It’s not often that we lowly autojournalists get to write a road test and solve a mystery at the same time. In fact, it almost never happens. Usually, we’re handed a spec sheet, are spoon-fed information — in the hopes, of course, that we’ll just regurgitate the company line verbatim — and then we fire off an evaluation.
Occasionally however, we’re left with an actual mystery. Some key data is missing, some performance metric is obviously in error, or, in that rarest of circumstances, there’s a full-blown where’s-NCIS-when-you-need-them whodunnit to be investigated.
Interestingly, of late, said mysteries have largely centred around batteries. I don’t know if it’s because battery technology is so new that people don’t fully understand it, if lithium-ions are considered so top-secret that they must be shrouded in secrecy, or if it’s as simple as those in the automotive information business simply not having a grasp on these new-fangled terms. Whatever the case, batteries seem to be a central source of bewilderment.
First, it was Tesla and the actual size of its batteries. No sooner does the EV pioneer release a new product with so many kilowatt-hours of battery, than a whole bunch of experts disassemble them in their driveways to proclaim that, no, it has such-and-such. I’ve seem so many different claims for the actual kWh rating of the company’s Model S — and ditto for the Model 3 — that I suspect the only person who really knows the truth is Lord Elon himself.
Meanwhile, when Ford jumped into the EV fray with its F-150 Lightning, it simply would not give us any information detailing how big its batteries were. Oh, it told us everything else — range, horsepower, and torque — but not a word about what powered it all. In the gas-fueled world, that’d be equivalent to giving us every performance metric in the book, but refusing to release whether it was all the result of a turbocharged six, big-block V8, or thundering diesel. It was strange enough that I wrote an entire column on the mystery.
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
Kia Canada’s turn for a mystery
This time, the mystery surrounds Kia Canada’s’ proclamation that its new — and entirely estimable — EV6 has a bigger battery than its cross-town cousin, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5. Essentially, it claims that its 77.4-kilowatt-hour battery is bigger than whatever is powering the Ioniq 5’s.
Except it’s likely not true.
For one thing, it doesn’t make any sense. Both cars, being sister ships produced by what is essentially the same company, are built on an identical platform or framework. Such platform engineering is actually hugely constrictive, every square centimetre chock-a-block with hardware. The idea that Kia somehow found more space for battery than Hyundai in the same platform would be at least unusual, if not completely out of the question.
Besides — and, in fairness, maybe I should have lead with this tidbit — Hyundai’s own corporate website, right there in the specifications tab, claims that its Ioniq 5 boasts an identical 77.4 kWh and, according to the Korea Times, both batteries are built by the same manufacturer, SK International.
So what gives?
At first, I thought it might have to do with Kia squeezing more “usable” lithium-ions out of its battery. Pardon the complication, but every battery powering an electric vehicle actually has two designations. The first is the total amount of kilowatt-hours onboard; the second is how much of that total the computer and electric motors are allowed to access. Simply put, all EV makers — except, again, possibly Tesla — always hold some lithium-ions in reserve because charging to 100 per cent of capacity — and then draining it to zero — significantly reduces a battery’s lifespan.
The trick is to make the difference between the two as small as possible — by holding fewer kilowatt-hours in reserve, you can brag a longer range — without, of course, damaging the battery. Ford’s Mach-E was initially released with a total of 98.7 kWh, of which the owner only had access to 88. More recent versions have the same total, but newer Mach-Es have access to 91 kWh. So, is it possible that both South Korean cars have the same 77.4-kWh batteries, but Kia has somehow managed to wring more usable work out of it?
Now fully committed to the full Columbo, I decided to raid the Natural Resources Canada database for both vehicles’ data, that I might get to the bottom of this puzzle. Long story short, though the EV6 does indeed have a longer range than the Ioniq 5, it’s because its efficiency is better, not that it has a larger battery. I won’t bore you (more than I already have) with the actual calculations, but essentially the numbers say that not only is the total number of kilowatt-hours of the two batteries identical, so, too, are their usable capacities.
So, I have no idea why Kia says the EV6’s battery is bigger. Maybe it’s as simple as mistaking the European version of the Hyundai — which does have a smaller 72.6-kWh battery — for our own. I simply don’t know. However, unless I am very much mistaken — and, if I am, I will be humbly providing an immediate retraction — any claims you might read that the company’s battery is bigger than Hyundai’s would seem dubious.
The Kia EV6 has excellent range
Any mystery about battery does not discount that the EV6 has decent range. In fact, according to those NRCan stats I looked up, the Long Range AWD version EV6 boasts 441 kilometres to a “tank,” compared with just 414 km for the equivalent Hyundai. But, as I said, that’s not the result of that supposedly larger battery, but rather that the EV6’s overall energy consumption is 19.9 kWh per 100 km, versus the Hyundai’s 21.3 kWh/100 km.
In other words, its gas tank isn’t bigger; its motors and/or controllers are more efficient. As to why it has so much of an advantage over its sister ship, that, too, is a bit of a mystery, though it may be because the EV6 boasts something called a Disconnetor Actuator System that sees the rear motor divorce the front in a quest for less drag.
As to whether it actually holds that advantage in real life, I can’t say. I’ve only tested the Ioniq 5 at minus 14 Celsius — it was plus 14 when I drove the Kia — and cold temps absolutely kill EV range. That said, in my Range Finder test — driving at a steady 125 km/h down Ontario’s hilly and windblown 407 speedway — the EV6 eked out a creditable 292 kilometres, not that far in arrears of such behemoths as the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Porsche Taycan, both of which have substantially larger batteries.
