2023 Kia EV6 GT shows a can-do attitude

The Kia EV6 GT 2023 proves that Kia can do it. It can make a four-door sports car more compelling than the Kia Stinger. It can sell a budget 120hp car alongside a 576hp electric crossover. This EV can sprint to 60 mph faster than the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and Tesla Model Y Performance. Kia can perform, and that feels like an evolutionary step for a brand that started selling questionable budget cars in the US some 30 years ago.

The EV6 GT is far from perfect, but very exciting. It shows this evolutionary performance potential.

All of this is possible without making a big leap from the EV6 that was launched last year. At $62,695 including destination, the EV6 GT is just $4,000 more than the EV6 GT-Line and almost $10,000 less than the Tesla Model Y Performance and Ford Mustang Mach-E GT.

The most expensive Kia is also the most powerful. The 800-volt architecture and 77.4kWh battery remain the same, but Kia essentially swapped out the GT-Line’s rear motor, placing it up front (rated at 160kW/215hp) and then a larger 270 – kw/362 HP motor for driving the rear wheels. They make 576 horsepower and 545 lb-ft of torque combined, but the larger engines are the biggest contributors to the 4,795-pound curb weight, which is 293 more than a similarly equipped GT-Line.

As expected, efficiency is compromised as the range tops out at 206 miles versus 252 for the AWD GT-Line. The 21-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear Eagle F1 Performance tires also drop the efficiency rating from 2.9 miles per kWh in the GT-Line AWD to 2.4 miles per kWh, but that’s the trade-off for that what the EV6 GT was built for: go fast.

The EV6 Gt rockets to 100 km/h in just 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 261 km/h. I didn’t test the top speed on a lead-follow course next to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but when I sped past a desolate Lake Mead en route from the Vegas Strip, the acceleration was a hit every time. Unlike the Porsche Taycan (the Taycan GTS hits 60 mph in 3.5 seconds), the EV6 GT didn’t pin me in my seat and threaten my lunch at launch, but from around 20-60 mph I wasn’t breathing or blinking. It’s the kind of lightning-fast acceleration unique to an electric vehicle’s power delivery that the Kia Stinger GT can’t match.

Kia is adding three more driving modes to the Eco, Normal and Sport modes in smaller EV6 models. A My Drive mode allows the driver to customize throttle response, steering, suspension, stability control and the electronic limited-slip rear differential, but it’s buried by at least four button presses in the touchscreen, so it’s not on-the-fly adjustments got to.

GT mode is much easier to access. Press the lime green button on the steering wheel and most settings are pushed to Sport+, allowing the pedal to firm up, the suspension to stiffen and the stability control to relax. It didn’t feel dramatically different from Sport mode, but grip was more pronounced and weight was better managed in the long, sweeping corners on a single-lane highway around Lake Mead, where the EV6 GT was at its best.

Then there’s a hidden Drift mode that requires a convoluted sequence of steps: start in GT mode, keep your foot on the brake, hold the stability control button until it turns off and the icon in the cluster lights up, and then hold both rain brake paddles for about three seconds. It essentially becomes a rear-wheel drive car, with all the torque going to the rear wheels.

On the track, which was set up like an autocross with kinks, hairpins, a short sweeper and a straight to flirt with at around 120 mph, we didn’t have Drift mode engaged. However, the leading driver might have.

In controlled pairings of two cars, following an instructor going as fast as the slowest car, he came out of the hairpin with the rear skidding out, the rubber smoking and the front wheels pointing exactly where he needed to be. I followed in GT mode and felt the rear slip out behind me, with the diff helping to maintain speed through probably a lighter correction than it felt. With most of the torque coming to the rear wheels, coming out of the corner was a blast and the EV6 GT proved it’s capabilities the most.

Coming into the corner wasn’t as grinny or confidence-inspiring. The sport-tuned suspension and adjustable dampers couldn’t mitigate the massive weight, though the EV6 sits lower than other electric crossovers (ground clearance is 6.1 inches and it’s about three inches shorter on average than the competition). There was some squeezing in the corners, and the understeer presented an initial challenge on the same hairpin that I never fully figured out in two three-lap corners. Part of that was from the light steering causing me to tip in too early, but that’s like the golfer blaming the putter. More weight on the bike and more feedback would have been welcome for this duffer.

I also felt that the lime green monobloc calipers, which caught larger 15.0-inch rotors up front and 14.2-inch rotors at the rear, could have had more initial bite. I didn’t notice enough initial pedal feel in single pedal drive mode or without regenerative braking. But getting off that corner was an absolute pleasure every time.

Kia makes the EV6 work well in two planes, and it’s a quiet and comfortable commuter, packed with Kia’s best features, or for whipping around uncrowded spaces like a racetrack. I’m not sure how many of the EV6 GTs will find their way to a racetrack – Kia estimates production will be limited to 2,000-2,500 units – but the EV6 GT has proven it can, better than anyone Kia and better than competing electric vehicles.

Kia paid for the travel, accommodation and track time for Motor Authority to bring you this first-hand report.