Styling
The GT now has the 'Star Map' angular front-light signature that was adopted as part of the overhaul of the wider EV6 range last year, which also includes revisions to the full-width bar of illumination at the rear to freshen up the Kia's look. On top of this, the EV6's pebble-like form is adorned with some Neon Green details that are specific to the GT, nowhere more evident than on the brake callipers. These peep out from behind some truly gorgeous 21-inch alloy wheels that replace the old five-spoke rims on the pre-facelift GT, and with those and the bodywork combining well, the overall look of the hottest EV6 is properly purposeful - the stance when viewed from the front three-quarters in particular looks suitably mean and intimidating.
Finally, you can paint the GT's slippery shell (aerodynamic figure: 0.287Cd) in one of five colours. White Pearl is the standard and only free hue, with all of Runway Red, Midnight Black and Wolf Grey setting you back £675 apiece as they're classed as 'premium' colours. The final shade, Yacht Matt Blue, is new and exclusive to the GT, but it's a hefty £1,500 if you want it.
Interior
The EV6 has always had a brilliant interior and the minor revisions enacted for the 2024 facelift only enhanced matters inside the car. Well, the GT goes further again, now introducing plenty of Neon Green detailing in here - it's deployed on the stitching and 12 o'clock marker on the steering wheel, it's used for highlights of the seats and upholstery, it can be spotted on the centres of the air vents, and it's also clothing the most crucial switch in the whole of the Kia's cabin, which is the 'GT Mode' button hanging off the left-hand spoke of the wheel.
That, along with some exquisite bucket seats - these look of broadly the same design as those found in the old GT, but they feel more sculpted and low-mounted in the new car, unless it's just our mind playing tricks on us - and sporty-looking fillets of trim help to make the interior of the EV6 GT feel special and a cut above any other variant in the Kia's range. You still also get the fundamentally sound ergonomics inside, courtesy of the twin 12.3-inch digital screens for the human-machine interface, a huge head-up display for the driver, and then a good smattering of physical switchgear which proves delightfully easy to use on the move.
Practicality
We've never lamented a lack of space in the Kia EV6 and the GT doesn't spoil that, although if there's one criticism of the interior room then it's the fact that those low-mounted bucket seats in the front don't leave a lot of room underneath them for the feet of passengers in the second row. However, head- and legroom are in abundance, while there's a healthy amount of storage solutions, cubby holes and ledges throughout the car for the stowage of everyday clobber. The EV6 also has that switchable strip of controls in the centre of its dash, which you flip from climate functions to the infotainment 'buttons' simply by tapping the little 'arrow-to-fan' logo about two-thirds of the way across its width (this is a brilliantly simple and effective conceit), and then at the back is a healthy 480-litre boot - with another 20 litres of under-bonnet cargo space if you need it. You honestly won't get many more practical high-performance cars of any type than the Kia EV6 GT.
Performance
Prior to the influence of the Ioniq 5 N on this flagship model, the Kia EV6 GT had dual electric motors kicking out 585hp and 740Nm, driving all four wheels and with the whole set-up powered by a 77.4kWh (74kWh net) battery pack, complete with its 239kW peak DC charging rate (courtesy of 800-volt achitecture). It could run 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds and go on to a top speed of 161mph, with its claimed maximum range set at 263 miles. Charging the battery from 10-80 per cent at its fastest DC speeds would take 18 minutes.
So, were you to isolate a few stats from the new car and compare them side-by-side, you could almost be hoodwinked into thinking nothing had changed. The 2025 GT has the same acceleration and top speed data. Its fastest charging period is no more nor less than 18 minutes. It's still all-wheel drive. The architecture remains 800V.
However, that would be to gloss over the good stuff. The battery pack is now 8.5 per cent bigger than it was before, rated at 84kWh overall and 80kWh net, and the official one-shot capability creeps up to a healthier 279 miles. The peak DC charging speed has also increased 8 per cent, to 258kW, which is why the fastest 10-80 per cent charging time remains the same; after all, it's a bigger battery to top up, innit?