I suspect that Tesla’s Long Range Model 3 might outdo it — it outperformed the Ioniq 5 by some 30 kilometres in Range Finder’s cold weather testing — but the EV6’s real-world highway range is not bad at all. And given the promise of the 350-kilowatt charging that stems from its 800-volt battery architecture, charging should be also very rapid. That said, 350-kW chargers are rare beasts indeed.
The performance numbers ain’t bad (and get better)
The dual-motor AWD long-range version of the EV6 uses the very same 165-kilowatt motor in the rear and 74-kW version up front for the same 320 horsepower as the Ioniq 5. It also – no surprise, here – performs almost identically. It’s good for a five-second scoot to 100 kilometres an hour, the kind of substantial performance that long passed for exemplary in family transport until Tesla convinced everyone that even four-door family haulers need “Plaid” acceleration.
That said, those shopping Kia will soon have a choice of a full-fledged GT model with 576 electrified horses, powered by a 160-kW motor up front; and a 270-kW version in the rear. It’s said to be good for 3.5s time to 100 klicks. That’s still not in Model S territory, but I’ll remind you for the third time in two paragraphs that the EV6 is family transportation.
It also handles a treat as well. Again, not like a super-sports sedan — and this time, a Tesla is certainly not the metaphor — but like the most sprightly of crossovers. The suspension is just stiff enough that if the princess — or prince — really can feel a pea beneath her mattress, they really are going to complain about the overly ‘sporty’ ride. The steering is likewise firm-ish, as in there’s decent feedback for something so obviously electrically boosted. Again, Kia promises even more with the upcoming GT and, again, I’d say most people don’t need it, save for possibly the badge reinforcement it promises.
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
The car’s styling is impeccable, its cabin fetching
For all the talk of kilowatt-hours and energy consumption, I think the EV6’s biggest asset is its styling. Simply put, everyone raves about it. Some say it’s because it looks “sporty.” Others claim they thought it was “European.” Whatever the case, pretty much everyone agrees that it looks great, all the way from its bold front wheel arches; to the dramatic rear spoiler and (slightly) sloping rear roofline. Kia Canada showed us a matte grey version that was nothing short of stunning. That said, the styling ‘presence’ dictated that the rear window wiper be jettisoned in Kia’s search for visual streamlining. The company says it designed the aerodynamics of the spoiler to blow the rear window clean. I beg to disagree. The EV6 — like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 — needs a rear wiper.
True to the exterior theme, the EV6’s cabin décor is pure European chic. My tester was all dark tones and sharp creases, with not a little high-tech thrown in to reinforce that this is, after all, Kia’s leader in the electrification revolution.
Thankfully, Kia didn’t futz with the infotainment system it shares with Hyundai. Simply put, its EV information app is the best in the business, the main page highlighting both the maximum range remaining, as well as the range with your current heating system use (useful in Canada, because using the heater in the winter can reduce range by as much as 40 per cent or more). Then there’s the de rigueur mapping to the closest charging station, minute-by-minute analysis of your energy consumption, and estimates of the time that will required to recharge. There’s nothing revolutionary about the information presented, but the presentation is the best in the business.
2022 Kia EV6 Photo by Chris Balcerak
That said, some of the switchgear can be a little wonky. I never made my peace with the radio tuning function, and the haptic buttons for the seat ventilation were so touchy that I accidentally activated the system several times (which, considering the climate this time of year, rendered my tushie frigid indeed). And, in an attempt to reduce the number of buttons on the centre dashboard — something I remember that touchscreens were promised to do — Kia decided that some buttons should do double duty, alternating their control between infotainment and air conditioning switches. A toggle of a main switch sees the rest of them alternating between controlling the A/C system or the radio. My significant other and our own Graeme Fletcher thought the feature innovative; I found it annoying. Which side of the technology-for-technology’s sake argument you fall will probably determine who you agree with.
One last cool feature worth mentioning is the Kia’s Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) feature, which lets the EV6’s battery power laptops, projectors (for camping, says the company) and even charge other EVs in an emergency. There’s one 120-volt AC outlet in the rear seats; and another, more powerful 1.9-kilowatt on the outside right rear, to be used for vehicle-to-vehicle charging. According to CNET, the EV6 should be able to power a refrigerator for more than 300 hours in the case of a blackout.
And lastly, a word on pricing. Like so many entry-level EVs, the EV6 just squeezes in under the $45,000 mark that qualifies the entire range for the $5,000 federal subsidy, the Standard Range RWD’s $44,995 buying a 58.0-kWh battery, a 167-hp motor in the rear only, and a 373-kilometre NRCan-rated range. You can also get the bigger 77.4-kWh battery in a Long Range RWD guise that bumps the horsepower to 225 hp; and the range to an officially rated 499 klicks.
There’s also a basic Long Range AWD model that slips under the $55,000 mark, with the big battery, 320 hp, and a promised range of 441 km (this is essentially the configuration I tested, and I rolled up a real-world 292-km range). Despite this aggressive pricing, most EVs remain the purview of the fashionably wealthy, and Kia Canada predicts that it will be its most expensive GT-Line trims — the first starting at $57,995, and the top version retailing for $61,995 — that will actually be the volume sellers.
I don’t know about that. But I do know that the new EV6 was recently proclaimed Europe’s 2022 Car of the Year and, mystification about the size of batteries or not, I see no reason to disagree with that assessment.
Keyword: First Look: 2022 Kia EV6