More high-performance, electrified Kia GT models due

Shortly after the unveiling of the Kia EV6, the South Korean automaker revealed that it will be expanding the high-performance GT line-up moving forward.

According to Kia’s head of global brand and customer experience, Artur Martins, the GT range puts specific emphasis on the “exciting driving experience,” one that can be amplified with electrification. He told Australian newswire CarSales that the “GT is an important element in our strategy moving forward.”

“We had it already in the internal combustion engines in Stinger, and some of the products in the portfolio like K5 and Forte, so it’s part of our strategy today. It will also be an important part of our strategy moving forward,” he added.

“EVs were seen in the past as boring cars, not very attractive from the design perspective and not very exciting to drive. We want Kia to be perceived as an exciting brand and regardless of whether you are driving an EV or an internal combustion engine, we want that DNA to be brought across all the products of the brand – at least ones that make sense, of course.”

Martins also explained that electric cars benefit from having a lot of torque, which makes it easy to overtake other vehicles safely. However, when asked if there will be a more powerful variant than the EV6 GT, Martins said “we don’t believe you need to have much more performance than this. We believe this power is more than enough and this direction si more or less the way we want to go.”

Just to recap, the EV6 sits on Kia’s E-GMP platform and the line-up comprises the EV6, EV6 GT-Line and EV6 GT. Base models get a single motor that powers the rear axle, but the range-topper gets two electric motors, one driving each axle. The total system output is 430 kW, or 585 PS and 740 Nm of torque. That’s good for a century sprint time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 260 km/h.

That’s mighty quick, and is even more potent than the Porsche Taycan 4S. Between the axles rests a 77.4 kWh battery pack (long range configuration) that is capable of providing up to 510 km on range (WLTP cycle). Like the Taycan, it also employs an 800-volt electrical architecture, which enables consistent high performance, reduces the charging time and decreases the weight and installation space of the cables.

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