Genesis who are owned by Hyundai, entered the UK car sector 4 years ago with a range of exciting petrol & diesel models. The plan was always to introduce an electric range & utilising sister brands Kia & Hyundai’s E-GMP EV platform, the GV60 was the first pure electric Genesis. Fast forward to 2025 & it’s had a refresh.
Tell me more
The GV60 is a 5 door SUV crossover that is now powered by a 84kWh battery. Customers have a choice of three trim levels; Pure, Sport & Performance, the model we tested Pure is rear wheel drive only, while Sport & Performance are all-wheel drive with dual-motors. Power iacross the range is from 226bhp to 483bhp, with Performance featuring 241bhp motors on each axle.
What’s new ?
Apart from a larger battery, here are new bumpers, matrix LED headlights, new alloy wheel designs, colour-coded wheel arches & side skirts plus some new paint colours. Inside, there’s a larger infotainment screen & a new steering wheel.
Exterior
The GV60 look’s completely different to the Kia EV6 & Hyundai IONIQ’s 5 & 6. So you get a squat looking five-door hatchback outline, more in keeping with the Tesla Model Y. The front features a sweeping bonnet with high headlights & the large Genesis wings logo in the centre. The back offers a narrow window, wrap around light clusters & high boot spoiler.
Inside
Although on paper it’s up against the Tesla Model Y, Genesis are really competing in the premium sector, so are up against not only the Germans but Lexus too. Our entry level test car was clad in grey leather with a chunky leather steering wheel . The rotary gear selector remains, a crystal ‘maze’ ball that spins over to reveal the gear options when you start up. The quality of the dashboard, fixtures & fittings is very good. And we love the glove box drawer.
Elsewhere, a new long rectangular screen runs from the centre of the dash from left to right in front of the driver. This features a massive 27″ dual LCD display which includes the infotainment touchscreen, speedo & driving info dials. It’s reminiscent of Mercedes dual screen set up & it looks great !
The steering wheels been changed too, with new smaller switches in black & chrome & a bottom section’s been added as well. The centre binnacle still floats as our dog Stan found out rolling across to the drivers side of the car.
A cool feature from the original model facial recognition technology or Face Connect as Genesis calls it has been carried over. Located on the drivers side B pillar, there’s a built in camera through which the GV60 stores biometric data that allows it to ‘recognise’ the face of its owner, enabling them to access & drive their GV60 without the key being present. We set this up on delivery & it worked just fine.
Infotainment
Based on the same operating system you’ll find in a Kia or Hyundai, Genesis’s infotainment set-up being Korean, is very logical & user friendly.The home screen is made up of four main pages & to move through each you simply swipe across the screen to bring up the separate menus & shortcuts. Apple CarPlay & Android Auto both feature & the graphics & responses are first rate.
Whilst the menus are straightforward in order to get to what you want, you do have to touch the screen a little too often for our liking, although the digital climate controls sit beneath & are separate, which is a big thumbs up from us.
Practicality
Internal space is pretty good with enough room thanks to the flat floor in the rear, to seat three adults. Despite the sloping roofline, headroom is good in the back, whilst up front passengers will have no complaints at all. Our test car featured massage front seats which are brilliant for a long journey.
Decent cabin storage comes in the form of an under armrest cubby, slim front & rear door pockets, a wireless phone charger, twin centre cup holders, a neat slide in & out glove box, twin USB’s front & rear. Seat back pockets & a rear armrest with drinks holders finish things of in the back
The boot gives buyers 432 litres of storage, which increases to 1,550 litres with the rear seats folded. A ‘frunk’ allows you to store the charging cable in the front of the car, although there are some clever storage spaces located underneath the boot floor which hide the cables as well. The load lip is flat so loading & unloading is pretty straightforward.
Range & charging
As we know from driving the updated electric Kia & Hyundai’s, the 84kWh battery offers an excellent range & can be charged up quickly. A heat pump also standard.
Entry-level Pure will now travel 348 miles on a charge, whilst the dual-motor Sport & Performance models will cover 318 & 311 miles respectively. So the larger battery has added 25 – 35 miles to the range dependant on model. In our test week the Pure which we drove carefully gave us 3.8 miles/kWh of average range, which considering the temptation to drive the GV60 in Sport mode, we thought was excellent.
