Overview

Following on from the GV60 and G80, this is the third electric car to be launched by Genesis and while the petrol and diesel GV70 have been with us a little over a year the battery-powered version has only just joined the line-up. There are a lot of electric SUVs on the market, so the Genesis GV70 Electrified has a lot of competition to fight off but it does borrow Kia and Hyundai’s platforms which are one of the best available and with a combination of sophisticated technology, creature comforts, practicality and an asking price that will beat some rivals, it has plenty of appeal, but can it turn the heads of those who might otherwise be tempted to head towards established premium marques such as Mercedes, Audi and BMW? Discover EV head to the launch to find out.

Driving

First off, the positives… It’s a great cruiser. As with all EVs, it’s serene and silent being a big SUV it soaks up bumps giving a comfortable ride with the benefit of an elevated driving position. It features adaptive suspension with road scanning tech, which works well on motorways and A roads, but hit the B roads and it doesn’t feel as dynamic as some of the German rivals – and that is its biggest downfall. Still, the steering is well weighted, accurate and provides a good level of feedback.

It has an all-wheel drive system with a terrain mode for mud, snow and sand, together with a dual motor setup offering 483bhp, but in normal driving, this is limited to 160kW - with access to the additional power reserved for the Boost button. This enables additional power for 10 seconds, and drops the 0-62mph time from 4.8 seconds to 4.2. Yes, it’s fun on a straight bit of road, but a little incongruous because it is far from sporty car and like the GV60 has way too much power for the chassis to cope adequately with a lot of torque steer. It tops the scales at 2310kg and you can feel it.

There are three modes: Comfort (the best compromise  in terms of smoothing out lumps and bumps), Eco and Sport, and if you have the £1630 Comfort Seat Pack, when you select Sport the side bolsters fatten up – presumably to hold you better through the corners!  The Smart Regenerative Braking System, analyses driving habits and road conditions to alter the level of energy recuperation; or via the steering wheel mounted paddles you can manually vary the level of regeneration from nothing if you’re used to combustion cars through to i-Pedal, which enables a 'one-pedal'-style driving. No complaints here. 

Range and running costs

The Genesis GV70 Electrified offers a 77.4kWh battery which is pretty big, but the same capacity as the smaller Genesis GV60 and you notice the impact on the range. The quoted range from Genesis is 283 miles but we averaged around 3.3 miles per kWh, which means you’ll get around 255 miles. Driving style, conditions – whether you’re in stop/start traffic around town or higher motorway speeds, and temperature all impact on range. It supports rapid charging too, accepting speeds of up to 260kW (and sustaining its peak charging rate from 15-55 per cent) so you'll get from 10-80 per cent in 18 minutes – and you can’t really complain about that. If you can find one capable of those speeds that is. A home wall charger will take around 12 hours to perform a full 0-100% recharge. It also boasts V2L (vehicle to load) capability (£880 option) so you can power all manner of household appliances – handy if there’s a power cut or you’re camping.

You get a five-year warranty, complimentary roadside assistance, and servicing where Genesis will collect your car, drop off a courtesy car and then return it once everything is complete, as well as free over-the-air updates. You also get subsidised Ionity charging rates for five years which equates to paying nearly two thirds less at the pump for petrol or diesel and a free home wallbox worth £1125. Batteries are covered up to 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

The GV70 is predicted to hold onto its value to the same degree as the iX3, so expect competitive PCP finance (resale values form part of the finance calculations) but just bear in mind that the Model Y is the class leader when it comes to predicted future values.

Design

The Genesis GV70 already exists with a combustion engine and the styling of the electric version is very similar albeit it has different wheels, front bumper and rear end. The signature grille has been swapped out for a solid panel as it doesn’t need airflow for the engine obviously and is used instead the hide the charging port cover, which means cleaner lines elsewhere , while out back the lack of tail pipes also tidies things up a bit. It has muscular haunches and small rear windows which seem to be the fashion these days and overall we think it’s a nice looking car although not as radical as some of the ground-up EVs out there.

