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This is the Genesis GV60, a new battery-electric SUV that’s due in 2022 from the luxury Korean automaker.
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The GV60 uses a new 800 V architecture that’s shared with Kia and Hyundai.
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I’ve complained about floating C pillars in the past, and I don’t know what to think about the chrome garnish on the GV60’s C pillar.
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Genesis knows how to build a good interior, and I see no reason that’s changed with the switch to an electric powertrain.
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I have been getting impatient waiting for Genesis to finally show us a production EV, and here it is.
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In previous years, you could always count on Genesis to bring something cool to the New York auto show. That auto show should have taken place this week, but for the second year running, COVID had something to say about that. Which is a shame because this year the luxury Korean automaker would have shown off a new car far more interesting than another concept car (even one as cool as 2019’s Mint). That’s because this is no concept.
I’ve been waiting for Genesis to show off its first production electric vehicle, and this is it. It’s called the GV60, and it should go on sale in the US in 2022, underpinned by parent company Hyundai Motor Group’s new E-GMP platform.
Genesis hasn’t released any technical specs of the GV60 yet. But we know that the E-GMP platform—also used to build the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6—uses an 800 V electrical architecture, which makes it possible to fast-charge the battery to 80 percent in 18 minutes. A clever inverter also supports 400 V DC fast charging and bidirectional charging, using the EV’s battery pack to supply up to 3.5 kW of AC power.
Genesis has released the studio photos of the GV60 you see above, described in the press materials as embodying “the most dynamic and futuristic exterior design based on ‘Athletic Elegance.'” It’s fair to say reaction to the design was not overwhelmingly positive, but count me in the camp of people who dig its style.
The acid green paint, narrow headlights, and wide grille all conspire to remind me of the Kia Soul EV that’s now not coming to the US, but that’s mostly an optical illusion, and in profile we can see the nose is much lower than the smaller Soul. There is more than a little resemblance in profile with the Kia EV6, however.
The design philosophy for the interior was “Beauty of White Space.” In terms of layout it’s quite similar to what we’ve seen from the Ioniq 5 and EV6. There are a pair of large screens on the dash, one for the main instrument display and another for the infotainment, with a panel of physical buttons lower down on the center stack.
There’s a floating center console with cup holders, infotainment controls, and the drive selector—in this case the “Crystal Sphere.” This sphere produces ambient lighting when the GV60 is not being driven, but, according to the company, when “you’re ready to drive, the sphere rotates and the SBW [shift-by-wire] appears, creating an indoor atmosphere of futuristic mobility.”
One notable difference from the Ioniq 5 or the EV6 is the absence of traditional reflecting glass side mirrors. Instead, the GV60 has side-view cameras like the Audi e-tron and Honda E. The placement of the screens for these side view cameras looks like it’s better than Audi’s implementation, although maybe not as good as in the smaller electric Honda. Not that US drivers need to worry; without changes to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, such systems remain illegal here.
Genesis hasn’t announced any pricing information yet.
Listing image by Genesis
