.

Should have asked miles/kw I suppose.

Can that be a supplementary question?

Summertime temp wise.

Ta

[740EVTORQUES]

2.8 miles/ kWh over 17,00 miles, 75-79 on motorway/ A roads, NSL everywhere else. No attempt to change my driving style to save range.

I only charge to 80% as that's more than I need, but for long journeys starting at 100% I bank on 200 miles of range but plan to recharge at 20% so around 175 miles or so. The prediction is very accurate as well, so if you are sure you have destination charging (eg at home on the return leg) then you can run it right down to the limit.

The killer is the rapid charging, it's so quick that provided you don't have 'charger anxiety' (and I definitely did for the first 6 months until I realised the infrastructure was actually pretty good now) then there's no reason to have 'range anxiety'.

[MrB.]

JNW1 said:

MrB. said:

Just reviewed one again for my YouTube channel. Much bigger in the rear then the two cars we compared it to (Mustang Mach E GT and Genesis GV60 Sport Plus). Leg room is excellent, but watch headroom. Feels more enclosed due roof and dark roof lining. Good car, but in my opinion, not the best EV6.

Room across the back bench is ok, and middle passenger should be alright as long as they aren’t 6ft each.

Out of interest which do you consider to be the best of the EV6's?

I think the GT Line S AWD is the pick of the range. Enough power, better range, good efficiency and you still get the looks and useable performance plus better spec. Don’t get me wrong, I like the GT a lot, but I’m not convinced that dialling up the power in an EV is the way to make a more enjoyable car. Polestar proved that with the BST270 when it kept the power the same as a PP-equipped 2 but concentrated on chassis dynamics.

[MrB.]

740EVTORQUES said:

JNW1 said:

MrB. said:

Just reviewed one again for my YouTube channel. Much bigger in the rear then the two cars we compared it to (Mustang Mach E GT and Genesis GV60 Sport Plus). Leg room is excellent, but watch headroom. Feels more enclosed due roof and dark roof lining. Good car, but in my opinion, not the best EV6.

Room across the back bench is ok, and middle passenger should be alright as long as they aren’t 6ft each.

Out of interest which do you consider to be the best of the EV6's?

For 95% of people either a basic air or the GT line S which is very similar to the GT minus 250bhp or so.

The drawback with the GT is lower range, harder ride (bigger wheels and sporty tyres), more tyre noise, manual non ventilated seats (heated though and very comfy) and no sunroof.

But the suspension is much more sophisticated with active dampers, bigger brakes and an eDiff, the interior ambience and comfort are better (the alcantara like buckets are lovely and heated front and rear, and not being faux leather don’t get hot in summer anyway) and it’s ballistic. The price difference is so small it’s hard not to think KIA are only breaking even on the halo GT model given all the extra hardware.

Depends what your priorities are really. They’re all great cars. I don’t need the extra range so for me it’s a no brainer. 30-70 in 2.5 secs never gets old.

And to be clear, I’m glad it exists from Kia’s point of view. I’m thrilled that the brand has come out with it to satisfy that 5% and show what they are capable of.

The biggest issue the GT has is the fact that they made the standard EV6 GT Line s AWD so good! Any improvement would be incremental and (perhaps) not relevant enough to the majority of buyers. But the GT is very good indeed.

[TheDeuce]

MrB. said:

I think the GT Line S AWD is the pick of the range. Enough power, better range, good efficiency and you still get the looks and useable performance plus better spec. Don’t get me wrong, I like the GT a lot, but I’m not convinced that dialling up the power in an EV is the way to make a more enjoyable car. Polestar proved that with the BST270 when it kept the power the same as a PP-equipped 2 but concentrated on chassis dynamics.

I thought the GT did have updated suspension design in addition to the extra power?

[740EVTORQUES]

TheDeuce said:

MrB. said:

I think the GT Line S AWD is the pick of the range. Enough power, better range, good efficiency and you still get the looks and useable performance plus better spec. Don’t get me wrong, I like the GT a lot, but I’m not convinced that dialling up the power in an EV is the way to make a more enjoyable car. Polestar proved that with the BST270 when it kept the power the same as a PP-equipped 2 but concentrated on chassis dynamics.

I thought the GT did have updated suspension design in addition to the extra power?

The GT has completely different suspension to the other models, adaptive dampers, eDiff, bigger brakes, wheels and tyres, different suspension geometry, bigger motors and inverters etc. Also extra stiffening (even the cutout for the bigger subwoofer in the boot floor has its own strut brace.)

