Kia’s new performance flagship priced now, here in early 2023.

THE fastest and most powerful electric car yet to come from South Korea will also be the most expensive for Kiwis.

Although the flagship GT version of the EV6 will not become available until early next year, Kia New Zealand has announced the price - $139,990, plus on-roads.

That’s $28,000 above the present range-topping GT-Line, also dual motor and therefore all-wheel-drive, and more than twice as much as the least expensive EV6, a rear-drive edition, after it achieves a Government rebate.

It also appears to be $30,090 more than the Tesla Model 3 Performance sedan, which seems to be the only performance-themed EV available to Kiwis that costs less; all comparable Europeans are larger, more plush models with higher tags.

Teslarati will doubtless be quick to remind a Model 3 Performance, whose avaibility appears listed on the Tesla NZ website, is claimed to hit 100kmh from a standing start in 3.3 seconds – 0.2s faster than the EV6 GT.

Regardless of the opposition, Kia NZ’s boss, Todd McDonald, reckons his new product will “reshape perceptions of what a fully-electric vehicle can offer.

“It’s not just a game-changer, it’s an entirely new proposition altogether.  Acceleration is immediate and continuous.  It’s supremely comfortable.  It has unheralded levels of power.”

The GT is nonetheless the quickest car Kia has ever produced and, in topping out at 260kmh, one of its fastest. Similar performance is expected to be cited for Hyundai’s equivalent, the Ioniq 5 N, which might yet also make a local market appearance in 2023.

The GT draws off a 77.4kWh battery and pumps out 430kW and 740Nm – 191kW and 135Nm more than the GT-Line and also comfortably eclipsing Kia’s previous most powerful car, the petrol-reliant 274kW/510Nm Stinger GT V6 sedan. Telsa’s car? Who knows. It doesn’t share outputs. 

Kia’s new model would seem a comfortable brand leader but, in fact, it won’t. Kia suggests its ultim,ate EV will be one still under development, but also set to reveal fully within months and perhaps be on sale here in 2023. That’s the EV9, a big boxy sports utility with seating for five to seven (depending on trim level) that has been fast-tracked as a direct replacement for the Telluride, a big boy petrol SUV is only sells in North America.

Telluride’s equivalent in Hyundai world is the Palisade, which does come here. Though it has not outright said so, Kia NZ seems to be keen on EV9; it was quick to issue an international release overnight showing the model undergoing what’s been called sign-off testing at the Hyundai Group’s Namyang development centre south of Seoul. It’s the car below.

The GT has the same battery as the EV6 long range variants, but in putting performance before parsimony hasn’t the same range.

Whereas the best of those, the rear-drive Air, will accomplish 528km on a charge, and the AWD editions will achieve 506km, the GT has a claimed range of 424 kilometres. The Model 3 Performance is claimed to achieve 547km on a charge.

The GT distinguishes from the models already here by not only adopting a racier appearance, but backing that up with decent performance kit: It gets track-quality brakes, 21-inch wheels, adaptive suspension and a limited-slip rear differential.

The EV6 and Ioniq 5 sit atop a common platform, called the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), that will in time underpin a range of battery-pure vehicles from Kia and Hyundai, along with the latter’s premium brand, Genesis. The platform is among a handful here with 800-volt fast charging capability. With optimal charging – that is, from the hyper-chargers that exist in just a handful of locations – it can recharge from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes.

Kia NZ says it is taking orders now and has established a pre-registration web page.

As with the standard EV6 range, the GT for this market has undergone an Australian ride and handling tune – one of only four regional set-ups allowed globally, expected to comprise Europe, the United States, South Korea and Australia.

Initial tuning began in Germany, according to Kia Australia, on low-quality back roads – intended to simulate rough Australian country roads – as well as the Nurburgring race circuit.