After the success of the sensational E-GMP-based Kia EV6 and IONIQ 5, Genesis is releasing its own interpretation of what the future of electric vehicles should be.
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The much-anticipated GV60 is Genesis’ very first dedicated electric vehicle from the Korean luxury auto brand. The first E-V claim goes to the electrified G80 sedan, which was released a couple of months ago and it’s what’s called a derivative electric vehicle. As good as the 356 horsepower all-wheel-drive luxury electric sedan, which is based on the internal combustion engine G80, while offering most of the exclusive E-V’s features like the blazing fast 800V charging system, it still lags behind built-from-the-ground-up dedicate electric vehicles such as Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, which is based on the electric car exclusive E-GMP platform.
The design of the Genesis GV60 was unveiled a few weeks, but the details on the specification have just been officially released. However, we at Auto Vision have obtained the full details on the new Genesis.
GV60 Sport would be the most powerful Genesis ever produced to this date, even outpowering the brands first ever E-V, the Electrified G80 sedan
Genesis GV60, as the nomenclature suggests, sits below the sensational GV70 SUV that competes with the likes of the BMW X3 and the Mercedes Benz GLC, and will be the smallest model in the Genesis’ growing SUV lineup. Planned as the first-ever dedicated E-V for Genesis, it was highly touted and anticipated as the platform sharing siblings Ioniq 5 and EV6 received tremendous reception when the E-GMP duo was released earlier in the year.
The third vehicle in the E-GMP series, the design of the production Genesis GV60 was revealed without much fanfare a few weeks ago through its “Futuring Genesis” presentation that talks about the vision of the Korean luxury brand. The design of both the exterior and the interior has earlier been exposed through various spy photos and predictive renderings, so the unveiling was met with very little excitement.
The lack of enthusiasm is due in part to the disparity from the design concept called Genesis Mint that the GV60 was supposedly based on. Dubbed iconic city car, the Mint concept was a sporty coupe-like concept that featured sleek rakish roofline and voluptuous bodywork. However, the overwhelming consensus was that the production GV60 didn’t quite deliver on the concept’s intention.
The Mint Concept
Genesis GV60, as the nomenclature suggests, sits below the sensational GV70 SUV that competes with the likes of the BMW X3 and the Mercedes Benz GLC, and will be the smallest model in the Genesis’ growing SUV lineup. Planned as the first-ever dedicated E-V for Genesis, it was highly touted and anticipated as the platform sharing siblings Ioniq 5 and EV6 received tremendous reception when the E-GMP duo was released earlier in the year.
The third vehicle in the E-GMP series, the design of the production Genesis GV60 was revealed without much fanfare a few weeks ago through its “Futuring Genesis” presentation that talks about the vision of the Korean luxury brand. The design of both the exterior and the interior has earlier been exposed through various spy photos and predictive renderings, so the unveiling was met with very little excitement.
The lack of enthusiasm is due in part to the disparity from the design concept called Genesis Mint that the GV60 was supposedly based on. Dubbed iconic city car, the Mint concept was a sporty coupe-like concept that featured sleek rakish roofline and voluptuous bodywork. However, the overwhelming consensus was that the production GV60 didn’t quite deliver on the concept’s intention.
The GV60 features a sleek body and innovative design details not found in other Genesis products
But when you take a closer look, the design of the newest Genesis is nothing short of innovation.
For example, the wide and sporty grille was placed below the trademark Genesis Quad lights not only to emphasize the dynamic performance of the GV60 but to increase the cooling efficiency of the high-voltage batteries in the underbody.
Also, for the first time for Genesis, the GV60 has a new wing badge on the nose that’s crafted using luxury watch-making technology. The thickness of the previous emblem has been reduced by almost 80 percent. It features the same unique guilloché pattern of interlaced ribbons that are often seen on Swiss watches, showing the brand’s direction towards a luxurious driving experience with high-tech innovations. In addition, Genesis has opted for a “clamshell hood” for the first time, which combines the hood and fenders in a single element, thus completing the elegant impression of the electric car.
A simple but sharp silhouette that extends from the nose to the rear spoiler, completing the sporty look. The chrome line that runs from the windshield to the top edge of the Daylight Opening or DLO window continues in the C-pillar, which embodies the image of the electric car and gives it a distinctive appearance. The digital side mirrors contribute to a state-of-the-art appearance, while the flush exterior door handles underline the smooth lines. At the rear, the two-line taillights take on a dynamic shape. The much-rumored variable spoiler wasn’t to be, but a fixed-wing spoiler at the rear still does a good job in accentuating the coupé-like roof and accentuates the image of dynamic high performance.
The shoulder volume is emphasized in the rear fender to create a low and wide profile and further emphasize the image of high performance by combining it with technical functions such as sensors, taillights and turn signals in the lower area.
The GV60's interior is luxurious and innovative with dual 14.5-inch LCDs
The interior design of the GV60 adopts the Genesis design philosophy, the “beauty of the white space,” creating a spacious and comfortable interior. The most striking feature in the interior design of the GV60 is the Crystal Sphere, a spherical electronic transmission control that intuitively informs the driver whether the vehicle is on or off. A useful feature as it’s often difficult to tell whether an E-V is turned on, unlike an ICE vehicle. The Crystal Sphere has mood lights that illuminate when the vehicle is switched off and make the driving experience even more aesthetically pleasing. The center console, in which the Crystal Sphere is located, is a floating type similar to that of Kia EV6 but is not moveable as in the Ioniq 5.