But the key data is that the power and torque have swelled, by 65hp and 30Nm, to Ioniq 5 N-matching figures of 650hp and 770Nm. There's a slight increase in running mass to report, which isn't to do with the power pack (which is actually 1kg lighter than before, despite being larger) but more to do with the enhanced hardware, and it results in the GT's kerb weight standing at bang on 2.2 tonnes. That's presumably why it's no quicker to 62mph from a standstill as a result. But it should be stronger for roll-on acceleration once it's on the move, so that's nice. And it's a six-hundred-and-fifty horsepower Kia, when all's said and done. The fact we're even talking about this as if it's normal shows just how far this company has come in a tremendously short space of time.
Therefore, let's make no bones about it, the EV6 GT is stupidly fast. Dementedly so, in fact. And with that typical instant response of an EV, you can access a whole other dimension of pace from almost any starting velocity on the speedo. It's also no exaggeration to say that the 161mph limit, in place due to the single-speed gearing, feels like it is underselling this monstrous Kia's fortitude by some distance.
However, the really big alterations here are the adoption of Virtual Gear Shift (VGS) and Active Sound Design (ASD), both features taken from the
Ioniq 5 N and not seen on a Kia previously. Yet there are differences between the two. The Hyundai, for instance, has three main sounds: Ignition (mimics the old, much-beloved
i30 N and its 2.0-litre turbo-four engine); Evolution (which comes from the noise the RN22e lab concept made, this being the vehicular proving ground for the 5 N's tech, yet in shape forming the basis for the impending
Ioniq 6 N fastback); and then Supersonic (inspired by the jet engines from
Top Gun: Maverick... no, really!). You can then choose to team these with the eight-speed VGS system, or just use them with the car's 'real' single-speed transmission, as you see fit.
The Kia, though - that has just the one noise. And you can only adjust its volume through four settings, which are basically loud, medium, quiet and off. And if you pair it with the VGS, you soon find the EV6 GT only has six synthesised ratios, rather than eight. And then you listen to the noise, hoping for traces of the glorious 3.3-litre V6 which used to be found in the wonderful
Stinger... and you don't get that.
What you
do get is a strangely thick, cloying, buzzy noise that isn't very loud, even in its most aggressive setting, which doesn't sound like a Stinger, it doesn't sound like any combustion Kia, it doesn't sound like the i30 N soundtrack in the 5 N; it just sounds fake. Furthermore, despite the fact it has fewer ratios, the Kia's pseudo-rev-counter is limited to just 6,500rpm, so when you've got VGS and ASD engaged, you sort of rip through the 'gears' in a flurry of paddleshifts and you're in fake-fifth before you know what's happening. What it feels like is a high-performance turbodiesel, not a 650hp EV attempting to imitate the finest petrol-powered sports car of the past.
It's such a shame, because the Kia's new tech additions do improve the driver involvement experience considerably and prevent the car being an idiot-proof, straightforward 'point-and-shoot' mega-power EV that simply whooshes forward on a tidal wave of instantaneous torque through the one solitary gear that it possesses. But it feels like Kia's engineers never quite committed to these two features as wholeheartedly as Hyundai's bods did. Or, put it another way, with the 5 N in Ignition and employing its VGS, it can genuinely fool you into thinking you're in an ICE car rather than an EV - in the EV6 GT, as good as it is, the same stupefying magic trick is never quite pulled off in totality. You're always aware you're in something that's zero-emission.
Ride & Handling
In the same way the sounds, 'gears' and performance don't quite feel as sharp-edged and alive in the Kia as they do in the Hyundai, the same thing is true of the EV6 GT's chassis. Which is not to say the GT doesn't have some desirable hardware, as it sports an electronically controlled limited-slip differential, three-stage adaptive dampers, a serious tune of its entire suspension system, traction control that is now governed deep within the dual electric motors, and revised steering calibration to cope. It also has a blended brake system that can recuperate up to 150kW of energy during regenerative deceleration phases, and a peak of 320kW when you firmly press the left-hand pedal for some genuine friction-disc stopping power.
Click that Neon Green 'GT' button on the wheel - there are configurable settings in the EV6 GT now, too, which you can save to a 'My Mode' menu on the infotainment and then access by pressing the GT button twice - and, with the Kia in full attack-dog settings, it's a really enjoyable steer. The damping feels like it is operating at another level of sophistication entirely compared to the older car, the steering has much more heft, weight and bite to it, and it controls a front end that's really eager to get turned into the apex of a corner, belying the 2,200kg weight of the car. Body and wheel control are also both fantastic, which means you can build up a tremendous amount of cross-country pace in the Kia in very short order indeed.
