The new 2023 Kia EV6 GT has caught headlines for punching above its weight when it comes to straight line performance, but it turns out that, unlike in internal combustion vehicles, the EV will actually slow down the less it has in the proverbial tank.
Speaking to CarScoops, a Kia spokesperson said that the EV6 GT will only be capable of achieving its quoted 3.4-seconds to 60 mph (96 km/h) acceleration time when the battery is charged to more than 70 percent. “Below that performance will degrade just like any other EV,” he noted.
Kia says that below that state of charge, it will still “give its all,” but its acceleration won’t be quite as blistering as when it’s fully charged. While the EV6 GT isn’t unique among electric vehicles in losing top-line performance when its battery is low, it remains a fact that speed demons may have to get used to.
Read: The Kia EV6 GT Is Stupidly Fast, But Is It Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Fast?
Performance Loses Are An EV Thing
Whereas vehicles with internal combustion engines become lighter as their tanks empty, and therefore faster, EVs do the opposite. Unlike an engine that uses the same amount of fuel no matter how much is left in the tank (until there isn’t enough left to power the engine at all), when a battery drains, the available voltage to the motor goes down, resulting in a loss of power.
In a Tesla Model 3, for instance, the batteries’ state of charge has a negligible effect on performance between 95 and 75 percent (roughly five percent). That effect is much larger between a 75 and 45 percent state of charge, when the motors lose 64 hp, according to dyno tests run by Mountainpass Performance.
While Kia doesn’t say how much of the EV6 GT’s 576 hp (430 kW/585 PS) is lost below 70 percent charge, its performance above that figure remains impressive. According to the automaker, the EV can out drag a 2021 Ferrari Roma and a 2021 Lamborghini Huracán Evo Spyder RWD when the 77.4 kWh battery has a full charge, so maybe just don’t get too cocky at the lights if you’ve been driving for a while.
2,000 To 2,500 EV6 GTs Earmarked For The U.S. In 2023
That will only be a consideration for a relatively small number of owners, because Kia says that it plans to build between 2,000 and 2,500 EV6 GTs for the U.S. market in 2023. If demand is strong enough, though, it would be happy to increase production. With vehicles arriving at the dealerships now, it shouldn’t be too long before they find out how strong demand for the high-power EV is.
Additional reporting by Stephen Rivers