Genesis will make the Crystal Sphere standard feature across the lineup.
The GV60 also uses a uniform interior design with circular details on the Crystal Sphere, the horn cover, the door handles, and the side mirrors that offer distinctive and classic Genesis ambiance not found in the Ioniq and Kia counterparts.
Another distinguishing feature of the GV60’s interior is the huge 14.5-inches dual LCDs, which puts the Ioniq 5 and EV6’s already class-leading 12.3-inch dual-display to shame.
As for the performance, Genesis GV60 was designed to be not only a luxurious but nimble and dynamic vehicle. Underpinning the vehicle is the much-acclaimed E-GMP 800V dedicated electric platform that features blazing fast 18 minute charge time to 80% and V2L feature that extracts power from the vehicle's battery to charge anything from the domestic appliances to another E-V.
During the development stage, GV60 was known to be a luxury version of IONIQ 5. And although an official announcement has not been made for the specifications of the new luxury electric crossover from Genesis, from the information extracted from the service manual that’s already exposed, we were able to confirm that the GV60 indeed has a lot in common with the Ioniq 5 sibling.
Kia EV6 & IONIQ 5 are the GV60's Corporate Siblings (click on the image for more info)
This includes a 77.4kWh battery found in the long-range version of Ioniq 5, rendering a maximum range of 300 miles or 483km when equipped with the most efficient real-wheel-drive single motor setup. This most basic arrangement is fitted with a 225 horsepower high power motor, but when upgraded to an all-wheel-drive set up the front receives a 105 horsepower motor and the rear gets the 215 horsepower motor for the total system power of 320 horsepower.
The pièce de résistance of the GV60 lineup is a high-performance model similar to that of the Kia EV6 GT and the upcoming Ioniq 5 N. This configuration will place two same 215 horsepower motors front and back for the total system power of 430 horsepower. This total is nowhere close to that of Kia’s supercar EV6 GT, which produced 577 combined horsepower from the dual motors, with the 0 to 100km or 62miles in just 3.5 seconds. However, 430 horsepower should be more than sufficient power for a luxury E-V such as GV60. In fact, GV60 Sport would be the most powerful Genesis ever produced to this date, even outpowering the brands first ever E-V, the Electrified G80 sedan, which produces a total of 364 hp from a pair of 182 horsepower motors front and back for the 0-100km/h acceleration time of less than 4.5 seconds. The E-V version of the G80 sedan weighs in at 2265 kg or nearly 5000-lbs, which is significantly heavier than GV60 with the expected weight of less than 2000 kg for 4400lbs. With that, we anticipate that the sportiest GV60 to complete 0-100km/h dash in less than 4 seconds, which would make it the fastest production Genesis as of yet, and one of the fastest crossover E-Vs in the market along with the EV6 GT and Tesla Model Y Performance. That’s not everything as a high-performance model, the Sport model will come with a 21-inch wheel and high-performance Michelin Pilot tires and e-LSD for maximum grip and handling.
The Kia EV6 GT is the most powerful production Korean car (click on the image for more details)
Also, exclusively in GV60 and not found in the EV6 GT, it will come with the power boost feature, which you can activate from the boost button located in the steering wheel. This is similar to the N-Grin overboost feature that’s found in the DCT version of N cars such as Veloster N and Elantra N. When activated, the turbocharger overboost feature provides an additional 10 horsepower for 20 seconds. Our sources say that the boost feature on the GV60 would provide as much as 10% more power. Meaning that for a set duration the total power could exceed 500 horsepower to provide an exhilarating break-neck speed when called for.
The green BOOST button is for up to 10% more instant power.
Additionally, GV60 will be the first commercial application of the wireless charging technology on an Electric Vehicle, according to WiTricity, the supplier of the technology. With a charging speed of 11kW, it’s capable of charging a 77.4kW battery of GV60 in 6 hours. Genesis will make the wireless charging capability its trademark tech feature common throughout the lineup and would lead to create infrastructure and improve charging speed starting in Korea and expand globally.
Finally, all the tech and performance won’t come cheap. The GV60 is expected to cost as much as the electrified G80 sedan at $80,000 when fully equipped with all-wheel-drive and high-powered motors. The starting price for the most efficient two-wheel-drive model should be around $60,000.
Would you prefer the high-performance version of the GV60, which only has 430 horsepower but seems to be more composed and refined over the 577 horsepower Kia EV6 GT behemoth? Please vote and share your views by clicking on the link in the comment section.
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The GV60 clearly combines the goodies of EV6 and Ioniq5, without their respective drawbacks. What a shame that this car will not be available in BEV loving countries like Norway, Netherlands... and basically all of Europe! Why on earth did Genesis management decide to come to Germany, Switzerland and UK first? Why even try to compete in Europe - and especially in Germany - with ICE cars, when you have the best BEV cars in the world?
I sincerely hope that the GV60 will be available throughout Europe via parallel import and that KIA dealers will accept to service them.