- The Korean-market 2026 Kia EV6 GT just bowed, and it seems to have borrowed some Hyundai N goodies
- The upgrades are highlighted by a revised drivetrain that can temporarily boost power to a peak 645 hp
- We don’t know how different the Canadian-spec car will be, but it’s expected in our market next year
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Ahead of its launch here in North America, the Kia brand has hauled the covers off its facelifted all-electric EV6 GT — and it copies more than a bit of homework from its Hyundai cousin. Sharing some mechanicals with that sibling marque’s Ioniq 5 N, the new EV6 GT can reportedly wring 601 horsepower out of its dual-motor powertrain, and is able to boost that sum to 645 ponies on demand with a temporary boost function. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this is right on top of the N. Same goes for torque, rated at 546 lb-ft, or 568 lb-ft when the boost button is mashed.
Also in line with its cousin, the EV6 GT adopts a Virtual Gear Shift system said to be “borrowed from Hyundai.” Whether it brings all the goodies from that brand – entertaining noises, manufactured but well-executed ICE-like harshness, modulation of torque – and incorporates them with Hyundai’s level of success will remain to be seen until we climb behind the wheel.
While adding an ‘N’ to the Ioniq 5 brings a host of visual cues to distinguish it from workaday trims, choosing to append the ‘GT’ moniker to an EV6 creates a machine with less ocular drama. The wheels shown on this Korean-market example appear to be unique to the GT, as does the skiff of lime green paint on its brake calipers and interior trim. There is also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it massaging of the GT’s front fascia — in addition to the revised headlamps which are present on all trims for this new model year.
This writer prefers the expressive Hyundai over this relatively restrained Kia, though it is no secret that rafts of other customers do not feel the same way. (Your author also preferred the last-gen Honda Civic Type R with its outrageous details and boy-racer wing, so there’s that. Perhaps it is for that reason I am not always in charge of decorating decisions in my own home.)
While the 2026 Kia EV6 GT is already available to order in its home market, it isn’t expected to show up on books in North America until sometime in the first half of next year.
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