New Genesis GV60 kickstarts brand's EV onslaught
Crossover will offer RWD and AWD with 73kWh battery for range of up to 280 miles
In the marque’s first full year in Europe, Genesis will launch its maiden bespoke electric car – the GV60, a striking and technologically advanced crossover to rival the Skoda Enyaq iV Coupé.
After unveiling it last year, the Korean premium brand has now confirmed specifications for European versions ahead of its market launch this summer.
This will take the number of models on sale using the E-GMP platform to three, after the introduction of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 last year.
The GV60 is the firm's sixth European-market model and will be followed by EV versions of the Genesis G80 luxury saloon and Genesis GV70 SUV.
Genesis has already said that it will launch only EVs from 2025 and will end ICE sales five years after that.
Like the Ioniq 5 and EV6, the GV60 will be offered in a variety of configurations. They start with the 222bhp single-motor, rear-wheel-drive Long Range, which is claimed to go 280 miles on a charge.
The more powerful AWD adds a 99bhp motor on the front axle for a combined output of 314bhp, while the top-rung Performance uses the 222bhp motor on each axle to call on 483bhp. These more powerful models supposedly can crack 248 and 249 miles respectively on a charge.
Every GV60 gets a 73kWh battery pack as standard.
Prices for each variant will be confirmed closer to launch. The Ioniq 5 costs around £37,000-£42,000, while the EV6 commands a slight premium, from £41,000 to £52,000.
*Q&A: Luc Donckerwolke, Genesis chief brand officer*
Is this an evolution of the 2019 Mint concept?
“The Mint concept wasn’t supposed to be this big; we wanted it to be much more compact. But we noticed that it wasn’t addressing the right customer segment, so we needed to make something bigger. The Mint isn’t out of the plans, but it’s not part of the main line-up we have defined, because of pure volume and demand.”
Why go with this size of car for your first bespoke EV?
“The GV60 has the advantage of complementing the range of vehicles without coming into direct competition. Otherwise, it would have made the equivalent ICE vehicle redundant in some markets.”
Why didn’t Genesis launch in Europe as an all-EV brand?
“It’s a matter of timing. We never defined Genesis as an electric vehicle company. Obviously, we’re going through an electrification phase and we will be fully electric, but to wait for a full line-up of electric vehicles would have postponed our entrance into the European market until 2026, 2027 or 2028.”