Kia has been given access to Hyundai’s N tuned hardware - and they’ve gone big!

HARDCORE GT enhancement for Kia’s largest electric car, the family mover-minded EV9, and new tweaks for its current battery-dedicated performance hero, the EV6 GT, has announced - but what chance of New Zealand seeing them?

National distributor Kia New Zealand has so far said nothing about the new types, unveiled at last week’s Los Angeles motor show, and questions have yet to be responded to.

Conceivably, it seems the variants they could be easily-achieved considerations, as Kia Australia - which often takes common product with our market - has indicated both will be in their showrooms from the second half of 2025.

Even so, Kia NZ will likely want to consider its options carefully, as these cars in their current formats have - like all electrics - been caught out by the massively cooled consumer interest in battery cars.

Earlier this year the Auckland-based distributor was forced to massively discounts the flagship and entry editions of the three-level EV9 range in hope of shifting moribund stock.

Aspiration for the EV6 GT has also been stymied - it also discounted and that, in turn, caused dealer demonstrators to be firesaled for up to $20,000 below list.

The new GT products might at least raise some interest based on their performance lustre.

In GT trim the EV9 is a very different package to the current flagship GT-Line as it has hot hatch humbling performance from having divested the current top-end 282kW/700Nm dual motor power train for a tyre that delivers 374kW and, according to reports, potentially another 70Nm torque.

The GT variant touts a 0-100km time of 4.3 seconds, a full 1s quicker to that limit than the GT-Line, but it also has enhanced handling acumen.

Kia has beefed up the car’s chassis and included an electronic limited-slip rear differential. The springs are retuned, it achieves adaptive dampers and sway bars, enlarged brakes and stickier tyres for the GT-Line-shared 21-inch alloys.

The car’s brick-like body shape is not altered per se, but Kia has concocted new bumpers and active air flaps to improve the aero performance.

The GT also stands out for having green brake calibers and a specific headlight shape, while the achieves bucket seats with Alcantara inserts, different ambient lighting, lime green stitching, accents and graphics, as well as GT badges.

The tie between it and the enhanced EV6 GT is that they are tweaked to create some noise - or, at least, the same sounds and sensations that come from the Ioniq 5 N.

Hyundai’s rocket ship is very much a technical twin to the EV6 GT as we know it now.

Yet in reality there is a gulf of difference, the parent brand’s car not only having more power but also far more character, thanks to its clever mimicry of the tactile and aural characteristics of an internal combustion powertrain.

The EV9 GT and EV6 GT now achieve the same illusions, having picked up the N model’s virtual eight-speed transmission and active sound design.

The EV6 GT is set to close down the gap in on-seal performance, too, as it gets the Ioniq 5 N’s powertrain which, with 478kW/770N, has 48kW and 30Nm more than the current car.

Only the EV9 GT has been displayed; the updated EV6 GT remains unseen.

Kia head office has also yet to reveal how the extra power has impacted the performance - but currently Hyundai’s type has slight advantage in the 0-100kmh sprint and feels more muscular overall.

The announcement of a more feral GT came with Kia lifting the covers off general cosmetic changes made to the rest of the EV6 range – new bumpers, fresh alloy wheels, narrower front lighting signature and a reshaped nose.

The car also take fresh trim and graphics and a new steering wheel. For North America is also takes fingerprint authentication and a system which brings over-the-air updates, wireless smartphone mirroring, new menus and walk away locking.

Kia says general issue EV6s for the 2025 year also achieve a retuned suspension, more soundproofing for the rear motor, a thicker B-pillar and a revised body shell to improve rigidity for safety.