I pounced on a couple who drove in to town with one. It was so sleek, I just had to grill them about it. They hadn’t had it long, but were extremely impressed with it, it being their first EV. I’ve been leaning towards Ionic 5, but the EV6 is impressing me much more.
Thank you for a very honest review of this car! About a year ago, I preordered the Kia EV6 First Edition (AWD), my very first EV coming off of a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, and took delivery of the EV6 end of February. I don't know how many different videos I saw from different reviewers of the Kia EV6, and so I had a list of things I was worried about: 1. Was the roof line too low in the back seat for adults (we have two adults kids who often travel with us) No, it was fine. 2. Was the back window large enough to look out of? It is smaller than I would have wanted but it's not an issue 3. Was the blind spot checking hard because of the roof slant? The area is big enough, plus you have sensors that warn you if you try to turn into a lane with a car in it 4. Was the turning circle ok? Could I do a U turn in the newer streets that have you do a U turn to access places on the other side of the road? I live in a condo with a smaller parking garage.. would I be able to maneuver in it? Not an issue. period. 5. Would the touch to switch between climate and stereo going to be a problem? The first day I put it on climate and since then, i have probably changed over to media 2 times in 7 months, mostly out of curiosity: the reality is that the touch screen has all the functionality you need combined with the steering wheel controls. Other observations: 1. Real range is lower in colder temperatures and when your driving is in large part on the highway, so having good "base" numbers is great, which most of the EVs being made today have 2. I-Pedal: started as "No way will use ipedal" and now I insist on it. I think this is a natural evolution from a formerly ICE vehicle driver 3. Mirroring your comments: I wish I-Pedal could be set as a default without having to set it each time 4. Even though it has a sport mode, my heavy foot and limited driving points and budget tell me to stay in mostly eco mode but sport mode when I need the extra push
Nice review Alex! With gas being $6 EVs an EV makes a lot of sense but with life being really expensive now it's hard to make it work for my situation🙃
you should have mentioned that the all wheel drive reduces your range by about 50 miles or so. that was the determining factor for me to go with a rear wheel drive (if i can find one).
i have awd, ev6 is far from sluggish at all... that extra 1500$ AWD with tech features are a must. RWD is good for people who doesn't care about extra torque and only for the range.
My sister just got an EV6 a couple weeks ago and my dad got an Ioniq 5 in July. My dad has the RWD SEL variant, so I know what you're talking about with the a bit of a slow start off the line. Both are great cars for the general public who aren't into the weeds on EVs like us.
4:37 i found this to only be true in eco mode. In normal and especially in sport it flies instantly. I'm going to test it again and reply to my comment with my finds 4:50 aaaa yeah mine is AWD. That explains it 5:36 two separate buttons for cruise control and lane assist give more flexibility in respect to which function to enable and that's actually a bonus. The fact that there isn't a button to do both at the same time is hardly a "problem" as the two buttons are conveniently located side by side on the steering wheel. You just press one, and look at your display that it registered then press the other. Maybe you can try to press both buttons at the same time and see what happens. Let me know
7:10 interesting critique. I actually never really took too much notice of it. I think Kia's decision does make more sense than yours when it comes to parking. I've never driven a Tesla however so I don't know how the parking goes with them, but it's definitely helpful that the car will let you just ease back into your parking slot slowly rather than you managing throttle. I like that it does it, but I can see the argument for wanting consistency. For this being my first EV it's neat that Kia thought people might prefer to do things the old fashioned way in situations where you could damage your vehicle if you're not proficient at it. It's been seamless for me.
@@Sibs I agree with Devon though on his point. KIA put the option for people to prefer the newer way (as you perefer this way). If you active Auto hold and whenever you leave the brake the car will not move. The option is there, just the matter of digging more. In EV6, auto hold stays on even if you switch off and switch back on the car. KIA changed this feature because in previous EVs made by KIA, you'd have to reactivate the auto hold button evey time you switch on/off the vehicle. This is the improvement on KIA's part. Hope this helps.
i would say a plug in hybrid is a great transition and then when you're ready to commit to a full ev go for it afterwards...at least that's how i approached it.
