Although it still looks remarkably futuristic, swoopy and fresh, it’s time for Kia to update its pioneering EV6 zero-emissions fastback; and it’s pioneering for a couple of reasons, as it was the Korean company’s first electric-only model, and also the first car from that country to win the European Car of the Year award (in 2022).
Arguably one of the most transformative models for its parent company’s image, the EV6 allowed Kia to take on established premium players, in both the electric and combustion markets, and it eventually settled into a role where it was up against a varied array including the Tesla Model 3, BMW i4, Polestar 2 and the related Hyundai Ioniq 5, among more.
What set the EV6 apart when it launched three years ago - and something which still holds true now - is that it is one of the few electric vehicles (EVs) based on advanced 800-volt architecture, technology which allows for ultra-rapid charging, and thus in turn permitting the Kia to be fitted with a big battery for impressive one-shot driving range. Therefore, as part of the round of updates for the car for 2025, not much remedial work needed to be done to it at all. But what has been enacted is a worthwhile series of tweaks to keep the Kia EV6 right at the sharp end of the game. We’ve driven the revised car in the Cotswolds in the UK, to get a flavour of how it feels before it launches in Ireland at the start of next year.
How much is the Kia EV6 in Ireland?
At the time of writing, prices and specifications for the facelifted Kia EV6 were not available from Kia Ireland. The outgoing car is still showing on the company’s website with a starting price of €46,900, and precisely what the trim grades will be for the forthcoming car are yet to be announced. Typically, it’s Earth and then GT-Line for its spec-walk, which is true of the larger EV9 seven-seat electric SUV, but we cannot confirm that for the EV6 as yet.
What’s the styling like on the updated Kia EV6?
Very similar to the outgoing car, albeit with the clear change effected on the daytime running lamps. The full-width, angular signature of this band of illumination is called ‘Star Map’ by Kia and you can see it echoed on a lot of the company’s latest products, such as the EV9, the Niro EV, the Picanto city car and the Sorento SUV. It works well here and is echoed in a more glamorous-looking rear LED arrangement, all of which - along with a sprinkling of new body colours and an additional design of 20-inch alloy wheel - ensure the EV6 still easily catches the eye.
A look inside the updated Kia EV6
Again, no major surgery was required with what is one of the most spacious, comfortable cabins in this class and size of car, so sensibly Kia has decided to gently touch-up what features were there. For instance, all the piano-black glossy trim - something which, in this age where we must prod repeatedly at digital switches in a vehicle just to get the climate controls to work, always terribly shows up greasy fingerprints - has been replaced with a brushed, textured finish to minimise such oily smudges. The only other alteration relates to the ambient lighting, which is now designed to accentuate the horizontal shapes of the Kia’s dashboard when it’s lit up at night, so with its generally excellent materials, acres of passenger space and acceptable (albeit not spectacular) 528-litre boot, the EV6’s cabin is still a winner.
The updated Kia EV6’s on-board technology
Kia continues to offer the twin 12.3-inch digital displays housed in a single curved unit for the EV6’s dashboard, and this is one of our favourite systems going. Admittedly, yes - it does require lots of prodding of the screen to get to certain menus and functions, but Kia’s ingenious slim panel beneath the main infotainment display is switchable between nav/audio controls and the climate system. This means that there are physical buttons, of a sort, always at hand for the in-car heating and cooling, while a new design of steering wheel also includes some useful, proper switchgear. The main addition for 2025, then, is a revamped wireless smartphone charging pad with a less slippery base, as well as a more powerful 15-watt charging rate for devices.
How many child seats can I fit in the Kia EV6?
As before, there are two full ISOFIX positions in the EV6 in the outer-rear seats, although there’s also a top tether for the central chair of the second-row bench. The Kia’s back doors do open nice and wide, however, so even though there’s not an abundance of ISOFIX in the car, at least loading a couple of child seats into the EV6 should be easy work for parents.
How safe is the Kia EV6?
