2022 Kia EV6 Air RWD video review

16/08/2022 16:01

How much does the Kia EV6 cost in Australia?

This will make you laugh. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries considers the 2022Kia EV6 to be a large SUV. That means it is a rival for the Toyota LandCruiser Prado, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Land Rover Defender.

To me, the Kia EV6 looks like it would be about as comfortable in the Outback as a shih tzu Maltese cross. That’s because it’s an urban electric vehicle, not a large SUV, even though you can get it in all-wheel drive.

The FCAI has a rather simplified way of categorising cars. It declares a car an SUV if it has a “wagon body style and an elevated ride height”. Then it lumps the car into a size subset based on overall length and width. 

The problem with trying to categorise electric vehicles by conventional means is that they push boundaries in all kinds of areas. Kia does offer all-wheel-drive versions of the EV6, and its footprint does put it in the “large” subset, but it’s no SUV with “elevated ride height”.

EVs are a paradigm shift upsetting the horse-drawn apple cart we invented hundreds of years ago to get our goods to market, and which for the last century has been powered by a petrol or diesel-burning engine. 

The other challenge with electric vehicles is: how do we evaluate them when thinking of buying one?

Do we consider EVs to be technological vanguards for a future powered not by oil or coal? If so, this means cutting EVs a lot of financial slack, as you would any emerging technology.

Or do we evaluate EVs as direct competitors for equivalent internal combustion cars and find them too expensive to buy, of limited practical use, and overweight?

Or do we evaluate electric cars as a breed of their own, comparing them only with other electric vehicles?

I think you have to do all three if you are to fully understand electric vehicles.

Any time you spend money to buy something, you compare it to other products that purport to do a similar job for similar money, yes? And, as part of that process, you are inevitably forced to decide how close to the bleeding edge of evolution you want to fly, and how much more you’re willing to pay to get the latest and greatest.

So, let’s do that with the Kia EV6 Air.

The Kia EV6 is a five-seat hatchback with pseudo sporty pretensions. It’s the brother to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 large hatchback. 

The EV6 we have here is the Air, which is the cheapest of the three EV6 models. When we tested the car back in May, the EV6 Air carried a price tag of $67,990 plus on-roads. By the time this review published in August, the price had gone up to $72,590 plus on-road costs – or $78,571 drive-away – which is a huge jump for a car you cannot buy. 

What I mean by that is Kia Australia’s supply of EV6s from the factory is severely limited – 500 per year – so the delay between buying one and driving away in your EV6 can be years. Kia reportedly found another 115 EV6s hiding behind the factory break-room, which is great for queued buyers, but this hasn’t improved wait times for new orders.

The Kia EV6 Air has the same 77kWh battery feeding 168kW to the rear wheels as the GT-Line RWD ($85,865 drive-away). It can do 0–100km/h in 7.3 seconds, which is not bad for a car weighing two tonnes. 

There’s also a Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD, which is the range flagship and costs a heady $95,660 drive-away. For that money you also get all-wheel drive, 20-inch alloy wheels, 360-degree surround-view cameras, parking assistant, privacy glass, sunroof, electrically adjustable front seats that are heated and ventilated, a heated steering wheel, an electric tailgate, a 14-speaker premium sound system and driver’s head-up display, among other things.

How much room does the Kia EV6 have inside?

The EV6 Air’s exterior design looks futuristic right down to its flush doorhandles and 19-inch funky-spoked alloy wheels. Viewed in isolation, the EV6 looks small, but it’s not until you get up close that you realise it’s longer and wider than a Kia Sportage mid-size SUV, but its roof line is much lower. 

The EV6’s long 2900mm wheelbase (the Sportage sits on a 2755mm wheelbase) makes for plenty of room inside. In fact, this is one incredibly spacious vehicle, length-wise at least (but I’ll get to that).

Up front, the Kia EV6 Air looks anything but a base model. It’s a very impressive interior, but then it would want to be for $79K on the road. The cabin exudes a minimalist and futuristic vibe that is functional and well executed. There are plenty of storage options for life’s clutter too.

The Kia EV6’s back doors open nice and wide, which would normally make it easy to get into the back seats, except for the low roof line that will challenge human beanpoles. 

Once inside, the EV6’s rear seat is generous with its legroom and underseat foot room, though again headroom is limited for occupants over 180cm. The seat base is also quite low and close to the floor, so it doesn’t naturally support your thighs. 

There are no climate controls accessible from the back seat, but there are USB ports built into the sides of the front seats, and air vents for outboard passengers in the B-pillars at the vehicle’s sides. The front seatbacks also have hard-cover expandable magazine pockets. 

There is a fold-down armrest in the middle of the back seat that includes two cupholders.

There’s room in the door for water bottles, and under the leading edge of the back seat base is a domestic powerpoint for charging laptops and the like. There are ISOFIX mounts in both outer back seats.

The EV6 Air’s boot opens manually, not electrically like on the EV6 GT-Line. Inside, cargo space is a claimed 490L (10L more than GT-Line EV6s), although the high floor weirdly makes it look less than that. There are a couple of latches that remotely fold the rear seats, increasing boot space to 1270L. 

Under the floor is a cavity for charging cables, which can also be used as a wet storage area, and there’s another 52L plastic storage bin under the bonnet up front.

Does the Kia EV6 have Apple CarPlay?

The Kia EV6 Air’s dashboard is dominated by two 12.3-inch digital screens – one is the infotainment system and the other the driver’s instrument binnacle. The infotainment operating systems will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s sat in a current-generation Kia Sorento or Sportage, right down to the digital radio, satellite navigation and smartphone integration. 

