Kia is making a lot of the EV6’s roomy cabin which brings with it class-leading space – by and large thanks to the flexibility that EV-specific platform offers. Rear seat passengers, for example, get 990mm of leg room, which is more than the final generation Jaguar XJ and not much less than the current Mercedes-Benz S Class.
Up front, the proportions are similarly generous thanks to the flat floor, enabled by the lack of exhaust and transmission. The EV6s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system is also neatly packaged so that it takes up 55 per cent less space inside the cabin than previous generation systems. Essentially, the dashboard can be slimmer, adding room where once it was filled with gubbins.
For the front seat passenger (and driver when the car is stationary), this means that the lift and recline feature makes relaxing on the move far easier. Cubby holes throughout the cabin help the EV6 swallow even more of the bits and pieces that a typical family needs to drag with it whenever it goes out.
This ample provision of space is carried over to the luggage areas, with the main boot space having 520 litres of space with the seats in place, and 1300 litres with the 60:40 folding rear bench stowed. Up front, a 52 litre frunk is located under the bonnet on two-wheel drive cars, with 20 litres available on all-wheel drive models. In either case this is enough room to store charging cables and the like.
Speaking of charging, the powertrain’s ability to operate at either 400 or 800 volts means that at maximum speed, charging from 10 to 80 per cent takes less than 20 minutes, and anecdotally the E-GMP platform is capable of maintaining a very fast rate of charge up towards 100 per cent where typically they’d slow down.
As well as taking on electrons at a very fast rate, the EV6 comes with vehicle to load function (V2L), through which it can supply power at up to 3.6kW from its 77.4 or 58kWh battery pack. This means that more-or-less any household appliance could be powered from the car, and it even supports EV-to-EV charging – like a modern day (but somewhat slower) fuel siphon.
A final little party piece for the Kia EV6 is its towing ability, which stands at 1600kg for both all- and rear-wheel drive cars with the 77.4kWh battery, or 750kg for cars with the 58kWh battery. At the higher end, this means that a fairly substantial caravan can be towed with relative ease at the top end.
Kia is pitching the EV6 as the kind of EV that would work for one-car households and given its 300+ mile range and functional interior, we can get on board with it in principle. Obviously, we’ll reserve final judgement until we test it.
The only real downside is the starting price of £40,895, which is a substantial sum and puts it on a par with the entry level Audi Q4 e-tron. Find out more here.
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