Inside, there’s a couple of stand-alone touches if you compare it to the petrol or diesel models, including recycled materials dotted around the cabin, along with the easy access seating (moves driver and passenger to a pre-set position for maximum comfort). It’s not as bling as the GV60 which is no bad thing, as it’s still got a lot of clean lines and just about every surface is covered in leathered with neat visible stitching. It has a huge sun roof, so it’s also feels light and airy. There’s a top mounted 14.5 inch display which sits higher than the driver’s instrument panel while there are haptic feedback buttons for the map, sat nav, radio and media sitting below the air con display. You may be grateful for these as the users interface has perhaps too many tiles which can be a pain to swipe when driving.

It is paired with a 12.3 inch digital driver display, which has a great holographic effect, layering information so that’s easy to see what matters, and it has an heads-up display that comes with the £3560 Innovation Pack, togther with an excellent blind spot monitoring system (with a camera in the driver’s instrument display showing what’s behind you on your left or right depending which way you signal), and other gadgets like the aforementioned 3D effect driver’s display and upgraded matrix lights that can adjust the shape of the headlight beams to provide as much illumination as possible.

Comfort and practicality

While it has all of the toys you could ask for there’s no flat floor which gives additional space between the front and rear footwells. The armrest however offers a storage compartment, a pair of cup holders and a dedicated area for your phone, as well as a wireless charging pad and USB connections. The rest of the space features the drive controller, a click wheel for the main display and drive mode, and other UI navigation buttons. The steering wheel may feel cluttered to some but if you don’t like Tesla’s for their simplicity you may appreciate having all the cruise control and driver assistance functions clearly lay out.

It’s spacious with a generous amount of head and leg room and the seats are very comfortable, while the boot offers 503 litres of space and there’s an additional 25 litres in the frunk. It’s also very quiet – like the GV60 – with the the active noise cancellation system detecting sound coming in to the cabin and then producing opposing sound waves to cancel it out. This is something that Range Rover are very keen on, and it doesn’t go unnoticed, helping to convey the sense of refinement and premiumness that Genesis is pushing. It’s worth noting the Lexicon sound system is a £990 option however!

Both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay feature, but to be fair the Genesis' system is more than adequate when it comes to navigation and mapping, with EV charging locations easy to locate in the POI system. In terms of driving aids, it is maxed out and has everything you would expect and with steering assistance turned on once you're in adaptive cruise control the car is pretty much semi-autonomous which is a Godsend on long motorway drives. Oh, it also has towing capacity of 1800kg (braked), which gives it an edge other some EVs.

Verdict

There's no single motor option – so lacking a more affordable entry point and only one mid-range trim level (Sport) is available. The GV70 Electrified starts at around £65k, which is good value when you consider its range, performance and charging tech is towards the top end of the market, while material and build quality, practicality and infotainment are first rate, too. It’s cheaper than the Mercedes EQC and around the same price as the BMW iX3, but it doesn’t have the same brand sway, it could also be more dynamic. Is it putting itself out of reach of some buyers? Perhaps, but then that’s what its sister Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 are there for. When you add the backup of strong customer offering into the mix it doesn’t feel like such a daunting jump from the more established car makers. Genesis certainly shouldn’t be ignored – there was a time when Kia and Hyundai was the butt of jokes during their early years in this market, now look at them.

Key Specs

2023 Genesis GV70 Electrified

Price (RRP OTR): From £64,405
Top speed: 146mph
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds (4.2 seconds in Boost mode)
Power: 483bhp
Torque: 516lb-ft
Driving range (combined):283 miles
Charging time: 12 hours (7kW, 0-100%), 18 mins (240kW, 10-80%)
Insurance group: TBC
Vehicle warranty: 5 years / 50,000 miles
Battery warranty: 8 years / 100,000 miles