It's basically an M4 to the regular 420i in ICE terms, benefitting from the economy of scale for all the common parts while adding in expensive upgrades where it matters. I think it's a bit of a bargain it it fits your needs/ wants.

The GT Line S is all the car you need (indeed I nearly cancelled my GT order when I drove a GT Line S while waiting for the GT production to start it was so good).

The GT is all the car you want by comparison.

It's a bit like buying an M4 when a 420i would be just fine.

Edited by 740EVTORQUES on Wednesday 3rd April 09:06

Edited by 740EVTORQUES on Wednesday 3rd April 09:09

[TheDeuce]

740EVTORQUES said:

TheDeuce said:

MrB. said:

I think the GT Line S AWD is the pick of the range. Enough power, better range, good efficiency and you still get the looks and useable performance plus better spec. Don’t get me wrong, I like the GT a lot, but I’m not convinced that dialling up the power in an EV is the way to make a more enjoyable car. Polestar proved that with the BST270 when it kept the power the same as a PP-equipped 2 but concentrated on chassis dynamics.

I thought the GT did have updated suspension design in addition to the extra power?

The GT has completely different suspension to the other models, adaptive dampers, eDiff, bigger brakes, wheels and tyres, different suspension geometry, bigger motors and inverters etc. Also extra stiffening (even the cutout for the bigger subwoofer in the boot floor has its own strut brace.)

It's basically an M4 to the regular 420i in ICE terms, benefitting from the economy of scale for all the common parts while adding in expensive upgrades where it matters. I thin it's a bit of a bargain it it fits your needs/ wants.

Yea just reading up, it's very different to the none GT variants.

From a drivers perspective that would feel very different and improved dynamically, even without the extra power.

[fatjon]

I had a GT Line S for 6 months then upgraded to the GT. Both are very good cars but the GTLS just felt like it could handle more poke. I don’t do high mileage, semi retired, so range isn’t a big concern. As others have said, there are plenty of chargers and it charges very fast.

I noticed people quick to leap to the defence of the car with comments like “mine has never gone wrong”.

My earlier negative comments are not about the car. Any car can go wrong of course. My negativity is about Kia and the dealers who do not give a damn when it happens. If you want an EV6 go for it but remember I warned you, if/when it does go wrong expect zero help and total disinterest from Kia. Do not think that because you paid Kia a premium £65k for their (at the time) most expensive and fastest car they will feel obliged to offer any premium help. They have your money and you can do one.

[fatjon]

Prolex-UK said:

Thanks.

Should have asked miles/kw I suppose.

Can that be a supplementary question?

Summertime temp wise.

Ta

Depths of winter averaging 2.2, summer a peak of 3.4 but average 3.2.
Mixed driving, 50% town 40% national limit country roads, 10% motorway or other 70mph roads. This morning it claimed a range of 236 miles with 100% charge on a 10c day.

[MrB.]

TheDeuce said:

MrB. said:

I think the GT Line S AWD is the pick of the range. Enough power, better range, good efficiency and you still get the looks and useable performance plus better spec. Don’t get me wrong, I like the GT a lot, but I’m not convinced that dialling up the power in an EV is the way to make a more enjoyable car. Polestar proved that with the BST270 when it kept the power the same as a PP-equipped 2 but concentrated on chassis dynamics.

I thought the GT did have updated suspension design in addition to the extra power?

It does, and I’m being a little dramatic in my response. As others have said it has a bit more than just the wick being turned up to 11. My point is how it’s developed (I just didn’t explain it very well - or perhaps at all?)

The Ford Mustang Mach E GT is point in case. It gets Magnaride dampers over the standard Extended Range car, plus different wheels and tyres, steering, etc, etc, etc. But it’s a worse car (and by some margin) over the Extended Range. Whereas the Polestar 2 BST270 (and now 230) is no more powerful but the Ohlins dampers have been changed, the wheels and tyres have been honed, and the whole car feels much more developed. Too many company’s concentrate on power and headline 0-60 times, but leave out driver enjoyment.

Not that ICE cars are any different. Many will say that the best Lotus Elise was the modestly powered 135 which was a far superior car to the Sport 160.

The EV6 GT is a really good car, but my point is that is isn’t the pick of the range for me. The compromises far outweigh the gains for me.

Tune in next week when I don’t make any sense again.