Genesis GV60 – a car with WOW factor

On the Genesis GV60, simply press the yellow button on the steering wheel

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Car Reviewed: Genesis GV60 Sport Plus Dual MotorEV

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When I first pressed that button on a long and gentle motorway curve, the car just leapt and I had to really grip the steering wheel to keep it from going off at a tangent. Well, that was my immediate reaction: not fair because this car’s All Wheel Drive sorts this sort of thing out.

So: dangerous?…No, but just be wary of it. Especially as the GV60‘s Dual Motors, at 180 kW each, provide the equivalent of 481 bhp in a fossil fuel engine — but instantly: 700 Nm of torque, just like that. WOW!

From a standstill, it must be massively entertaining to out-drag pretty much anything else next to you. OMG, what have I said….only on the race track, obviously? 0-62 in 4 seconds! More to the point: 50-75 mph in 2.5 seconds. The top speed is a claimed 146 mph; however, experiencing this, which we sadly weren’t able to, would greatly reduce the official WLTP range of 289 miles…

That’s great, but just cruising about, the GV60 provides a highly satisfactory experience.

The car is, of course, quiet, thanks in one way to its 0.29 drag Coefficient, but this car’s sound can be played with…

Simply to drive, it rides beautifully and handles probably as well as any such car that has to compromise between powerful cornering power and passenger comfort…our test car was the ‘SPORT plus’ version; perhaps a general observation is that, if anything, the ride was on the firm side.

Stopping a car whose power-pack weight alone is an extraordinary 479 kilograms requires some serious design in the braking department; almost needless to say, the GV60’s all-round ventilated discs got top marks in this department.

In line with the advance of technology in every aspect of day-to-day machinery, Genesis has been at the cutting edge, and perhaps the most obvious to the driver is the rear view exterior mirror system — except that, as owners know, it’s not mirrors, but cameras. Sticking out at the side of the a-pillars are cameras that project the image onto little monitor screens on the inside of the front doors. You get used to glancing at these monitors rather than casting your eyes right out to where the exterior mirrors usually are. Meanwhile, the Genesis feature that automatically transforms the speedometer or rev-counter (in ICE versions) into rear-view monitors according to whether you are signalling a left or right turn is retained in the GV60.

Anyone into the latest, creative hi-tech thinking will love the car’s crystal sphere that sits in the central console to control various functions. These include several sound modes to play with, reducing or increasing their volume; maybe my ears aren’t too great, but I wasn’t too sure that I could easily distinguish between one or two of them.

The interior is spacious and comfortable. The rear seats get their own heating, and the front seats also have cooling. Select ‘sport’ mode and the driver’s seat grip you tighter, making you smile as you press on along twisty country roads.

Drivers these days are undoubtedly becoming used to using voice command systems; unfortunately, they can sometimes take a lot of learning, so it seems, by both the driver and the car’s AI, happily, in the GV60, we got on perfectly well! If you don’t want to talk, then, with the satellite navigation, there’s the choice of the keypad or fingertip writing.

A feature of this car is the remote parking facility, where you can exit the car and, for instance, manoeuvre it into a space. I tried to do this, but it seems that the relevant key fob battery was flat.

The GV60 can be charged in your home wall box from 10% to 100% in 7 hours and 20 minutes; if you are lucky enough a long way from home to be able to drive straight up and plug into a 50 kW public charge point, you’ll be up from 10% to 80 % in about an hour and a quarter.

My average consumption was indicated at 3.4 miles per kWh. Such a figure will no doubt acquire the same meaning as mpg does to the possibly slowly decreasing number of drivers not yet immersed in electricity.

The price? £67,505. Big dosh, but a great electric car. Possibly the hi-viz yellow (aka Sao Paulo Lime) of our test car will not be to your liking. Order online today.