Before it lets you in, the Genesis GV60 takes a deep look into your eyes. Don’t get too excited, its stare isn’t a romantic one. A small camera on the B-pillar gives you a once-over and then unlocks the doors. Once you’re in, there’s more getting to know you because to start it, you touch a fingerprint-recognition button on the center console. The car is electric, though, so you’re not really starting anything.
The GV60 is Genesis’s first EV. Without an engine that whirrs to life, the telltale sign you’ve turned on the GV60 is that the glass-like sphere in the center console rotates around to reveal a shifter. It’s a novel bit of design and one we expect will soon spread to the rest of the Genesis range. Like the other Genesis models, the interior has a clean and uncluttered appearance. A glass panel as wide as the Mississippi houses two 12.3-inch displays: gauges directly ahead of the driver and a center touchscreen. Unfortunately, phone mirroring (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) requires a cord, even as wireless systems are becoming the norm—one of the few missteps in the GV60.
Built on the E-GMP architecture, a dedicated EV platform shared with the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5, the GV60 comes in a crossover shape and a sleek and attractive one at that. A clamshell hood hides a small storage space up front, and behind the second row there’s 24 cubic feet of space, enough for a full complement of luggage. The brand’s signature split headlight design makes an appearance, as does the winged badge, although it’s slimmer and less in your face than on other models. Two versions will be available at launch: The Advanced AWD model has two electric motors totaling 314 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque, while the all-wheel-drive Performance trim delivers 429 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque with a brief “overboost” of 483 horses and 516 lb-ft available for 10 seconds of silliness.
We drove the more powerful Performance version and can report that from a stop with the overboost activated, the front motor briefly overwhelms the front tires despite the rears also being driven. Judging by the pressure on our spine under full whack, we expect that in 483-hp mode, the GV60 will shoot to 60 mph in the mid-3s.
Tackle a few bends, and the GV60 corners securely and has a liveliness borne of its quick steering. An electronic limited-slip differential in back keeps power flowing to both sides of the road, and the front-to-rear torque split lends a rear-drive attitude. The harder you push, though, the more you’re made aware of the estimated 4900-pound curb weight as the Michelin Primacy Tour A/S tires begin to audibly protest. A regen system that’s capable of one-pedal driving keeps the brakes from feeling much stress. Body control is good. The handling is Porsche Macan-like, except the Genesis doesn’t futz with downshifts and upshifts—it just goes.
A camera-based system that reads the road surface keeps the adaptive dampers supple over bumps. Quiet and refined, the GV60 is a convincing luxury vehicle if you drive it calmly. Turn off the ridiculous and headache-inducing Jetsons sound effects that whoosh and whirr in response to accelerator position, and there’s near silence thanks to the absence of road and wind noise. Perhaps some credit is due to the active noise cancellation system with eight microphones that plays through the audio system’s 17 speakers. Whether it’s the noise cancellation or the sound deadening or the aero package, the GV60 is a quiet machine.
A 77.4-kWh battery provides 248 miles (Advanced) or 235 miles (Performance) of EPA range. A Level 2 charger will replenish the battery from 10 to 100 percent in about seven hours. Hook up to an 800-volt DC fast-charger, and the battery can go from 10 to 80 percent in a claimed 18 minutes. The Advanced model starts at $59,980, which is roughly $11,000 more than this same powertrain in the Hyundai Ioniq 5, but less than $4000 more than the top Limited-trim Ioniq 5, while the Performance variant starts at $68,980. We’ll have a GV60 for instrumented testing soon, but after our initial time behind the wheel, we can say it’s like at first sight.
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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com
