What name would you like to appear in the Test Drive Review?
Rick O
What make and model did you test drive?
Kia EV6 GT-Line S RWD 77kWh
What dealership did you have the test drive at?
Forest Road Garage, Guernsey
How long did it take the dealership to contact you after you made your initial enquiry?
Under 1 hour
What date did you have your test drive?
10/23/2021
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What was your dealership experience like?
Dealer was (and always is) friendly and helpful. Unlike many, this dealer is keen to make sure you buy the right car for you, rather than trying really hard to sell you what they have in stock.
Rate your dealership experience out of 5 Stars.
5 Stars: Excellent
What were your first impressions of the car?
I’d already had a brief look and drive of the car a couple of days earlier so I knew what to expect. When I arrived the car was in the showroom and looked really nice. Once outside in the sun the Yacht Blue paint came alive.
This is the first EV6 I have sat in with a sunroof and at only 6ft tall I found headroom was a challenge. A few minutes tinkering with seat and steering wheel and I was sat very comfortably, albeit with only an inch and a half of headroom. Perfectly fine for me and the family. Acres of boot space too, so a good first impression.
Positives – List 3 or more things you liked about the car.
- Looks. Always subjective but I like it. A bit like the I-PACE in many ways and a bigger version of the Mazda 323 my wife had in the late 90s.
- Comfort. Once I’d adjusted everything it was very comfy and a generally nice place to be.
- Charging speed. I have to trust the claimed 18 minute 10 – 80% DC charge time, but I was able to test AC 3 phase charging. I got an impressive 10.7kw (it started out at 80% so wasn’t expecting that much).
- Performance. This was the RWD version so not the fastest but it was deceptively quick. It was so smooth and quiet (after turning off the awful sound generator) that I found I was going faster than I thought.
- Ride quality. I’ve read that the EV6 is set up quite stiffly compared to the IONIQ 5. I found it to be very comfortable without being too sporty. It has clearly had a lot of thought put into its ride and they have done a great job.
Negatives – List 3 or more things you didn’t like about the car.
- The sound generator. This is the single worst thing in the car. It’s so distracting. Luckily it can be switched off.
- No curry hooks in the boot! It’s a big boot with a flat floor. Apart from net hooks at floor level I couldn’t see any way to hold things like shopping bags or takeaway food in place. The false floor can be removed which might help a bit but for a boot this large it really needs some attachment points.
- Size. This is a big and wide car. The official width is 1,890mm excluding mirrors. I have googled the mirror-to-mirror width and got nothing back that made any sense. My trusty B&Q tape measure says it’s 2,113mm wide.
- Rattles and squeaks. The car had only 70 miles on the clock when I picked it up (was 21 miles 2 days before) and the centre console squeaked over bumps. Nothing terrible, but (1) it didn’t do this 2 days previous, (2) it shouldn’t do this anyway, especially on a new car, and (3) as the car is so quiet you really pick up on any unusual or unwelcome sounds.
Rate the EV out of 5 Stars.
5 Stars: Excellent
Did you purchase the make & model you test drove or another EV from the same manufacturer?
No
What other EV(s) are you considering and what attracts you to them?
I’ve ordered the same car but with AWD. I originally ordered Steel Matte Grey but having now seen the Yacht Blue I have amended the order to blue.
See owner reviews here
