Genesis GV60

After the teaser announcements in August with some of the worst colour decisions I've ever seen, Genesis has now formally launched the GV60. And it's shown that some decent colours are in fact available.

Given that Genesises have until now been cars with lovely interiors but terrible ICE engines and appalling fuel economy, and that the Ioniq 5 and EV6 have been acclaimed as being brilliant EVs, but they don't have the level of luxury I'd like, I think this might be the answer for me.

Awful teaser colours:




Launch video with weird voiceover:

 

I will have to take a hammer to that and bash it across to the right side.

 

Thank you! So are you.

Oh, you were talking about the car.

Genesis are saying 280 miles (450km) for the RWD and 249 miles (400km) for AWD. 229 miles (368km) for the Performance one with drift mode. I assume that last figure is in sideways miles.

Those are Korean-standard figures, which I think are pretty similar to US EPA figures. WLTP figures would be about 10% more (and far less realistic).

 

It seems to come with absolutely massive wheels too: I'd imagine they hit range as well. But the figures look only marginally works than the Ioniq 5 and EV6.

As someone who lives a shortish drive from the beach, this is very appealing.

This is a big thing for me. I really dislike black interiors. A lot of the combinations available look really good. I'm not keen on the blue with yellow stitching, but there are some other nice combinations. Exterior colour choices are good too: I particularly like the bronze and the teal.

Why pamper life's complexity
When the leather runs smooth
On the passenger's seat?*




-----
*He's a terrible, terrible person, but I still like his old songs.

 

Ah, right. Thank you.

I know the NEDC figures are basically "think of a number and double it", and that WLTP figures are a little bit closer to reality, and that EPA figures are close to what you'll actually get in decent conditions, but I didn't know about those changes.

 

That's really very informative. Thank you.

 

Well, he certainly seems keen.

I don't think I've ever seen him do a negative review, though. They're informative in terms of the facts, but there's never much about what he doesn't like.

It does look good though. I think this is my most-likely next car, unless I go for an eGV70. I don't think I need the Performance with its boost button and drift mode. But the normal AWD looks excellent.

It's frustrating. I know there are some being secretly tested less than 10kms from me. But, much as I have pleaded with Genesis, I can't blag my way into one. I'd love to know what it feels like. I know some people are happy to buy cars before release, based on reviews and pictures, but I don't think I could do that.

As well as the BMW, I have a beater that I use for a few specific purposes. It's a 2009 Chrysler Grand Voyager (a Town and Country in the US). It does the jobs I need it to do: either transporting seven people, or, more often, folding the ingenious seats into the floor and carrying large amounts of furniture (or four people and a s---load of stuff) on 1200km trips from here to Broken Hill. It only cost me A$6000, and it does the job. But if I'd paid the new price (A$60,000+ in Australia in 2009), I'd have been furious. The build quality is abysmal, as you'd expect. But the real killer is the pedals in this RHD version. The brake and accelerator are so far off to the left that I actually have to brake with my left foot if I'm driving for long periods in heavy traffic. The accelerator is directly in front of my left foot, and the brake is so far to the left that I am politically aligned with it (physical alignment would have been more useful). It is extraordinarily uncomfortable. And if I jump straight from the BMW into the Chrysler, I find myself pressing the wheel well and wondering why the car won't accelerate.

It's that sort of thing that means that I won't make a decision to buy a car before I've at least had the chance to sit in one. Imagine spending A$90,000 on a new car like this Genesis and then finding that the pedals are in such a stupid position that you get sore thighs after 20 minutes in traffic. I know it means I don't get to beat the waiting lists by putting in a pre-order, but it's a risk I'm not willing to take.

 

Thanks. That's a really useful review.

There are more negative points in this review, which is very helpful, but she did still seem to very much like it. She's a good reviewer: she really makes things very clear.

As someone who used to have a Gen 2 Prius, her complaint about a bar across the rear window made me nostalgic.

In terms of understanding how much space there is, it'd be really useful if there were a medium-sized car reviewer in Korea. Charlie (Asian Petrolhead) is like 8 foot 30 or something, and Mari (Motorgraph World) is tiny.

There was this review too.

I can't speak Korean (beyond "맥주" and "비빔밥"), so I can't be sure what was happening. But I was really surprised when she started driving the car toward the end of the review, as throughout the rest of the video I thought she was really drunk. I didn't think she was in any state to drive.

 

I got a call from Genesis this morning saying they should have one available for viewing and sitting in next month in Sydney.

 

The first Ioniq 5s and EV6s are still not available for viewing here but should be in the next couple of weeks.

Most companies are not bothering to sell their EVs in Australia, because our government policy on EVs is pitiful. VAG is the most notable: only the original e-tron SUV is being sold here. We're not expecting the ID.3, ID.4, Enyaq or Q4 e-tron until at least mid-2023. Ford isn't even going to bother with the Mach-E here. There's no sign of the iX3, iX or i4 or Mini Electric, and the Zoe never made it here. The Fiat 500 is still petrol here. And there are no GM cars being sold here now, ICE or electric.

But there is clearly demand: there are a lot of Model 3s and XC40s in Sydney, because - other than the Leaf, the EQA (available for test drives, but long waiting lists for delivery) and the Taycan - they're pretty much all that's available. Mercedes and Hyundai-Kia have spotted the opportunity, so we're getting the Ioniq 5, EV6, GV60, EQB and EQE almost immediately after Europe gets them.