The Genesis brand has made major strides in gaining proper recognition as a worthy contender in the automotive luxury landscape. To keep the positive momentum, Genesis introduces their first Electric Vehicle (EV), the new Genesis GV60, which takes the platform of the mainstream Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV and Kia EV6 and adds a luxury aspect to just about every area of already-great vehicles.
The new 2023 Genesis GV60 is a rather unique offering as an EV where it puts its initial SUV appeal at the forefront but exudes a car-like driving character taking full advantage of a quiet and smooth EV platform. Its unique styling takes a familiar approach from its gas-powered GV70 and GV80 SUV siblings but takes things in a slightly different direction with its happier-looking front facia, hatchback-ish rear, and large 21-inch wheels on my GV60 Performance trim test vehicle.
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I firmly expressed my enjoyment in the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 with its dual motor setup and 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque to play with. With the new Genesis GV60 using some of the Ioniq 5’s components you get most of the same performance in the current base trim of the GV60, which there are only two trim variations at the moment both in all-wheel-drive form using two motors, one at each axle. The Advanced AWD GV60 trim gets a total of 314 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque out of its drivetrain while my top-level GV60 Performance AWD test vehicle gets 429 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque with as much as 483 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque available via a 10-second Boost feature enacted by a steering wheel button. When using the momentary Boost feature the GV60 Performance AWD will hit 60 mph in about 3.7 seconds, which is pretty darn quick.
Jumping in and driving the new GV60 Performance AWD is an experience that doesn’t depart far from something like the new gas-burning GV70 other than the extra instant torque and an abundance of power available at any speed in the GV60. There’s an interesting feel from the GV60 one that resides on the softer side of things when compared to most other new EVs. The throttle sensitivity is set more on the soft and conservative side, initially. That means that the response is often delayed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it’s more of purpose tuning on the part of Genesis to make the drivetrain feel more luxurious and not as abrupt in its initial throttle as you find in other EVs and even its closely-related Hyundai Ioniq 5 platform cousin.
Out on the road, the GV60 is a smooth operator where it feels the proper part of a luxury cruiser that has the substantial power that you have in your pocket ready to unleash at any time. You have the option of using a variety of drivetrain sounds that are emitted through the speakers along with an active noise cancelation drowning out road and tire sounds. The electrified soundtrack of the drivetrain is fun, initially, but can be a bit too much as it doesn’t seem to quiet down when cruising at a steady speed. Thankfully Genesis allows you to modify the sounds to either turn them off completely or adjust the volume of the sounds, some of which mimic the sound of Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise. That “warp speed” feels great until you must toss the GV60 around. For the most part, the GV60 handles itself well but the soft suspension coupled with its adaptive dampers do all they can to keep things in check but end up giving away into a mild plow or understeer. The curb weight that’s just over 4,800 pounds starts to show its face when you push the GV60 hard. However, most are never going to experience such and enjoy the plush ride quality of the GV60 that soaks up road imperfections quite well and keeps a composed and compliant stance.
Braking takes a little while to get used to for its bite point for the regenerative braking versus the use of the friction brakes, which use 14.2-inch disks front and rear with large 4-piston calipers up front and single-piston rear calipers. Just like in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 that I reviewed a month ago, the Genesis GV60 uses a clever brake regen system with several regen level settings including a one-pedal mode and an automatic mode that automatically adds regen at varying levels when it detects you approaching a vehicle in front via the front radar.
The new Genesis GV60 Performance gets an estimated range of 235 miles from its 77.4 kWh battery pack, which is cut short from the GV60 Advanced trim mostly because of the larger 21-inch wheels wrapping 255-width Michelin Primacy tires and added power on the Performance model. Normally, the Advanced trim gets a range of 248 miles with its 20-inch wheels and a rumored rear-wheel-drive model is expected to join the lineup later that’s expected to get about a 300-mile range.
Where the Genesis GV60 really shines is in its ability to charge from a 10% state of charge up to 80% in just 18 minutes, just like its platform cousins. Of course, that charging rate using its 800-volt architecture and a 10.9 kW onboard charger, which you get at a 350 kW DC fast charger stall, may vary depending on temperature conditions, which can slightly be mitigated with the GV60 Performance having its built-in heat pump to condition the battery during cooler weather. Charging from 80% up to 100% can be accomplished in about 25 minutes, again, depending on a few conditions.
The EPA estimated 97 MPGe city and 82 MPGe highway figures seem spot on as does its charge time using a Level 2 240v charger taking about 7 hours. The Genesis GV60 only comes with a standard Level 1 120v wall charger, which adds about 3 to 5 miles of range per hour of charging depending on amperage limitations from the wall outlet.
The interior of the new Genesis GV60 is somewhat of a recognizable space for the brand but uniquely does some things starting with the color selections where you have electric yellow accent stitching and piping through the comfy seats. Up front, you have heated and ventilated seats with a massage function for the driver’s seat (I still don’t understand why Genesis doesn’t make the front passenger seat massage as well in current vehicles with the option). The rear outboard seats are heated, and you have a heated steering wheel.
While the cabin is relatively small, it makes smart use of the space it has as a subcompact luxury crossover. Soft-touch surfaces are abundant and even the lower door trim is soft-touch. There’s a high level of quality throughout the interior where the GV60 tends to hit above its weight class with a cabin that’s deep into the luxury theme with a welcomed class of attention to detail. There’s even a power sunshade finished in an Alcantara-like material matching the headliner to fully block out the sunlight when you want.
When you start up the Genesis GV60 using a traditional start/stop button, thank you, Genesis, you have a unique glass sphere that rotates to reveal a turn-knob shifter. The shifter is quite interesting as it has haptic feedback and proves to be a novel thing at first but can be used as an indicator to tell if the vehicle is on and ready to drive.
The infotainment system using a 12.3-inch touchscreen attempts to appease many by having a physical scroll and toggle knob. There are several icon sets for functions on screen as found in other Genesis vehicles, which may be a bit intimidating at first but after spending a few days you become accustomed to quickly finding the control that you want.
Genesis elevated its tech with advanced access abilities providing facial recognition for gaining entry to your vehicle without the key fob, in addition to having access to start and drive the vehicle through a fingerprint reader. Such features are in addition to having the option of your iPhone acting as a key via Apple Car Key. Either way, Genesis is poised to give you many options outside of using the white-painted multi-function key fob that can access the GV60’s remote smart parking assist feature to remotely park the vehicle in parking spots. The one downfall with integration is that there is no wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. They are only available through USB connection, which somewhat defeats the purpose of the built-in wireless charger for some.
The Genesis GV60 utilizes all the traditional active safety features that you find on new vehicles, including blind-spot monitor and view monitor, lane-keeping assist, color heads-up display, 360-degree surround camera, forward collision alert/emergency braking, and the latest highway driving assist function using the smart cruise control with lane-centering and lane-changing.
The new 2023 Genesis GV60, at the moment, starts at $58,890 for the Advanced AWD trim. Moving to my test vehicle’s GV60 Performance AWD trim the price gets bumped up to $67,890 but there are no option packages or add-ons to change the price other than the color selection of my test vehicle adding $575 for a total price of $69,560 when you include the $1,095 inland freight and handling charge. *At the time of publishing this review, the GV60 has extremely limited availability with its initial launch only taking place in the states of CA, CT, NY, and NJ. Hopefully, that will change in the coming months.
Genesis has certainly moved the needle a bit in what we should expect in entry-level luxury EVs, and others are taking note.