@@foam27 "mediocre car" is subjective. I have a volt and love it...the point is people that are on the fence about getting an electric now because they're afraid about range etc. They can try a plug in hybrid like the volt and see how they do by using it mostly as an electric and if they like that then they know they can jump into a full electric after since they will be somewhat familiar as how it will affect their day to day lifestyle and having to plan ahead.
We've had our european GT-line AWD for about 5 months now. We come from a Tesla M3 and love this car soo much, even more than the M3 actually. The only gripe we have is the start/stop button that they could have removed.
I almost pulled the trigger on a GT Line last summer. Almost. But one thing changed my mind: It didn't come with a charger. That's it. That one thing, made me rethink. I also think that if you pay over $50K for a car, the range HAS to be at least 350. I hope time solves that problem. Because I am not buying a LEAF or a Bolt. You need to have that range. Because living in MN, you're going to lose at least 20% range in the cold winters. I will not get it until it gets over 350. So maybe in 5 years.
Will you do a video to compare the AWD variants of the Wind, GT-Line and GT (top line)? Looks like this video only talks about GT-Line but isn’t the GT above this line?
Worth to mention that the matt moonscape grey means handwash only but in my opinion it is absolutely worth it giving that beautiful, futuristic appearance 🤩
One nice thing about the base model “Light” trim is that it weighs 500 lb less and you feel this every time you drive it. Especially in corners and aggressive acceleration less weight is better. The downside of the 58 kWh (54 kWh usable) battery is that range is reduced and on a road trip you’ll need to stop at every charger rather than skip every other charger. But I find myself wanting to take a break every 100-120 miles or so anyway so frankly it’s not been an issue. We’ve put 5000 miles just in road tripping this summer. Also the Light trim deletes some things, almost none of which I miss, personally. Thankfully there’s no artificial sound options and there’s increased head room due to no sunroof. Unfortunately there’s no heads up display, no blind spot cameras, no cooled seats, no heated steering wheel, and the door handles are manually popped out. To me ten grand less is a significant savings and makes the package worth it. Oh and you get the same top speed in the Light as all the other trims (except the real GT still to come). Finally to road trip I honestly never use the built in navigation. I realize it shows availability of chargers. However I’m just more comfortable using the high quality apps on the iPhone and the amazing interface of Apple CarPlay. I’ve driven Tesla Model Y, Rivian R1T and a Lucid Air Dream GT and frankly I’d not want any of those because of the lack of CarPlay integration. I love Waze too much, the phone and text app integration, Audible and Libby audiobook apps, heck even my beloved C-span app are all things you can’t get on those other vehicles and it’s all because those companies want to lock you into their little walled software garden. As a Tesla centric reviewer I see this aspect ignored frequently by others, not just yourself so perhaps don’t take this personally but just know there are many of us coming from tens of millions of recent cars who have now gotten used to CarPlay and Android Auto. Also this is my third EV and I don’t care about the start button. It’s a non issue.
That's good IF there are chargers every 100-200 miles, not a fan of range anxiety or slow chargers. Then there is that lack of acceleration as well. ---Model 3 Performance owner.
@@foam27 M3 performance is what, $70-80k new from Tesla these days? Is an extra 100 miles of range & the ability to get a speeding ticket faster worth $25-35k more than the cheapest EV6? Totally your call but that’s a whole extra car payment there.
What a great review of this great car, Alex! What bugs me is having to deal with franchised dealerships that will try to charge me as much over MSRP as they feel that they can get away with! I know that Tesla has raised their prices a lot to try to reduce their demand because they cannot make enough cars. I detest having to shop around!
OK So what is missing? Every EV is great but lets look at what the EV6 has that Tesla 3/Y do not have: driver display, HUD, powered pass seat, 120V outlets, 800V charging, 20 inch wheels, sunroof. All for 10 to 20K less $. Just saying..
Blindspot monitoring, front display, ventilated seats, different levels of regeneration, one paddle driving on the fly, can power your home, 5 usb c ports, open center console, sunroof that opens, sunshade, fm radio, apple car play and android auto, quiet cabin , Regenerative breaking when you press breaks (Tesla don’t regenerate when you press break patel) Positive for Tesla MY- ability to add beta self driving, superior app and software, ability to watch Netflix, superior charging network ( margin of advantage is decreasing though), more range ( theoretically), more head room and cargo space. Software updates (make function worse at a time) To each their own but there are so many advantages to EV6 to MY with price almost 12k cheaper that , it’s no brainier if you are looking for value. If you are not looking to value, and want to pay luxury price for mainstream car, Tesla is the best option.
