2023 Kia EV6 GT Promises 576 HP and a Drift Mode
15-inch disc brakes? On a Kia? Yes please.
We've known for some time that Kia was working on a peppier EV6 GT to bring some sporting pretension to its already excellent EV. Now, the cover has been pulled back and the EV6 GT is even crazier than we thought it'd be.
Kia on Friday unveiled the EV6 GT as part of the annual Monterey Car Week festivities. While you might not think Kia and Pebble Beach have too much in common, you'd be wrong. The EV6 GT is a proper performance EV that puts out numbers shockingly similar to some of the more exotic metal floating around the Monterey area.
Let's get right to the good stuff. The Kia EV6 GT uses a pair of electric motors (a 270-kilowatt unit out back and a 160-kW piece up front) to produce a prodigious 576 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque. That's enough to shove this Korean rocket to 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds and on to a top speed of 161 mph. According to Kia, a third-party drag race pitted the Kia against a Ferrari Roma and a Lamborghini Huracan Evo Spyder -- and the Kia won. Sheesh.
Straight-line speed is fun and all, but there's more to driving than just that, and Kia's kept that in mind. The EV6 GT wears a standard adaptive sport suspension to keep things nice and stiff, while an electronically controlled limited-slip differential will help maintain traction with all that electric torque being thrust about. Behind the GT's 21-inch alloy wheels are 15-inch front brakes and 14.2-inch rears.
Neon brake calipers offer a fun little touch.
Three new modes are available in the EV6 GT, as well. GT Drive mode turns everything to its most intense setting, while My Drive mode lets owners pick and choose how sporty they want individual components to be. There's also -- yes, you're reading this right -- a Drift Mode that shoves as much power as possible through the rear wheels.
Whether sipping electrons or dino juice, performance cars are thirsty affairs, and the Kia EV6 GT is no exception. While it carries the same 77.4-kilowatt-hour battery that underpins longer-range EV6 variants, Kia estimates the GT's range at just 206 miles, which is down about 68 miles from more pedestrian AWD EV6s. Thankfully, the EV6 GT's 800-volt architecture will enable it to juice up from 10% to 80% in just 18 minutes when hooked up to a 350-kW charger.
Those bolsters had better be prepared to put in work.
Design-wise, the EV6 GT isn't too much wilder than the standard EV6. The front and rear fasciae are a little more aggressive than before, and there's a new spoiler and diffuser out back, in addition to neon brake calipers and the aforementioned 21-inch alloy wheels. Inside, vegan sport seats wear GT badging and green piping, and the cabin includes additional neon elements and some striping on the upper dashboard. Ambient lighting is included, too, because why not?
The 2023 Kia EV6 GT will go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2022, and pricing should be announced closer to that time. As a fun side benefit, EV6 GT buyers will get 1,000 kWh of free charging at Electrify America stations over the first three years of ownership.
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