Tech
Genesis has revealed its first electric car built from the ground up, the GV60
So far, we've only got rendered photos of the car to go on, so plenty of questions remain.
Genesis has unveiled images of its first car built from the ground up on an entirely new platform for electric vehicles. The GV60 is a crossover SUV built on parent company Hyundai’s E-GMP platform for battery-electric vehicles. It’s expected go on sale in 2022.
This won’t be Genesis’ first electric car — that would be the electrified G80, expected to go on sale this fall. But the new G80 is based off an existing, combustion vehicle, whereas the GV60 was designed from the start as an electric car.
The press release that Genesis shared doesn’t offer much detail about the GV60, like its expected range on a charge or other specifications. But since it shares the same fundamental technology under the hood as other upcoming electric vehicles unveiled by Hyundai, we can probably expect to see it boast features like fast 0-60mph acceleration and quick charging capabilities.
Kia, which is majority owned by Hyundai, is also using E-GMP for its electric vehicles, and earlier this year unveiled the EV6, an electric crossover utility vehicle that’s slated to go on sale in 2022. If you compare the Genesis car to the EV6, you’ll notice they look quite similar. Genesis is a premium car brand, though, so we could expect a slightly more premium feel to the EV6.
On the inside, you can see a large, wide display that stretches across the dashboard. A camera-and-screen system replaces the side mirrors, with screens instead of mirrors serving to show the driver what’s behind the vehicle, which regulators may not like. The final car will probably have standard mirrors.
Genesis is also showing off a “crystal sphere” shift-knob for changing driving positions; the company says this knob could also give access to some performance options.
Overall, the GV60 seems to be a promising EV, though maybe it could have a more premium look, particularly on the exterior.
More to come — There’s not much else to say about the GV60 since we don’t yet know a whole lot about it. But Hyundai has already made some impressive electric vehicles, like the Kona EV under the Kia brand. These latest cars promise to be even better though, since Hyundai has yet to actually release a car on its new E-GMP platform. The automaker has generally been experimenting more with new, modern designs for its electric cars — the Ioniq 6 comes to mind. These new vehicles excite us more than designs coming out of Germany, which rehash old designs with oversized, fake grilles.
Genesis says we’ll learn more about the GV60 “in the coming months.” Hopefully one detail we might learn is that it comes in a better color than that awful, slime-like green of the renders.