Hey Alex! I used to do car reviews as well when I was a teen, but i was usually only able to borrow it at the dealer only for a couple hours, so I was curious how you go about borrowing all these awesome cars for extended periods?
I don't get how you cannot have instant response when accelerating, i had the same trim RWD on test drive whole weekend and every time I punched the accelerator, the response was instant, like in same millisecond. Otherwise good review
Charging port is probably on the right side for the right hand drive market. Didn't want to put the money in for left hand drive market. Same for the volume adj being on the right hand side of steering wheel. Euro cars do the same thing with vol and gas doors. :p
I pounced on a couple who drove in to town with one. It was so sleek, I just had to grill them about it. They hadn’t had it long, but were extremely impressed with it, it being their first EV. I’ve been leaning towards Ionic 5, but the EV6 is impressing me much more.
It is an impressive car!
Thank you for a very honest review of this car! About a year ago, I preordered the Kia EV6 First Edition (AWD), my very first EV coming off of a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, and took delivery of the EV6 end of February. I don't know how many different videos I saw from different reviewers of the Kia EV6, and so I had a list of things I was worried about:
1. Was the roof line too low in the back seat for adults (we have two adults kids who often travel with us) No, it was fine.
2. Was the back window large enough to look out of? It is smaller than I would have wanted but it's not an issue
3. Was the blind spot checking hard because of the roof slant? The area is big enough, plus you have sensors that warn you if you try to turn into a lane with a car in it
4. Was the turning circle ok? Could I do a U turn in the newer streets that have you do a U turn to access places on the other side of the road? I live in a condo with a smaller parking garage.. would I be able to maneuver in it? Not an issue. period.
5. Would the touch to switch between climate and stereo going to be a problem? The first day I put it on climate and since then, i have probably changed over to media 2 times in 7 months, mostly out of curiosity: the reality is that the touch screen has all the functionality you need combined with the steering wheel controls.
Other observations:
1. Real range is lower in colder temperatures and when your driving is in large part on the highway, so having good "base" numbers is great, which most of the EVs being made today have
2. I-Pedal: started as "No way will use ipedal" and now I insist on it. I think this is a natural evolution from a formerly ICE vehicle driver
3. Mirroring your comments: I wish I-Pedal could be set as a default without having to set it each time
4. Even though it has a sport mode, my heavy foot and limited driving points and budget tell me to stay in mostly eco mode but sport mode when I need the extra push
Thanks for the insight!!
If you want that punch, set driver mode to sport and regen to 1 or off. If regen is off, the car reacts instantly...
That's actual how I had it configured for most of my test driving, and still missing the same punch I'm used to.
Nice review Alex! With gas being $6 EVs an EV makes a lot of sense but with life being really expensive now it's hard to make it work for my situation🙃
Thanks!! Yeah things aren't getting cheaper unfortunately 🙃
you should have mentioned that the all wheel drive reduces your range by about 50 miles or so. that was the determining factor for me to go with a rear wheel drive (if i can find one).
good point!
One of your tags is EV6GT. . . Jlyk incase that was an accident.
nice video , yeah the design is beautiful .. but are you going to test more EVs
Yes! I've got many on the list to test out.
Missing the Tesla videos man haha. Excited for AI day two tomorrow! 😄
Trying to branch out a bit more. I know people like the Tesla videos, but the market is certainly growing
i have awd, ev6 is far from sluggish at all... that extra 1500$ AWD with tech features are a must. RWD is good for people who doesn't care about extra torque and only for the range.
Good to know!
Surprising how far Kia has come.
My sister just got an EV6 a couple weeks ago and my dad got an Ioniq 5 in July. My dad has the RWD SEL variant, so I know what you're talking about with the a bit of a slow start off the line. Both are great cars for the general public who aren't into the weeds on EVs like us.
Definitely!