So you can absolutely have a blast on the right roads in the EV6 GT, and feel like you're in something that's putting the driver's satisfaction at the forefront of its dynamic considerations. Yet if you're sensing there's a sizeable 'but' on the way... you'd be right. It, again, can never quite scale the same dizzying handling heights that the 5 N does, as the GT's rear axle doesn't make itself as much an active part of the proceedings as the same equipment in the Hyundai. The Old Military Road (aka, the A93) south of Braemar in the Highlands is a dream-like ribbon of tarmac running through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, and we undoubtedly had a lot of fun piloting the harder, better, faster, stronger GT along it. But we think we'd have been having even more fun in some other cars which perhaps toy with the limits of grip that bit more freely, not least that oft-mentioned 5 N.
Flipped the other way, you could say the more reserved styling of the Kia EV6 GT and the very use of those two letters (which mean 'Grand Tourer', after all) could give the car an appeal all of its own, as something searingly fast and supremely capable in the roadholding department, but also that tad more refined and tasteful when you're just driving it like a normal vehicle. And, to an extent, that's true of the EV6 GT. We did a long run up the A9 on day two in the car and that trunk route is a SPECs-infested nightmare these days, with interminable stretches of rigorously enforced 50mph zones interspersed with all-too-brief dual-carriageway sections.
It makes speeding an impossibility, not just unlikely, which allows you to focus on the Kia's ride comfort and rolling refinement. And in both departments, it's a very good report. The aerodynamic shell and plenty of work on sound negation by the team behind the car means it's quiet enough at steady, higher pace (although there can be a trace more tyre roar on rougher surfaces than is strictly necessary), while the ride - though always firm edged and displaying the intent required to control the huge outputs of the electric drivetrain - is tautly plush. Only the very worst road finishing upsets the Kia's composure to any significant degree, and the idea of going many miles in one hit in the car on a motorway is not something that should fill anyone with dread. Sure, if you want an even more supremely comfortable EV6 that's brisk in a straight line, you'd be better off with a dual-motor AWD from lower down the line-up, but that's kind of missing the point of the GT halo model, isn't it?
Value
Never mind that this is a '60-grand Kia' - the updated EV6 GT is an honest-to-goodness bargain. Incredibly, despite all the goodness that has been loaded into it as part of the update, it's priced £2,690
less than the pre-facelift model was just before it went off sale. The new version is £59,985, whereas the predecessor was £62,675. It looks even more terrific when you consider the 320hp AWD model below it in the hierarchy, in its top GT-Line S specification, is £58,135. That's just £1,850 more to double your horsepower - and your driving enjoyment levels, too.
As you'd expect of a top-end Kia, the GT has a bounteous standard equipment list, including items brought in during the update of the entire EV6 family such as the connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) infotainment, a refreshed instrument cluster design with GT-specific graphics in (yes) Neon Green, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Digital Key 2.0 and even fingerprint recognition. The only real option you can fit to the EV6 GT is one of those paints we mentioned earlier. The car's also usefully cheaper than the £65,000-plus Hyundai from which it takes its inspiration, but that might not be a big enough gap to dissuade people from going to the 'H' instead of plumping for the Kia...
Verdict
Be under no illusion, the Kia EV6 GT has drastically improved as a result of these midlife updates and it has become one of the best-driving EVs of them all, a car which will satisfy petrolheads and electric evangelists alike. It's a far defter, more rewarding creation in 650hp guise than it was as the 585hp predecessor, and the fact that you get all of this brilliance for
less money than it was before simply cannot be underestimated. Bravo, Kia - bravo.
Yet, having said that, it's just that gnat's away from greatness in several dynamic regards, that means we feel the most demanding of drivers looking for a new method of getting their high-speed kicks will still default to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. At £65,010, the existing Korean EV benchmark is not enough of a price walk to make the EV6 GT a conspicuous bargain in comparison, and the Kia is never quite as playful, as committed nor as visceral as the Hyundai. We're talking small margins, though, and just maybe the more reserved appearance and character of the EV6 GT will win you over. Thus, howsoever you justify it, simply know that if you end up with one of these revised, 650hp EV6 GTs, you'll have one of the best electric performance cars out there right now. It's a fabulous thing.