The EV6 picked up a full five-star rating in 2022 from Euro NCAP and, while the updated car hasn’t yet been tested, the sheer breadth of the advanced driver assist safety (ADAS) systems you can specify for the Kia means we’d be surprised if it didn’t bag top marks again. One feature that has been added is a shortcut to get rid of the overspeed warning beep, an annoying new safety-mandated feature of all cars - in the EV6, if you press and hold the volume dial on the steering wheel (which also mutes/unmutes the sound system) then it turns off the speeding alert; neat.
Driving the updated Kia EV6
As before, there’s a fairly simple choice for the revised Kia EV6 range with just the one battery size. Kia makes a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive (RWD) variant with 228hp and 350Nm, allowing for a 0-100km/h time in 7.7 seconds, and an all-wheel-drive (AWD) model with a motor on the front axle as well, which reduces the 0-100km/h time to 5.3 seconds as a result of peak outputs of 325hp and a sizeable 605Nm. There’s no word yet on whether the high-power EV6 GT, with 585hp, will make a return in the facelifted family, and neither do we know if the AWD model will be offered to Irish buyers.
Having driven the AWD, it’s nice and admittedly pretty rapid, but we don’t really think you need any more speed than the lovely, balanced RWD model provides. The way it metes out its reserves of power and torque is really quite splendid, with the judgement of its accelerator and brake pedal both marvellous. It doesn’t matter if you cycle the EV6 RWD through Eco, Normal or Sport modes, the way the car reacts to flexes of your right foot feels entirely natural, while the blending point between the regenerative deceleration efforts of the electric motor and then the actual moment the friction brakes take over is imperceptible.
As it doesn’t make any significant whooping or sci-fi sounds while it’s going about its business, the near silence of the Kia only adds to the sensation that everything it does is effortless. This is backed up with superb ride comfort at all speeds, which is true whether you’re crawling around on cratered urban roads or barrelling along at 120km/h in the outside lane of a motorway. The suppression of both tyre and wind noise is top drawer, too.
Which means that, as usual with an everyday EV with no overt performance focus, the only minor critical point of the Kia’s dynamics relates to the handling. The EV6 is suitably composed in the corners, with impressive body control, decent steering, and plenty of both traction and grip to fall back upon. For something weighing just the wrong side of two tonnes, the EV6 is capable enough. It’s just not that interesting.
What’s the electric range of the Kia EV6?
Kia has enlarged the battery on the EV6 to 84kWh, up from its previous 77.4kWh. An eight per cent boost to its fastest charging rate, now standing at 258kW instead of 239kW, means that despite having a bigger power pack, it still only requires 18 minutes to go from 10-80 per cent battery charge in just 18 minutes at the EV6’s fastest DC connection. Hook the car up to a typical 7.4kWh home wallbox and you’ll be looking at around 10 or 11 hours to go from 0-100 per cent.
Anyway, the 84kWh battery now blesses all models with well in excess of 500km of official driving range. The eco-champ is the rear-wheel-drive model on smaller wheels, which’ll do up to 581km, although a sportier model on larger alloys like our test car will drop that figure to 558km. Adding the second motor for the AWD EV6 does bring almost 100 additional horsepower for faster acceleration, but it also means a one-shot driving range of between 521-545km accordingly. We saw just outside the official energy consumption with 16.8kWh/100km during our test drive, but in fairness to the Kia we weren’t driving it that gently and we were using plenty of onboard electrical drains, so a real-world range of 400-500km from the EV6 ought to be easily and regularly attainable without too much modification of your driving style and habits.
The reasons you’d buy a Kia EV6
Despite the proliferation of many more competitors for the Kia EV6 in the three years since it first arrived, the basic, underlying car remained one of the finest family EVs out there. And it remains so with this round of updates, as what you have here is a handsome-looking machine with a spacious, well-equipped and beautifully built interior, smooth driving manners and admirable long-range capabilities from its battery pack. That it now charges faster and goes even further in one hit is merely the icing on a tasty cake.
Ask us anything about the Kia EV6
If there’s anything about the Kia EV6 we’ve not covered, or you’d like advice in choosing between it and other cars, you can avail of our (completely free) expert advice service via the Ask Us Anything page.
