Coming Soon! The 2022 Kia EV6

Electric vehicles are red hot these days. Nearly every carmaker has announced EV additions to their line-ups. That’s on top of the success of Tesla, and the fast-climbing upstarts including Lucid and Rivian. Everyone wants to be the next big thing.

What if it was right under our noses the whole time?

More Than Just a Car Maker

Recently, Kia announced their pursuit of carbon neutrality by 2045. In calling themselves a “Sustainable Mobility Solutions Provider,” they have set a roadmap out for their next two decades of production. This includes:

• Achieving full electrification in major markets by 2040
• Protecting marine ecosystems and offsetting carbon emissions through their “Blue Carbon” project
• Achieving RE100 (a 100% renewable energy initiative) and zero emissions at all Kia business sites

The first major step in this is full electrification of Kia models. They’re not resting on their laurels even with 20-plus years until their goal though – Kia’s electrification is ready to start now!

Kia’s EVolution

Kia dipped its toe into the electric vehicle market early. The Kia Soul was an early full EV, while both the Sorento and Niro have offered hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models for a few years. The Niro even went full EV in 2020.

But now, Kia is taking it a step forward with an entire line of vehicles that have been designed as plug-in fully electric vehicles from the ground up. The EV line of vehicles will use the shared Hyundai/Kia E-GMP (Electric Global Modular Platform), a scalable platform that will allow coordinated use of resources and standardization across models. This will help make production of electric vehicles easier and quicker. It will also make maintenance and repair in the future.

Kia wants to have 11 new vehicles to market by the end of 2026. Every large journey like this begins with one small step.

The Kia EV6

The first step on Kia’s roadmap to carbon neutrality is the 2022 Kia EV6. This fully electric crossover is already making massive impacts in the electric vehicle segment. In a recent run, the EV6 destroyed Tesla’s record of “Shortest Charging Time to Cross the United States in an Electric Vehicle,” needing only a total of seven hours, ten minutes, and one second of fast charging to make the 2880-mile journey from New York City to Los Angeles. This comes thanks to the EV6’s incredible 800V charging capacity.

It’s not just getting the power into the EV6 that is impressive. What it does with the power is also going to be a big deal. The highly affordable base model will feature a single-motor, rear-drive set-up with a 58.0 kWh battery, with a 167-horsepower e-motor driving the wheels. The 258 lb-ft of torque provides immediate acceleration, much faster than traditional models. You can also get it with the long-range 77.4 kWh lithium-ion Polymer battery, which ups the output to 218 horsepower and provides the longest range of the three first-year models.

At the four-wheel drive level, the EV6 is world-beating. With the additional front electric motor, it kicks out 313 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque, split between the two engines. Kia estimates that this will give the EV6 a 0-60 acceleration time right around 5 seconds flat – only 0.2 seconds slower than a Mustang Mach-E. There’s also an EV6 GT rumored to be in the wings, waiting to challenge the Tesla Y and Mach-E GT High Performance for fastest acceleration.

Fluid exterior styling hides the true size of the EV6. It’s roughly the same size of the Mustang Mach-E – and it has the same sized wheelbase of the massive three-row Telluride SUV. Inside, it makes good use of the dimensions, with 27.7 cubic feet of cargo space with the second row up, or 53.5 cubic feet with them folded down. Kia has also incorporated recycled plastics into the interior materials, while switching to vegan leather for fashion with a clean conscience.