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By Moses Akaigwe
The Kia EV6 has earned the coveted ‘Crossover of the Year’ title at the 2021 TopGear.com Awards.
The fully electric EV6 impressed Top Gear’s judges, thanks to its style, dynamic performance, long electric range and 800-volt ultra-fast charging – offering 10-80% charge in just 18 minutes.
Tom Ford, associate editor, commented: “With the EV6, Kia has gone all-in; wholly electric, wild styling, class-leading charging, gadgets galore. It delves deeply into the concept of a mobile lounge, the EV6 pushes into the darker corners of making an EV actually interesting to drive. It’s also spacious, nicely equipped and well-built. It cruises with all the best bits of EVs – quiet, smooth, calm – and then punts down a backroad with proper potential. A crossover in more than one sense, then. For the car, and the brand.”
The TopGear.com Awards ceremony is viewable on Youtube and also featured in the UK edition of BBC Top Gear Magazine, an awards issue dedicated to the best new cars in the world today.
The EV6 is Kia’s first dedicated electric car, and shows the exciting potential of the company’s new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP). The EV6 offers buyers a choice of multiple fully-electric, zero-emission powertrain configurations, including long-range (77.4kWh) and standard-range (58.0kWh) high-voltage battery packs.
EV6 GT-Line is available with both long-range and standard-range battery packs, while EV6 GT features the long-range battery pack only. This is Kia’s first electric vehicle to be available with two-wheel (2WD) or all-wheel drive (AWD) options – the latter offering enhanced dynamic capability in even the most challenging conditions.
The all-new Kia EV6 has been shortlisted for the final round of the 2022 European Car of the Year (ECOTY) awards. The innovative electric crossover was provisionally listed among a further 60-odd new models launched this year and has now been selected by the 61 ECOTY jurors from 23 countries for the seven-strong shortlist. The overall ECOTY winner will be announced in February.
In just one month since going on sale in Europe, the new Kia EV6 has made a big impact with media and prospective buyers, with pre-order books closing early after unprecedented demand for the new model. Thanks to ultra-fast charging, a 528km range, and blistering performance, the EV6 is a mainstream electric vehicle drawing worthy comparison to many premium models.
The Kia brand reinvented itself at the beginning of 2021 with a new name, new logo and revived design ethos named ‘Opposites United’. The EV6 is the first vehicle launched under this new direction and is Kia’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle based on its all-new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP).
Jason Jeong, President of Kia Europe, commented: “Kia is proud to be standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest examples of modern mobility. After the two nominations of Ceed in its first and third generation and the one for Stinger, the nomination of the brand new EV6 is recognition of our progress and highlights our commitment to providing sustainable mobility solutions.
Kia vehicles are assembled and marketed in Nigeria by Kia Motors Nigeria which operates an assembly plant in the Isolo area of Lagos.