4:37 i found this to only be true in eco mode. In normal and especially in sport it flies instantly.
I'm going to test it again and reply to my comment with my finds
4:50 aaaa yeah mine is AWD. That explains it
5:36 two separate buttons for cruise control and lane assist give more flexibility in respect to which function to enable and that's actually a bonus. The fact that there isn't a button to do both at the same time is hardly a "problem" as the two buttons are conveniently located side by side on the steering wheel. You just press one, and look at your display that it registered then press the other. Maybe you can try to press both buttons at the same time and see what happens. Let me know
I would just wish it would remember the last setting, like on the MEB platform.
7:10 interesting critique. I actually never really took too much notice of it. I think Kia's decision does make more sense than yours when it comes to parking. I've never driven a Tesla however so I don't know how the parking goes with them, but it's definitely helpful that the car will let you just ease back into your parking slot slowly rather than you managing throttle. I like that it does it, but I can see the argument for wanting consistency. For this being my first EV it's neat that Kia thought people might prefer to do things the old fashioned way in situations where you could damage your vehicle if you're not proficient at it. It's been seamless for me.
Definitely a personal preference, but wish there was at least the ability to choose what experience you wanted
@@Sibs I agree with Devon though on his point. KIA put the option for people to prefer the newer way (as you perefer this way). If you active Auto hold and whenever you leave the brake the car will not move. The option is there, just the matter of digging more. In EV6, auto hold stays on even if you switch off and switch back on the car. KIA changed this feature because in previous EVs made by KIA, you'd have to reactivate the auto hold button evey time you switch on/off the vehicle. This is the improvement on KIA's part. Hope this helps.
Good points about it being a transition vehicle from ICE. It’s easy to forget that after driving an EV for a while. Great review!
Definitely!! Have to level set that a lot. This is a great vehicle for those that are used to ICE
i would say a plug in hybrid is a great transition and then when you're ready to commit to a full ev go for it afterwards...at least that's how i approached it.
@@lexlopez15 Only problem with that is you end up with a mediocre car. I did that with a Chevy Volt. Love my Model 3 Performance.
@@foam27 "mediocre car" is subjective. I have a volt and love it...the point is people that are on the fence about getting an electric now because they're afraid about range etc. They can try a plug in hybrid like the volt and see how they do by using it mostly as an electric and if they like that then they know they can jump into a full electric after since they will be somewhat familiar as how it will affect their day to day lifestyle and having to plan ahead.
We've had our european GT-line AWD for about 5 months now. We come from a Tesla M3 and love this car soo much, even more than the M3 actually. The only gripe we have is the start/stop button that they could have removed.
Great to hear! Glad it is going well!
Love your reviews btw, keep it up. Subscribed!
The car looks almost as good as Alex. Incredibly well put together.
🤣
I almost pulled the trigger on a GT Line last summer. Almost. But one thing changed my mind: It didn't come with a charger. That's it. That one thing, made me rethink. I also think that if you pay over $50K for a car, the range HAS to be at least 350. I hope time solves that problem. Because I am not buying a LEAF or a Bolt. You need to have that range. Because living in MN, you're going to lose at least 20% range in the cold winters. I will not get it until it gets over 350. So maybe in 5 years.
Will you do a video to compare the AWD variants of the Wind, GT-Line and GT (top line)? Looks like this video only talks about GT-Line but isn’t the GT above this line?
Worth to mention that the matt moonscape grey means handwash only but in my opinion it is absolutely worth it giving that beautiful, futuristic appearance 🤩
One nice thing about the base model “Light” trim is that it weighs 500 lb less and you feel this every time you drive it. Especially in corners and aggressive acceleration less weight is better. The downside of the 58 kWh (54 kWh usable) battery is that range is reduced and on a road trip you’ll need to stop at every charger rather than skip every other charger. But I find myself wanting to take a break every 100-120 miles or so anyway so frankly it’s not been an issue. We’ve put 5000 miles just in road tripping this summer.
Also the Light trim deletes some things, almost none of which I miss, personally. Thankfully there’s no artificial sound options and there’s increased head room due to no sunroof. Unfortunately there’s no heads up display, no blind spot cameras, no cooled seats, no heated steering wheel, and the door handles are manually popped out. To me ten grand less is a significant savings and makes the package worth it. Oh and you get the same top speed in the Light as all the other trims (except the real GT still to come).
