No, this is not an April fool’s day shenanigan, the Kia EV6 GT has been revealed and it is a 576bhp version of Kia's new electric crossover that is as fast as the 991 Porsche 911 GT3!
The Kia EV6 made its debut a few weeks ago as the brand's first electric vehicle to be based on a dedicated EV platform. It made news because of its styling, with the EV6 debuting Kia's new design philosophy. It now has made its way back to being the talk of the town with the new GT-badged hot version.
Sharing the E-GMP platform (Electric-Global Modular Platform) with the Hyundai Ioniq, the Kia EV6 GT gets AWD, courtesy a dual-motor setup and the motors are fed power by a 77.4kWh battery pack. They make a total output of 576bhp and 740Nm torque that helps the EV6 GT sprint to a 100kmph in a blistering 3.5 seconds and on to a top whack of 260kmph. The former figure is on par with the 991 gen Porsche 911 GT3, yes you've read that right. A new addition to the GT includes an electronically controlled limited slip differential on the rear axle, which will help it to effectively meter out power and torque. With that, the EV6 GT has now become the marque's most powerful and quickest vehicle, dethroning the Stinger GT from this title.
The EV6 GT gets more aggressive front and rear fascias and sits on larger wheels. It has yellow brake calipers that match the yellow accents on the inside to differentiate it from other EV6 variants. The interior also gets sportier seats with more aggressive side bolstering. The GT-Line variant, as on other Kias will get the styling of the performance variants (in this case the GT) with the less powerful powertrains options, similar to what Mercedes-Benz does with the AMG-Line variants of its cars. That said, the EV6 GT will continue to flaunt the digital real estate on the inside with two massive screens, one for the driver’s cockpit and the other for infotainment.
With the GT model being available only with the dual-motor 576bhp set-up, configurations for the lower end standard and GT-Line variants include a 165bhp single-motor RWD or a 228bhp dual-motor AWD model with the Standard Range battery pack. Whereas, the Long Range battery pack could be had with a 221bhp single-motor RWD or a 316bhp two-motor AWD setup. The RWD single-motor model will achieve the longest claimed range of over 510km.
The EV6 has an 800 Volt ultra-fast charging system which makes possible 10 to 80 per cent charging in just 18 minutes. 100 kilometers range can be added in less than 4.5 minutes. Globally, buyers of the EV6's will have the option of choosing three variants — Standard, GT-Line and GT.
This marks the beginning of an all-electric offensive from Kia and the EV6 is the first of seven battery electric vehicles (BEVs) that the Korean brand aims to launch by 2027. There’s no word on India launch of the EV6 yet, however, rumour has it that Kia is currently working on bringing an updated Seltos with more features and the new Kia logo. With the launch of the Skoda Kushaq and VW Taigun slated for a couple of months down the line, an updated Seltos would be vital to the brand in maintaining top position in the mid-size SUV space.