EVs have been all the rage in India in the last few months but there is increasingly no sign of Tesla. Elon Musk’s trailblazing EV company has become the most valuable carmaker in the world on the back of the first mover’s advantage, but India doesn’t seem to be on the horizon considering its deadlock with the Indian government over tax breaks for it to import its cars into the country. Kia and its parent Hyundai are going to be taking advantage of this situation. Hyundai is bringing its EGMP EV platform to India and the first car to feature it will be the Kia EV6 which will be an imported unit. Later in the year, its sister, the Ioniq 5 is also coming to India. These EVs are cutting edge and have an impressive range and driving dynamics. Hyundai and Kia have also developed new in-car experiences for these cars which make them interesting. The Kia EV6 for instance is a cut above what the South Korean carmaker has been offering in India. In fact, this car has features that will usurp many of the premium German giants in this regard. That’s how ominous is this onslaught by Hyundai and Kia in the age of electric cars.
The cabin is made up of recycled materials and there’s plenty of tech to keep you hooked for a while
One of the key aspects of the EV6 is the ADAS stack that comes with the car. As of now, in India, Kia’s cars don’t offer much in the way of ADAS. It comes with a litany of safety features like multi-collision braking, AEB, lane-keeping assist, lane follow assist and blind-spot collision warning with rear cross-traffic collision avoidance. In international markets, these features are available in the Air trim of the car which comes with up to 528 km of range in a rear-wheel-drive configuration. The GT line of the car also features parking collision avoidance assist, revers surround view monitor with a 3D model and a blind-spot view monitor. There is also a tyre pressure monitoring system built-in. The car comes with ABS, BAS, ESC, Hill hold assist, highway driving assist and vehicle stability management.
The dual 12.3 inch curved screens sport some really nice graphics with the right blend of information
While the current crop of Kia models in India feature “Bose Audio” on the EV6, in markets outside of India, the car comes with a premium Meridian Sound System that gets 14 speakers which includes 5 full-range speakers, four tweeters, four woofers and a subwoofer. It also comes with an active sound design. On the standard Air model, the car gets a more basic 6-speaker sound system.
The Kia EV6 also comes with a floating-style centre console featuring start/stop button, illuminated rotary selector dial, wireless phone charger and cup holders
It also gets a 12.3-inch curved virtual instrument cluster coupled with another 12.3-inch display which is for the infotainment system. This system supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and supports Kia connect with voice recognition. It is also home t0 the reverse camera view with dynamic grid lines. There is also an augmented reality heads up display (HUD), a wireless charger for your smartphone and 3 USB Type C ports and one USB port.
Overall, the EV6 will be quite stacked in terms of technology and in-car creature comforts. It will be up there with many premium luxury products in terms of feature set at a base level, which will need as it will be priced around Rs 50 lakh.
Highlights
- The EV6 at launch will have the highest range for an EV in India
- It uses the E-GMP platform that was developed with Canoo
- It packs ADAS, premium audio and twin displays
Keyword: Kia EV6: The Tech Inside That Makes It Cutting Edge