Kia EV6 review

A reminder, then: the base EV6 starts from £45,245, the GT-Line with rear-wheel drive costs from £48,245, and if you spec the 4x4, it’s £51,745. Same deal with the GT-Line S: £52,745 for the RWD version, £56,245 for the more powerful all-wheel drive. The top-of-the-range GT, meanwhile, starts from £62,645.

Lease prices start at around £635 for the base spec model, £680 for the GT-Line, £750 for GT-Line S, and £900 for the all-in GT model, on a four-year agreement with a six-month initial down payment.

Rivals? The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Genesis GV60 start from £46,650 and £47,005 respectively, while rivals elsewhere include the Volkswagen ID.4 (£38,710), Skoda Enyaq iV (£42,925), Polestar 2 (£43,150), Volvo XC40 Recharge (£45,755), Ford Mustang Mach-e (£50,830), Audi Q4 e-tron (£51,170), Tesla Model Y (£51,990) and BMW iX3 (£64,165).

What do you get for the money?

As standard, all EV6s get the cool stuff: big battery and 800v charging system, plus the big screens, LED headlights, vegan leather upholstery, heated front seats and steering wheel, aircon, parking sensors and lots of driver assistance systems, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and all the usual electronics. 

If you upgrade to the GT-Line, you get different 19-inch alloys, electric seats with folding ‘relaxation’ option, the vehicle-to-load plug (you can, in theory, charge another electric car, or just use a kettle/hairdryer), some different styling and some other bits. And GT-Line S adds 20-inch wheels and more plush - stuff like a Meridian stereo, more sensors, the augmented reality head-up display, a panoramic sunroof and power tailgate.

The full fat GT gets bucket seats and electronically controlled suspension, 21-inch wheels, a limited slip differential for sporty driving, and interestingly, it’s the only model with an energy-maximising heat pump as standard.

Anything else?

So it’s a fairly comprehensive list, and they all tow up to 1,600kg if that’s something that’s relevant to your needs. 

If you can find a really big public 350kW charger, it’ll go from 10-80 per cent charge in 18 mins. Or 62 miles of charge in five minutes. But it will also be able to suck up 10-80 per cent from a more common 50kW charger in 68 minutes, so it makes the most of what you can throw at it. Large-ish battery though, so flat-to-full on a home wallbox is still 12hrs 30 minutes. 

Real world range? You're probably looking at 250-miles of guaranteed motivation, no matter the conditions. Much more if you operate in town or somewhere warm.

What's the best spec?

To be honest, the standard (base) car will probably be enough - it gets to 62mph in 7.5 seconds and has the best potential range. But Top Gear likes a bit more go, so the all-wheel drive, 320bhp versions might be the big draw, especially with Kia’s seven year/100,000-mile warranty.