2022 Kia EV6 Coming to US With 300 Miles of Targeted Range and Mobile Power Supply

Kia’s first dedicated EV is coming for the Mach-E and Model Y’s lunch.

byChris Tsui|
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Yes, we've seen this car before but Kia's American division has now finalized and confirmed official specs for the U.S.-market version of its upcoming EV6 electric crossover. The key stats you need to know about Kia's first exclusively electric production car are as follows: up to 300 miles of total targeted range, 10 to 80 percent juice (or 210 miles of range) in less than 18 minutes via DC fast charging, and zero to 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds with the flagship GT variant. DC fast charging (provided you have access to such things, of course) will also be able to add almost 70 miles of range in under five minutes while Level 2 charging can get the big-battery-equipped EV6 from 10 to 100 percent in precisely seven hours and 10 minutes.

The EV6 will be available in either single-motor, rear-wheel-drive configuration or dual-motor, all-wheel drive. RWD buyers will get a 160-kilowatt rear motor and have the option of two battery sizes: 58.0 kilowatt-hours or 77.4 kWh with the former good for 167 horsepower and the latter putting down 218 hp. Stepping up to AWD adds a 70-kW motor for the front axle, resulting in 313 combined hp and a zero to 60 mph time of 5.1 seconds. Every AWD EV6 comes with the bigger 77.4-kWh as standard. 

Kia

The aforementioned GT model upgrades both motors, rocking 160 kW up front and 270 kW out back, resulting in 576 total hp and that 3.5-second zero to 60 time. As a reference, that time is identical to the ones Ford and Tesla quote for the Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition and Model Y Performance.

Rocking a wheelbase that stretches 114.2 inches (just like the Telluride, believe it or not), Kia points out that the EV6 is just as wide as the Mach-E and features the same wheelbase and ground clearance of the Model Y, further making it abundantly clear which cars Kia considers the EV6's chief competition. Despite this, the EV6 might just be the one electric crossover out of the trio to look the least crossover-y, with body-colored fenders that do a lot to visually lower the car to the ground.

Kia

Similar to the hybrid Ford F-150's Pro Power Onboard and Genesis Electrified G80, a vehicle-to-load function turns the EV6 into a 1,900-watt mobile generator.

The 2022 EV6 will be the start of an electric blitz from Kia with the brand promising 11 all-new electrified cars worldwide by 2026. Early EV6 models will come to U.S. dealerships in the first part of 2022 while the go-fast GT version will drop later next year. Par for the new EV course, keen electric Kia fans can look forward to plunking down deposits for the First Edition EV6, an AWD special edition limited to 1,500 units featuring standard augmented-reality HUD, 20-inch wheels, 14-speaker Meridian audio, an exclusive yellow color option, and all of the Kia EV online forum bragging rights. 

Got a tip or question for the author about the Kia EV6? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com

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