Charlie Loves the KIA EV6 GT & Solid-State Batteries Explained

gaycarboys

May 29

My dad used to bang on endlessly about hot hatches, how they looked, handled, sounded, and felt to drive. He is gone, but I think he'd have liked KIA's EV6 GT. He was a happy man at 100kw in one of his old Golf GTi's, and a 0-100 that needed a calendar.

He never had a mobile. He was an analogue kinda guy, the exact opposite of the EV6.

EV6 GT smells like success, even at $112,000 including on-roads. It takes off like Road Runner under and anvil. 01-100 in 3.5 seconds, 0.1 second faster than the all-new Mercedes-AMG SL 63 4Matic+, that cost 3 times as much. Like the Merc, the EV6 GT has 430kw (and 730Nm), but unlike the Merc, it doesn't have a crappy gearbox to shit itself the first time to take it out into the country. In fact, it doesn't have a transmission, not as such anyway.

EV6 GT has a 77kwh battery which charges on the fastest 350kw chargers, if you can find them. Join NRMA for a 20% discount on branded bowsers. It has a 7-year unlimited KM warranty, and 7 years/150,000km on the battery. There is 12 months of roadside assist, 7 years if serviced at Kia, which is a bit cheeky in a 112 grand jalopy.

I don't remember the days before power steering and power windows, and although EV6 GT has those, you have to shift the bloody seats yourself, like a peasant farmer. The hatch goes up and down like a bride's nighty, but the seats need a lever! Good god, is this the 20^th century still?

The cabin feels like any of the other EV6 range, but the seats feel much harder. After an hour, you start to shift your bum around a bit, but all race/sports seats are the same.

Video Review: 2023 Subaru Outback Sport XT FULL Review. Is the Turbo Engine Thirsty? #gaycarboys

1 Minute Video Review: The 2023 Subaru Outback Sport XT Turbo is quite sexy, but is it worth the money?

Help Support Gay Car Boys Subscribe to our Youtube Channel

Top GayCarBoys Stories:

ABOVE: 2023 Kia EV6 GT

KIA_MY22_EV6_Spec_Sheet_

The Drive:

Max and I headed out of town for a quick thrash up to the cottages for the weekend. What became obvious was: -

First: As the cloak of night descended, the lights came on. In gloriously full-auto mode, the matrix system worked well, but took a second to switch cells on and off.

Next: the suspension is lovely on smooth roads, but gets a bit shaky-wakey on the cement stuff. Once we got to Max's cottage compound, the rubbish driveway made the EV6 GT feel dray-like. I thought the expensive dinner was going to make a second appearance as we bounced around like jelly in springs.

Last: the sideview camera picture is very grainy at night. It shows on the LCD driver display and looks like an old digital camera on full zoom.

On the quiet backroads, GT mode makes poo come out. Slamming a foot to the floor gives an instant and thuggish response that would mix a mean cocktail. Any faster, and passengers would be mere stains on the seatbacks.

Highway driving is a relaxed affair. All the driver aids do the hard work, and the HUD shows navigation, unless you use Google via wired CarPlay, like we did. Kia is getting rid of the wires soon, but really needs to shake a leg if it is going to keep up with the others.

Diverting onto the winding ribbons of bucolic perfection really opens up possibilities for the EV6 GT. As its potential flashes in front of your eyes in CinemaScope and Technicolour, it is time to hit SPORT mode, and put your big-boy pants on. You need to turn off the regenerative braking and lane departure to really relish the raging mania of a full-on morning glory.

You then quickly feel part of the EV6 GT's DNA.

Dabs of pedal get instant gratification. Unlike the uninitiated drivers of dinosaur-burning museum pieces, EV6 GT drivers don't have to wait an eon for a turbo to spool up. The power is there, right at the end of your foot, whenever you need it.

There are drive modes, ECO/Normal/Sport, but it is the GT button you want to press. It unleashes a primeval beast that wants to kill you, and everything around you.

Among other things, it turns traction control off, yet things stay tidy even at full tilt. You never feel like you'll wind up backwards in a shrubbery. This is supercar stuff. All those sad Lambo wrecks are the result of the stupid nong flicking the traction control off. Most supercars are undriveable for mere mortals without the traction on. EV6 GT shows no such slip-n-slide, but is it all too good to be true? There is a drift mode which I didn't bother searching for, but it was the sport mode that was most rewarding.

Even in the scariest mode of all, EV6 GT is as quiet as a church mouse.

Cornering is a revelation, and although the seats grip like a kid on a candy bar, Max was tossed about like a big, gorgeous, rag doll. It was strangely attractive to catch a glimpse of his muscled chest in a tight T Shirt as it strained against the seatbelt.

But I digress: Max's butch demeanour evaporates easily, and he squeals like a school girl when things get a bit eggy. Evidentially he doesn't share my confidence in my driving ability.

We used 50% range on the trip up, but at least 10% of that was trying to get Max to scream.

Once ensconced on the Verandah of "Albert Park" (all the cottages are named after famous beats), we reflected on the journey.

"Range and charging" was the topic du jour. As we sipped red wine from old jam jars, yes that is a thing, the EV6 GT was Hoovering up the power, tethered at the bottom of the stairs. The entire compound has enough renewable energy to power a small sun, so a 35kwh top-up is an overnight doddle overnight.

Batteries

I had a coffee with an Associate Professor at University of NSW recently. Neeraj Sharma has been researching Solid State Batteries, and in particular, developing materials to extend the life and effectiveness of batteries generally.

It went something like this: the technology he has been improved upon.

In the near future, we will fill Lithium-Ion batteries with a non-flammable solid ceramic-like electrolyte instead of a flammable liquid. Improvements in anode and cathode material will halve the size of the pack, allow it to charge in minutes, eliminate heat, and above all, extend the theoretical life of the rechargeable pack indefinitely.

It is possible, just possible, that the battery could last the life of the car, be smaller, with little or no degradation. That alone will have the doubters' faces look like they've been chewing wasps.

What does it mean? You could, in theory, replace any EV battery in due course, with something that will last as long as its owner wants it to. Meanwhile, the EV6 GT makes use of a conventional EV battery.

Final thought: Batteries have been known to catch fire, and we're told not to throw batteries into fires, right? It is the liquid electrolyte that is the fuel. No fuel, no fire.

By the way, want to see an Audi e-Tron battery ejected during a crash? VIEW HERE

Wrap Up

EV6 GT will eat Porkers for dinner. It will lash Lambos, mince Mercs, abolish Audis, blast Beemers and make other supercars look like trashy wastes of money. EV6 GT is expensive, but to go any faster, you need to fork out a wallet the size Tasmania. Relatively speaking, EV6 GT is a snip.

Considering the price, the Meridian audio system could use a bit more puff, and not having electric seats is mean.