We set off for a car launch in Wiltshire a journey of 156 miles each way & easily made it there from a full charge of 340 miles with 168 miles left. Almost all of this trip was on the motorway at 70mph.
Plug-in at home as with our own Rolec wall box http://www.rolecserv.com/home-charging & it will take between 11 & 12 hours to charge to full. Away from home, it will officially recharge at speeds as high as 220kW, so a 10 – 80% charge would add 200 miles of range & would take less than 20 minutes, which is very, very impressive.
Company car drivers
Just 3% BIK currently means that the GV60 is a giveaway at under £600 per annum for a higher rate tax payer.
Safety
Every model is fitted with Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Start, Lane Following Assist , Blind-spot Collision Avoidance Assist, Rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist, Driver Attention Warning , Lane Keeping Assist & Intelligent Speed Limit Assist.
As with it’s sister brands & spotted by Mrs Walker, the GV6 comes with blind spot cameras which come on in front of the driver when you indicate, allowing you to see what’s behind & to the side of you.
Specifications
The driver gets electric lumbar support & an electric seat height adjuster. All versions feature the 27″ dual LCD display, Apple Car Play & Android Auto, six speakers & a tweeter with external amp.
Extras fitted to our test car included an Innovation Plus Pack £4,170, Storr Green Metallic paint £810, a V2L pack £580 & a Comfort Pack £2,930.
The Innovation Plus Pack includes 2 Digital Key’s, a Digital Centre Mirror, Face Connect, Remote Smart Parking Assist 2, a Blind-Spot View Monitor, a Head-Up Display, Intelligent Front-Lighting System, Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist, front, rear & side Parking Sensors & a Surround View Monitor
The Comfort Pack adds an 18-way electronically adjustable Ergo-Motion driver’s seat with memory function, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, rear side window blinds, driver & passenger Premium Relaxation Seats, with side bolster & driver cushion adjustment.
Warranty
All Genesis models come with the brand’s Five Year Care Plan. This includes a five-year warranty, servicing , courtesy cars, roadside assistance & over-the-air updates for the vehicle & SatNav. Genesis will also provide a home pick-up & delivery service when it’s time for your service or any other maintenance.
Cost
Prices start from £53,300 for entry level RWD Pure.
Driving & energy regeneration
This is where the Sport Plus model gets interesting. If you do a lot of motorway driving you’ll find the GV60 a perfect companion. It’s comfortable, quiet & relaxing, but the Pure model doesn’t offer especially brilliant acceleration, 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds . The suspensions actually quite soft so it soaks up most road imperfections. Utilise the adaptive cruise control or the autonomous steering & you can sit back & enjoy the infotainment.
Away from the motorway in town for example, the GV60 purrs quietly. Steering is light & precise & with the rear wheel drive it feels grippy & safe both at the same time. Even the Pure model in Sport mode demands to be driven, although apart from a 4-vehicle overtake on the A49 near Whitchurch-tractors- I kept it in Eco mode to preserve my driving range.
Regeneration
You get five levels of regeneration, which can be selected using the steering wheel paddles. These go up from no regeneration, right up to one pedal driving. The car pre-selects the second highest setting from the off & this level is perfect for motorway driving. In town you can go one-pedal mode & this does mean you can freewheel to a stop in most situations.
You also get three driving modes which tweak the power released to the GV60. Eco the mode we chose to drive in most of the time, only offers the driver about half the total power, whilst Comfort lets loose a little more for faster progress. Go for it in Sport mode & you’ll release the full orchestra.
The good
One of the best electric cars for driving fun. There new battery means a 300+ miles driving range. Class leading warranty. Ridiculously low BIK of 3%. Fast charging built in. Very well made. Refreshes have made it nicer in the cabin.
The bad
Sport & Performance are a little expensive. Boot isn’t as big as some rivals.
Conclusion
Genesis may have sneaked under your radar as from launch cars were sold from just a couple of locations nationwide, From the end of 2023 though, the brand joined up with several retail partners who now sell the range from dedicated Genesis showrooms which is great as it’s a brand that deserves to better known
With the GV60 utilising the electric powertrain of three of our favourite EV’s, the Kia EV6 & Hyundai IONIQ’s 5 & 6, there’s very little to complain about in the way of battery range nor driving fun. The Genesis of course looks & feels more upmarket than these as it should & is still one of the most impressive electric cars that Company Car & Van has driven
A premium car from Korea that more than matches the best 4.25/5
