Kia’s new EV6 electric crossover goes straight to the head of the pack

Enlarge / This is Kia's distinctively styled EV6, a new electric crossover that's one of the best we've tested. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Kia provided two nights in a hotel and a flight from San Francisco to Washington DC so we could drive the new EV6. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

HEALDSBURG, Calif.-Remember how, a few decades ago, the Japanese car industry came and ate everyone's lunch? History doesn't repeat, the aphorism goes, but it does rhyme. And this time around, the lunch-eating is courtesy of Korea's automakers.

That's especially true with electric vehicles. The second-generation EVs from Kia and parent company Hyundai were some of the few to get close to Tesla-levels of powertrain efficiency. The companies applied that knowledge to create E-GMP, a purpose-built 800 V platform for larger rear- and all-wheel-drive EVs.

The first vehicle to get that powertrain was the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which went straight to the top of the class when we tested it in late 2021. Today, we drive the Ioniq 5's cousin, the Kia EV6. If the Ioniq 5 is all pixels and angles, the EV6 starts with a similar bone structure but drapes it in a much curvier crossover body. Everyone's tastes differ, so I try not to dwell on a car's looks, but from some angles the EV6 is a better-looking Lamborghini Urus. And its rear styling definitely reminds me of the Aston Martin DBX.

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