by Anthony Fongaro - Photos via Genesis - 01/02/2022
Guess what? The interior is almost the same as the regular G80 as well! This means a well-designed cockpit with plenty of high-quality materials. Havana Brown with black trim pieces and metal drape the interior. Starting with the steering wheel, there are the typical controls for the digital dials, adaptive control, and media. In front of the driver the only thing that distinguishes the Electrified G80 the most are the dials. Although you can customize the dials to be 3D, I found that to give me a slight headache, but you can shut it off. While you have a regular digital speedometer, the tachometer is replaced by an EV dial for Power and Charge. Under this is the level of regeneration you want, with the Electrified G80 able to go into i-pedal driving. This is a fancy term for one-pedal driving. To charge the level of regen, there are paddle shifters.
Two more differences include a range estimator and the amount of battery. Electrified G80s also have a head-up display with speed, speed limit, and navigation. To the right is Genesis’ infotainment system. While I like touchscreens, I found this touchscreen a little farther than I’d like. Thankfully there is a rotary dial. As the Electrified G80, you have an EV widget which is helpful since it shows your current charge, what the charge would be without the heat on, and the closest charger. Neat! Other than that, there is wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Below this is a combination of rotary dials for the temperature and a haptic-feed screen for the airflow and heated and ventilated seats. I know Genesis does this in most models, but I wish they were just upscale dials and buttons.
Genesis has both the infotainment rotary dial and rotary gear selector on top of each other. Even with plenty of Genesis experience, I’ve occasionally confused the two. Seats are comfortable with an ergo-motion front seat. For a few days, this didn’t work and one day, it did again. Weird. Since there is a sloping rear end, the seats are good but have compromised headroom. Some of the batteries are at the rear of the Electrified G80, so there are two compromised in the trunk. The first is a hump near the seats which impedes the trunk. The second is the seats don’t fold down. I guess that’s the price you pay to have your G80 have an EV powertrain. Although there are some space compromises, the Electrified G80 is still comfortable and luxurious.
Time to get to the biggest difference between the regular G80 and the Electrified G80. Two motors, one in the front and one in the rear make this AWD. A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack is 87.2kWh. These combine to make 365 horsepower/272 kW and 516 lb-ft/700 Nm. All of these get the Electrified G80 from 0-60 MPH in 4.1 seconds. This is the quickest G80 in the lineup. If you try to eke out the maximum range with the heat off and in Eco mode, you can get more than 3.0 miles/kWh, or around 261 miles. While driving, I averaged between 2.8 and 3.2 miles/kWh. Not too bad for an EV. Acceleration is instant and will surprise those around you. There are three driving modes including Eco, Comfort, and Sport. I found myself in Comfort when I had range and Eco when the battery was around 30% or lower.
If you can find a powerful charging station, it should take 22 minutes to get from 10% to 80%. Unfortunately, when I found an Electrify America charging station, it only charged at 62 kW so it was saying it would take an hour from around 20% to 100%. My only complaint about charging is the location of the charging port. While I appreciated the charge point flush with the grille, I found plugging in DC charges quite difficult. Driving is very easy and quite smooth. This is a heavy vehicle, so there is some body roll. Still, cruising on the highway was great with Genesis’ safety features including adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, and lane keep assist.
There is only one option for the Electrified G80, and that’s the paint. The starting price is $80,000. That’s a whopping $8,000 more than the top-of-the-line G80 3.5T AWD Sports Prestige. Here is a breakdown of the standard features. Safety features include blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, adaptive high beams, and collision avoidance. Interior features include the head-up display, heated and ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, and wireless charging. There’s also vehicle-to-load, or V2L charging, which can use the Electrified G80’s battery to power items such as a hotplate or even another EV! For $80,000, not having a sunroof along with heated rear seats was a little odd.
How is the G80 an electric car? Pretty good. It still has all of the positive qualities of the regular G80 with a few space compromises. An electric powertrain makes the Electrified G80 more sedate than the 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 but is quicker. At $80,000, it’s quite expensive. Still, it’s nice seeing a regular sedan as an EV. Electrified G80s have great regenerative braking with one-pedal driving. If you want an EV that looks like a regular sedan, take a look at the Electrified G80. Silly name, good car.
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