Finally to road trip I honestly never use the built in navigation. I realize it shows availability of chargers. However I’m just more comfortable using the high quality apps on the iPhone and the amazing interface of Apple CarPlay. I’ve driven Tesla Model Y, Rivian R1T and a Lucid Air Dream GT and frankly I’d not want any of those because of the lack of CarPlay integration. I love Waze too much, the phone and text app integration, Audible and Libby audiobook apps, heck even my beloved C-span app are all things you can’t get on those other vehicles and it’s all because those companies want to lock you into their little walled software garden. As a Tesla centric reviewer I see this aspect ignored frequently by others, not just yourself so perhaps don’t take this personally but just know there are many of us coming from tens of millions of recent cars who have now gotten used to CarPlay and Android Auto. Also this is my third EV and I don’t care about the start button. It’s a non issue.
Thanks for this detailed insight!
That's good IF there are chargers every 100-200 miles, not a fan of range anxiety or slow chargers.
Then there is that lack of acceleration as well. ---Model 3 Performance owner.
@@foam27 M3 performance is what, $70-80k new from Tesla these days? Is an extra 100 miles of range & the ability to get a speeding ticket faster worth $25-35k more than the cheapest EV6? Totally your call but that’s a whole extra car payment there.
What a great review of this great car, Alex! What bugs me is having to deal with franchised dealerships that will try to charge me as much over MSRP as they feel that they can get away with! I know that Tesla has raised their prices a lot to try to reduce their demand because they cannot make enough cars. I detest having to shop around!
Much appreciated! Yes, dealers can be a pain. Hoping more OEMs go the direct sale route.
@@Sibs A world like that would be awesome! A lot more people would buy new cars more often, provided that the supply ever increases.
OK So what is missing? Every EV is great but lets look at what the EV6 has that Tesla 3/Y do not have: driver display, HUD, powered pass seat, 120V outlets, 800V charging, 20 inch wheels, sunroof. All for 10 to 20K less $. Just saying..
Blindspot monitoring, front display, ventilated seats, different levels of regeneration, one paddle driving on the fly, can power your home, 5 usb c ports, open center console, sunroof that opens, sunshade, fm radio, apple car play and android auto, quiet cabin , Regenerative breaking when you press breaks (Tesla don’t regenerate when you press break patel)
Positive for Tesla MY- ability to add beta self driving, superior app and software, ability to watch Netflix, superior charging network ( margin of advantage is decreasing though), more range ( theoretically), more head room and cargo space. Software updates (make function worse at a time)
To each their own but there are so many advantages to EV6 to MY with price almost 12k cheaper that , it’s no brainier if you are looking for value.
If you are not looking to value, and want to pay luxury price for mainstream car, Tesla is the best option.
Hey Alex! I used to do car reviews as well when I was a teen, but i was usually only able to borrow it at the dealer only for a couple hours, so I was curious how you go about borrowing all these awesome cars for extended periods?
I actually connected directly with Kia Media for this one!
What are they things that are left on the car from ICE cars? You just say that there are some, but don’t point them out?
I don't get how you cannot have instant response when accelerating, i had the same trim RWD on test drive whole weekend and every time I punched the accelerator, the response was instant, like in same millisecond. Otherwise good review
Interesting! I was trying to figure it out the whole time. Any mode I put it in still felt sluggish compared to other EVs I've driven.
Drive a P100D and you'll know the difference, lol.
Charging port is probably on the right side for the right hand drive market. Didn't want to put the money in for left hand drive market.
Same for the volume adj being on the right hand side of steering wheel. Euro cars do the same thing with vol and gas doors. :p
Turn on Auto Hold and leave it on. It persists between driving sessions.
I did. It wouldn't stick for me, for some reason! Especially when I shifted to reverse
Great video!
🙌 Thank you!
ohhh thanks Alex!! I was wondering about this.
🙌
Nice review! Was it a MY'23 or still a '22 one?
Thanks! This was a '22 model.
4:12 being 5’5” this clip was hilarious to me
Hahah if I fit then most people will 👍