Now when you look at the GV60, you will see that it is definitely different from its siblings. It has the Genesis design language with the dual headlights and dual tail lights, but it might look more like an SUV coupe. That does have its pros and cons that you’ll find out in a little bit. When you get to the front, you’ll see that there is a big grille that houses a lot of the safety features along with the now normal Genesis-style headlights. You’ll also see that there is a fixed panoramic sunroof and some referrals. At the side, there are some pop-out door handles and some little Shrek-like door mirrors that are a little too small. This particular GV 60 Performance was in Saville silver which looks absolutely great with some various black and silver design elements and trim. There’s also a very interesting Z design at the rear pillar with the metal strip going into the rear.
The only part of the exterior I don’t really like is the back. That’s mainly because of the sloping shape of the GV60 along with the spoiler. I see what Genesis was trying to do, but that spoiler really impedes on rear visibility when you’re driving. Just like every other car on the market, you have the Genesis written in the middle of the hatch with the GV60 moniker. In place of fake exhausts, there are reversing lights. The trunk itself is automatic, and the door handle is nicely integrated at the very bottom of the trunk.
I was apprehensive about how the GV60 looks and I personally think that it looks really good, though the Kia EV6 looks better. One thing that you’ll know is that on the rear door, there is this little black rectangle. What Genesis has done is they’re using biometrics and facial recognition in case you don’t have your key. Some owners may never use that and some owners probably would not want to leave their keys at home and just rely on facial recognition and fingerprint recognition. You also have large 21-inch wheels with a very intricate design that definitely has the GV60 stand out even more. When you take a look at the key fob, you will see that this also has the smart park system which will move the car forwards and backward. It is a gimmick, but it is still very cool to use and definitely surprises a lot of people.
Hop inside and you’ll see an expensive feeling interior with luxurious materials. Genesis always does a good job with their interiors and the GV60 has one of the best interiors on the market. When you look out the two-spoke steering wheel, you have your regular buttons for your infotainment system and adaptive cruise control, but there are two little buttons called Drive Mode and Boost. I’ll get to those a little later, but let’s just say that those two buttons are very important. There also are paddle shifters that help with regenerative braking. You can basically have the GV60 coast or you can do one pedal driving like in most other electric vehicles this particular vehicle also has a head-up display and the main display itself has information about the regenerative braking, your charging, and power, along with your range, speed limit sign, and drive power distribution.
To the right of this is the main infotainment system at some amount of inches. It is very easy to use there are many different customizations that you can do from the EV mode all the way to your basic setup. In the front, you do have wireless charging along with two USB-C cables that you can utilize for Apple CarPlay or android auto. Thankfully, Genesis did decide to separate the climate controls alongside various shortcut buttons to make the infotainment system even easier to use. Since this is an electric vehicle, there is an abundance of space. There’s a floating center console that has your heated and cooled front seat buttons along with the heated steering wheel. There’s also a rotary dial for the infotainment system along with a couple more redundant buttons.
The main star of the show is the shifter. When the car is off, the shifter flips over and shows a crystal. It is actually quite pretty to see, and when you start the car, it flips over to show the rotary dial. There’s definitely plenty of space in the front and in the rear, and if you need to, the passenger seat can be moved by the driver with buttons on the side of the passenger chair. All in all, this has a very beautiful interior and it is really easy to use. Genesis even went as far as turning the glove box into a glove drawer. You just pull it out and you’re able to put a lot of different things inside and in a more intuitive way than a standard glove box. In the rear, there is enough legroom, but the sloping rear does impede on headspace. It isn’t terrible, but people over 6 feet will have to crane their heads or slump down a little bit. This GV60 also comes with a great Bang and Olufsen sound system with plenty of basses.
Now let’s get to the heart of the GV 60, which is a 77.4 kWh battery and the dual motors produce 483 horsepower/360 kW and 516 lb-ft/700 Nm. This vehicle is all-wheel drive and with that massive amount of power, gets the GV 60 from 0 to 60 miles an hour in about four seconds. Those two buttons that I noted earlier, drive mode and boost, now come into play. There are 3 different drive modes including echo, comfort, and sport. You can also have a fourth drive mode which is an individual mode. Off the line, this is a seriously quick car and you really have to tell your passengers when you’re about to do more than a quarter throttle. Even driving an eco-mode, has more than enough power. But if you really wanna have fun, you have to put it in sports mode and use that little boost button. This yellow button gives you full power for 10 seconds.
Although you can drive this as a quiet EV, there is something called active sound design. Basically, it creates a sound that increases the more that you accelerate. There are three different types of sounds you can do along with a custom sound set. These are Futuristic, G-Engine, and E-Motor. The most pronounced one is Futuristic which, as it sounds, makes it sound very loud and futuristic like the Jetsons. G-Engine utilizes probably the weirdest noise because it’s supposed to sound like a sporty vehicle, but it just makes a very odd noise. The E motor is also one that I wouldn’t use just because it also makes a very odd sound. I kept this off the entire time.
While driving, you do have the ability to do one pedal driving along with using the paddle shifters, but I do wish that there was a little bit more regenerative braking in one pedal mode. That said, on the move, the GV 60 is extremely quiet and comfortable. There are a lot of adjustments in the seat and there is also the driver’s ergo motion seat that can help utilize a sort of massage feature. It isn’t very strong, but it is noticeable. There is a front trunk that has a minuscule amount of space, but it is absolutely not worth even using. While you’re driving, you can also utilize the various safety features including adaptive cruise control, Blindspot monitoring, active lane keep assist, and a few other features
Let’s talk about battery and range. So first off, the range that I received was about 250 miles along with about 3.5 miles/kWh. That’s actually quite good. If you have any range anxiety, don’t worry because this has one of the fastest charging systems in the entire market. I was able to charge from about 30% to 80% in well under 20 minutes. The charge port is in the rear so you do have to back into the charging ports. Along with its siblings, the GV60 also has something called vehicle to load, or V2L which allows it to charge appliances and even other vehicles!
So what are my thoughts about this $70,000 electric vehicle? Well first, it is absolutely fantastic. I actually showed this vehicle to a high-end die/genesis dealership in Illinois where we won’t even get this vehicle for quite a long time. Almost everybody that saw this vehicle loved it so much that they actually wanted to order one. Like I said, this is extremely quick and extremely comfortable with only a few complaints. My largest complaint is still with that sloping rear end and the spoiler cutting into rearward visibility. That said, it isn’t too detrimental while you are driving.
This is one of the few electric vehicles where a lot of the time, I just sat in utter silence and comfort. Even testing the Volvo XC40 Recharge, you can tell that this is far above that. In fact, I think this is one of the best vehicles. Currently out there. It definitely is one of the best genesis models that have come out, and that is high praise considering I love the Genesis brand. While the exterior design may throw some people off, I completely understand. But if you are OK with the design as I am, I think this is a vehicle that anybody with $70,000 looking for an electric vehicle should take a look at. Like I said, not only is it one of the best electric vehicles on the market, but it’s one of the best vehicles on the market. Put it into sport mode, press that boost button, and you are going to just rocket past almost everybody. If the Genesis GV60 is sold in your area, I 100% recommend that you take a look at it. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
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