Kia puts halo electric EV6 GT through local rough road paces

The highly anticipated Kia EV6 Gt has landed in Australia to be put through its paces for final local tuning ahead of a late 2022 launch.

As the halo version of Kia’s high-performance electric crossover, Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith says the EV6 GT has attracted an “extraordinary” level of interest.

“Tuning our vehicles to suit Australian conditions is a crucial feature in the local model lineup and can be significantly credited to the growth in our overall sales,” he said.

It has now arrived fresh from the Nürburgring racing track in order to join the EV6 Air and EV6 GT-Line as well as refreshed electric sibling, the 2022 Kia e-Niro, which was the first Kia vehicle to receive an all-Australian tune-up since the pandemic halted its local tuning program.

“The challenge with the local tune of the GT variant is to go above and beyond what is already available in the very capable and award-winning EV6 GT-line,” Meredith said in a statement regarding the latest news.

The “go-fast” GT will join the EV6 Air and GT-Line towards the end of 2022. Though Kia Australia is yet to confirm local specs, expect acceleration from 0-100km/hr in 3.5 seconds, a top speed of 260km/hr and all-electric range of around 370km in real-world conditions.

It will of course include features like vehicle-to-load (V2L) as with other EVs built on the South Korean auto group’s e-GMP platform, as well as ultra-fast charging from 10-80% in around 15-16 minutes.

Kia says that initial stages of tuning for the EV6 GT have been carried out in Europe. However, because Australia’s roads are typically – let’s face it – crappy compared to Europe, the team had to go searching for B-grade roads in Germany to make sure the EV6 GT will handle Australian conditions.

The goal, it says, is to ensure the EV6 GT can handle the track as well as the rough country roads of Australia. And it seems that ultimately, the only thing was to bring it here.

With hydraulics and shocks put to rest in Europe, the finishing touches are now being bedded down in and around Canberra.

Kia Australia product manager Roland Riviero says the process of taking the car to Europe and then to Australia is new for Kia.

“The importance of our requirement for a localised and unique tune is supported by headquarters and allows Kia Australia one of only four Global Tuning Specs available for EV6 GT,” he says.

“Despite the hurdles that confronted us, from the lack of availability of a test mule in Namyang to the impracticalities of Covid-19 restrictions in Korea requiring 7-days isolation, we negotiated an unprecedented new process of initial tuning in Germany and then fine-tuning in Australia.”

Stay tuned for more details and specifications for the EV6 GT in Australia in the months to come.