The graphics in the driver’s digital instrument binnacle do not look like the Sportage’s or the Sorento’s. They’re unique to the electric EV6 and therefore tailored to maximise the driver’s understanding of vehicle efficiency and range. 

Below the central infotainment screen is a slimline dual-function touchscreen that houses climate controls and audio controls. 

The Kia EV6 Air has all the usual media systems, including digital radio, Apple and Android smartphone mirroring via a cable, or media playback and call functions via Bluetooth. It also has a wireless phone charging mat, but this method of charging is not particularly powerful.

Is the Kia EV6 a safe car?

The Kia EV6 earned a five-star safety rating from ANCAP in 2022. It performed well for adult occupant protection (90 per cent) and child occupant protection (87 per cent). The vulnerable road user protection score was lower at 64 per cent, but safety assistance systems rated highly with 88 per cent. 

The EV6 range comes standard with autonomous emergency braking with car, pedestrian, cyclist, and junction turning intervention, lane keeping and following assist, blind-spot monitoring with collision avoidance, driver attention monitoring, and safe exit warning. Adaptive cruise control, intelligent speed limit assist, high-beam assist and auto headlights are also standard.

The EV6 Air misses out on the GT-Line’s surround-view camera system, blind-view monitor that displays a blind-spot camera feed in the instrument cluster, and reverse parking collision assist.

Is the Kia EV6 affordable to run? 

The Kia EV6 Air’s $79K drive-away price puts it up against the Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor ($74K drive-away), which has a longer touring range but a similar 0–100km/h time (7.4sec v 7.3sec). 

Some may consider the Tesla Model Y a rival, too, which also has a $79K drive-away price. The Tesla’s touring range of 455km is less than the Kia’s 504km claim, but the Tesla is faster to 100km/h (6.9sec).

All Kias, including the EV6, come with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, although it’s worth noting that the EV6’s battery is only covered for 150,000km. 

Servicing costs over seven years is a very reasonable $1584.

Kia says the EV6 Air will consume 17.2kWh of electricity per 100km. During my time with the car, I saw an average of 19.0kWh/100km.

When it comes to recharging, the EV6 can recoup 80 per cent of its charge in 18 minutes if you’re on an ultra-rapid 350kW DC charger. On an 11kW charger, you can expect a full charge to take just over seven hours. If you’re stuck on a domestic powerpoint, then a recharge will take days. 

What is the Kia EV6 like to drive? 

The Kia EV6 Air has the same 168kW/350Nm powertrain connected to a 77.4kWh battery pack as the GT-Line RWD. This is enough to give the 2000kg EV6 Air the acceleration to hit 100km/h in 7.3 seconds. 

The way this car accelerates is quite deceptive, because the immediacy of electric propulsion and lack of noise makes it feel faster than it actually is. Still, 7.3 seconds is decent, and performance is strong and responsive and that’s what matters.  

The steering feels lifeless like a computer game, but what it lacks in feedback it makes up for in directness and ease of use. 

The brake pedal is very sensitive, especially in i-Pedal maximum energy recuperation mode. But that’s because you don’t actually need to use the brake pedal in i-Pedal mode. The car’s energy recuperation system slows the car as aggressively as if you were pushing the brakes anyway. So, if you look far enough ahead, you don’t need to use the brakes. But, if you need to stop faster or more urgently, just be ready for the brakes to bite hungrily when you hit them.

For those not so keen on one-pedal driving, you can use the paddles to ease energy regeneration and drive the car using the two pedals in a more traditional way. I found the throttle to be a little more lively in these modes, too, especially in the Sport setting. 

As for the ride, the EV6 delivers a good ride, but I found it a touch firm. Let’s call it the sporty side of plush. Maybe that’s in keeping with Kia’s sportier positioning compared to sister brand Hyundai, but I would have preferred a more compliant ride in keeping with an $80K prestige car.

And honestly, a slightly softer ride would better complement the EV6’s otherwise very refined air on the move. Very little noise penetrates the interior, even at highway speeds, making for a pleasingly serene experience. 

Should I buy a Kia EV6?

Now this is a tough question. If you want the most advanced Kia in Australia, then the EV6 Air is the most affordable answer to that question. 

But, if you’re looking for the best way to spend your money moving four or five people in comfort, then the Kia EV6 Air is not the best value answer. A Kia Sorento is larger and arguably just as luxurious in top-spec GT-Line guise. If you don’t need a vehicle that big, try the smaller Sportage GT-Line, which is $20K cheaper (drive-away) and can still carry four adults and their luggage in comfort. 

But let’s be honest here. These days, people often buy EVs because they want an EV. So, for them, comparison to an ICE equivalent is irrelevant.

If we compare the EV6 against purely EV rivals, then the biggest challenge comes from the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model Y. The EV6 is basically an Ioniq 5 in different clothes, so that decision comes down to what kind of EV hatch do you want? Or maybe which brand you prefer? There are small differences, such as battery size and power outputs, but not enough of a difference to change a decision.

Ultimately, the cars the EV6 has to beat are the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model Y, and again there’s very little difference in the way they perform. The biggest difference is the Polestar’s cheaper price, but potential buyers need to look closely at Polestar’s $3.4K Pilot Lite Pack safety equipment to ensure they’re comparing apples with apples.

The Kia EV6 is an impressive vehicle, but it’s also just Kia catching up to EV leaders. If it’s the EV you want, then the hardest decision you’ll face is whether to wait two years or not. 

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