Vision of the Present
Gaze into the crystal ball and think deep. Do you see premonitions of the future? Or perhaps a manifestation of your own internal dialogue? Concentrate, breathe deep, and hit the start button. Gone is the orb, and in its place, a…gear selector. It’s a bit of a profound illusion, and yet it captivates nonetheless, much like the car itself. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is one of the most impressive vehicles to grace our roads. It’s as bold in design the Cybertruck is claimed to be – and while not without fault, it has proven itself worthy of accolades a-plenty. Can such a lauded thing be elevated further? Genesis gave it a shot.
The GV60 shares the same platform as Hyundai’s Ioniq5 and Kia’s EV6. Dual-motor AWD is standard in Canada, but elsewhere in the world, a single-motor RWD option is available too. But despite the shared parts bin, it is billed as Genesis’ first ever electric vehicle. To the credit of the Koreans, despite a shared platform, all three offerings look distinct enough in their own right. The Genesis variant is smooth and slippery, like those pill-shaped commuter vehicles that dominated the 90’s, yet laden with enough modernity and funk to make it distinct enough in its own right. Appropriate, given the retro-futuristic style of the Ioniq5.
We particularly like the Z/lightning-bolt C-pillar pattern, finished in shiny silver trim, seen rarely elsewhere on the slippery body of the GV60. Our tester was finished in the standard Uyuni White finish, which is fine, I guess. Look, we get it, people in North America love their neutral palates. But Sao Paolo Lime is right there! Imagine how sharp it’d look in the navy-blue interior, with matching lime-green accents. This tester featured the decidedly plainer Obsidian Black with a luxe-looking diamond quilt pattern in the leather seat surface.
The GV60 is a design and technical tour-de-force, pushing conventions to their limit without defying them in jarring ways. Even getting inside can be a journey. Let’s say you’ve hyped yourself up to go for a drive in your brand new Genesis, and in the hubbub, you forgot your key inside. Not to fear. There’s a small sensor in the vehicle’s B-pillar that, when approached by a driver who took the time to register themselves with the vehicle, will unlock via facial recognition. What’s more, you can also start the car with nothing more than your fingerprint.
Inside, the Genesis is an inviting blend of luxury with some oversights. The cabin feels premium and high quality, save for the few areas like the mirror adjustment knob that feel flimsy and out of place, despite boasting such a beautiful design. It’s equally frustrating to only have USB-C ports present, and wired-only smartphone integration. We would have liked to see some USB inputs in the centre armrest with this requirement in place. It’s refreshing to have enough physical buttons to accommodate the majority of everyday driving functions, though. With no engine to warm, the GV60 blows warmth in minutes during a cold winter day, and its heated seats and steering wheel are just as quick to heat up. Like most massage functions we’ve tried, the Genesis’ is a welcome addition, sure, but by the end of our evaluation period, it was a forgettable function, making only the mildest of impacts.
Visibility in the airy cabin is excellent for a modern vehicle. We are glad to see a panoramic sunroof – a feature not always seen in the EV range. The all-digital display works well enough, and offers a bevy of customizable options, accessible via a touch-sensitive steering pad, not unlike those seen in Mercedes-Benz’ offerings. While we’re not huge fans of the tablet-stuck-in-the-dashboard look, the clean visual style is intuitive and easy to read at a glance. On that topic, you’ll absolutely have glanced at that big yellow (Sau Paulo Green) button on the steering wheel by now, aptly labeled BOOST. Let us tell you, it lives up to its name and then some.
But before we get to that, let’s go over some of the GV60’s driving dynamics. Opposite to the boost button is a drive mode selector, letting you choose between Comfort, Sport, Eco and Custom. Given its electric nature, we largely stuck to Eco mode. You may also notice some paddles behind the steering wheel. They’re not actually for shifting. You know that regenerative braking thing EV’s do? This essentially adjusts the intensity of that braking. These beautiful paddles seem a tad excessive for such a function, given the cost cutting in place elsewhere in the cabin. But we digress. Fancy-looking crystal shifter aside, driving the GV60 is nothing short of pleasant. The silky smooth power delivery, quiet, airy cabin and comfortable ride make this quite a lovely place to be – for both driver and passenger alike. Though it is hard to spot where the adjustment levers actually are – the rear seats can also recline in addition to folding, making longer journeys a comfort all around. There is a rudimentary ‘massage’ function in the front – but personally, we hardly noticed it.
But what you will notice – is the boost function. Oh yes. Chug along on the highway on-ramp and press that delightful button. It almost makes you feel like you’ve just done a gratuitous Fast and Furious-style gear shift. If it were night, the stars would become streaks in your window. For 10 seconds, the power is bumped from 429 to 483 horses, and torque is boosted to 516 lb-ft. This is an option exclusive to the Performance trim, and it’ll also mean you get less range, with this tester topping out at 378km. But in winter, expect that to dip by about 50km or so. The boost button is exciting, but we suspect it will quickly become a novelty you only show to passengers occasionally. Even in Eco mode, we weren’t left wanting more velocity out of the GV60. In our opinion – go for the extra range. 429 horsepower is more than enough for a vehicle that likely won’t leave the city or your suburb. And hey, if it does, you’ll be glad for the extra range anyhow.
The GV60 starts at just over $71,000 in Canada, before any kind of incentives or rebates come into play. Our tester added about $8,000 more to the price tag. This is a luxury vehicle, and it absolutely feels the part. With Canada’s EV infrastructure slowly but surely improving, it’s not at all unfathomable to ditch gasoline for good. In such difficult economic times, nearly $80k for a car is a hard pill to swallow. The GV60 is absolutely beautiful inside and out, and drives like a high-quality vehicle. Despite some cost-cutting measures, there’s really not much objectively wrong with it. Yet – we still walked away yearning for another go in its cousin, the Ioniq5. We like the GV60 very much – and if you’ve got the cash – it’s very hard to go wrong. But saving some money – and getting a package that is bolder for less? You don’t need a crystal ball to decipher that one.
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