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Electric
Kia EV6: new electric SUV's price and specs revealed
A trio of Kia EV6 battery-electric vehicles will hit our shores this year, but the demand for the Tesla Model Y and Hyundai Ioniq 5 rival is wildly exceeding supply.
More than 25,000 people have expressed interest in Kia’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle, the EV6.
Just 500 of them will be able to buy that car this year.
Kia Australia Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith, admits it’s not ideal but is a situation caused by both global demand for electric vehicles and the semiconductor shortage that is limiting production of EV and conventional cars.
“We know we could sell, probably, 3,000 this year but we’re just not going to see those numbers,” Meredith says.
Despite the sparse supply, Meredith believes EVs will account for half of all sales by the end of the decade, “I think there will be downward pressure on prices as more companies enter the EV space and the technology matures.”
The Kia EV6 GT-Line comes in an exclusive matte paint finish
Kia EV6 range starts up in the Air
The Kia EV6 line-up launches with the Air priced at $67,990 plus on-road costs. The spend buys a 168kW/350Nm rear-wheel-drive SUV (and yes, it looks like a hatch to us as well, but it is technically deemed to be an SUV) with a 77.4kWh battery pack providing an official range of 528km based on the WLTP testing regimen.
Default equipment includes a pair of USB ports up front, another two embedded into the side of the front seats to keep rear-seat occupants powered up, wireless phone charging, front and rear parking sensors and the full array of safety features needed to earn a five-star rating from ANCAP, including a centre airbag designed to prevent those in the front from knocking heads in the event of an accident.
There’s a pair of 12.3-inch screens up front displaying infotainment and driving data in a layout that will be very familiar to Mercedes-Benz owners, along with a handy vehicle-to load (V2L) port with a regular three-pronged socket that enables owners to power small appliance, be that a laptop computer, hairdryer, or kettle by leeching charge from the car’s battery.
The Kia EV6's profile is more hatch than SUV
GT-Line to be the best-seller
The GT-Line will set buyers back $74,990 plus on-roads. It adds things like tinted glass in the back doors and tailgate, heated and ventilated front seats covered in suede and fake leather, 14-speaker sound system, blind spot view monitor and an “augmented reality” head-up display.
The extra features and bigger 20-inch wheels reduce the range to 504km.
Finally, the all-wheel-drive GT-Line variant comes with a sunroof and a spritely 5.2-second run to 100km/h courtesy of dual motors pushing out 239kW and 605Nm. The price rises to $82,990 plus on-roads while the range reduces to 484km.
Late in 2022, the EV6 GT should land in Australia. As the performance version it packs 430kW and 740Nm, propelling it to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds. For context, that’s faster than a $237,000 Porsche Taycan GTS, though the Taycan turbo versions are quicker still.
Pricing is a long way from being set but Kia’s general manager of product planning, Roland Rivero, is pushing hard for it to be below $100,000.
“Ideally, I’d like it (the price) to start with a nine. We know there’s big demand for it because some of our dealers have had people walk in and put down a deposit.”
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