I think it’s fair to say that 2024 was the Hyundai Ioniq 5’s year. It led Hyundai to the coveted no. 2 spot behind Telsa in U.S. electric vehicle sales, ended up the fourth-best-selling EV in America, and won scores of awards—plus previously anti-EV hearts and minds—with the debut of the rowdy Ioniq 5 N.
Now, you didn’t think its cousin, the Kia EV6, was just gonna take all that lying down, did you?
For anyone out there who enjoys EVs that are fast, capable and fun, the answer, thankfully, is “no.” The updated 2025 Kia EV6 is shaping up to be something really special too. It gets a facelifted front end, a bigger battery with more range, a Tesla-style NACS plug and Supercharger access and a heavily revised GT performance variant. The new EV6 GT even gets simulated engine sounds and gear shifts just like the Ioniq 5 N does.
Photo by: Kia
Kia EV6 GT (2025): Exterior
So how is it going to drive? Well, the new EV6 is already on sale in its native South Korea, and that includes the EV6 GT. And these video shorts from Korea’s MotorWeekend YouTube channel give us a quick taste. Turn this up nice and loud:
We can hear it “rev” in place with a nice baritone that sounds, to me at least, more or less identical to the simulated turbo four-cylinder sounds in the Ioniq 5 N. In that car, the sound is based on Hyundai’s own high-performance four-pot in the Elantra N and other cars, so it’s not shocking that the Korean conglomerate stayed in-house here.
Now let’s see how the Virtual Shift system works. (It’s a test that appears to take place in Seoul, so I’m glad I’m not the one who did this because I would’ve been sent to Korean Speed Jail almost immediately.)
The driver shifts into sport mode, then just like on the Ioniq 5 N, uses the steering wheel paddles normally used to adjust regenerative braking to cycle through the different simulated “gears.” As with the Ioniq 5 N, the idea is to simulate an internal combustion-style performance feeling and control over the power output, just without any emissions.
The channel also has a longer POV drive here if you want to sit through the whole thing.
The idea of simulated engine sounds and “gear shifts” for EVs is a controversial one. Many EV drivers, myself included, love the silence of electric power and immediate torque delivery that eliminates the need for a multi-gear transmission. But many of us—again, me included—also enjoy the unique sensations that come with old-school ICE performance driving. The Ioniq 5 N, and now the new EV6 GT, allow you to enjoy all of that without using any gasoline. And if the sounds and gear shifts aren’t your jam, you can turn them off entirely. What’s not to like?
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The last EV6 GT was a powerhouse in its own right even without those features. It had 576 horsepower and 545 lb-ft of torque going to all four wheels, good for a zero to 60 mph dash in just 3.4 seconds, making it a legit supercar-killer that can also haul your kids and all their gear. The revised GT now delivers 601 hp, boosted all the way to 641 hp and 568 lb.-ft. when the full-force GT Mode is switched on. The tradeoff before was range; all that power meant the GT was rated only at 218 miles of range.
The U.S. EPA range specs on the new EV6 GT have not been disclosed; nor has the car’s release date. The other tradeoff is that unlike the rest of the lineup, the Korean-built GT version will not have a NACS charging inlet, so you’ll be using an adapter to juice up at Tesla Supercharger stations here.
We’ll give you the details on the updated EV6 and EV6 GT as we get them, but so far, it looks promising. Do I need to upgrade? Absolutely not, but believe me when I say I’m considering it.
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