Words: Sayantan De | Photography: Akshay Jadhav, Shrenith Bhandary
When the Kia EV6 debuted in India in 2022, there wasn’t anything quite like it in the market, and there still isn’t. It is a curious mix of body styles as well as an eclectic combination of luxury and practicality. For the future, Kia has added more ammo to the EV6’s already considerable arsenal of talents, and we took it out for a spin to assess the changes.
The EV6 has a lithe, low stance, sitting barely taller than most hatchbacks and decidedly shorter than most SUVs. It has a striking silhouette from any angle, but none more so than the rear three-quarter. The 2025 iteration of Kia’s flagship features its ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy, which fuses inspirations from nature as well as man-made, industrial cues, to create something striking, and this is nowhere more apparent than on the EV6, with its seemingly contrasting combination of a smooth, pebble-like overall shape interspersed with sharp slashes of different-coloured surfaces adding drama. The new model has something called ‘Star Map Graphic’ LED for both the DRL as well as the tail lamps, which are those triangle shapes connected by long, thin lines of light to create the illusion of a spaceship plotting its course through the vast expanses, which brings us neatly back to the silhouette of the EV6—with some rocket pods and wings, it could be a starship. Those ‘Star Map Graphic’ elements are also repeated on the design of the 19-inch wheels.
The interior is once again a diverse collection of materials which seemingly work well together, but aren’t the obvious choices. One of the most noticeable changes is the replacement of the gloss-black finish (which was a fingerprint magnet) on the centre console, which has been replaced with a textured alternative. The steering wheel is a new, sportier three-spoke unit that replaces the older two-spoke one, and has both a flat top and a flat bottom, which Kia refers to as a double-D shape. The positioning of the instrument cluster, comprising two 12.3-inch screens as before, has been changed and is now angled towards the driver a tad more. Interior material quality continues to impress.
The seats are a combination of sustainable black suede with vegan leatherette, and just like the last-gen model, are supremely comfortable, and also have the zero-gravity mode, where, at the touch of a button, they assume an almost horizontal position—under which astronauts get launched into space. It is a remarkably comfortable position to be in, though one may not suspect as such by looking at it. Speaking of seats that move, the rear seats can be folded down remotely, a feature present on the last-gen EV6 as well and a really useful one. Folding the seats down liberates a cavernous storage area measuring in excess of 1,300 litres (as compared to 520 litres with seats up, which is nothing to scoff at) for those long voyages.
The 2025 Kia EV6 GT gets a new propulsion module under the hood, with a new, larger battery pack of 84kWh capacity compared to the last-gen EV6 with 77.4kWh, which makes those long voyages a lot easier to undertake, at an ARAI-rated range of 663km. This is long enough to cover two Pune-Mumbai round-trips before requiring a charge, at least on paper. Power has gone up by 5PS for a total of 325PS, while torque remains the same at 605Nm. There is no noticeable change in performance, which is still blisteringly quick for a 0-100kmph sprint of 5.3 seconds that translates to more than 0.5g of acceleration. It is not just acceleration that is tremendous-the braking is too, thanks to a combination of all-wheel disc brakes coupled with regen. The stopping distance from 100kmph to 0 is a scant 50 metres.
The suspension of the Kia EV6 strikes a wonderful balance between compliance and stability, feeling supple over smaller amplitude imperfections while maintaining taut body control both at highway speeds as well as through the corners. There’s no hiding the near two-tonne kerb weight, but the EV6 does a decent job of masking it through clever use of electronics, coupled with the advanced AWD system, which shuffles the torque around to meet the dynamic requirement of every single moment without the driver being any the wiser. The steering is precise and feels solid, though there’s little actual feedback that comes through the wheel. The suspension manages to filter out most of the vibrations, despite the EV6 riding on 55-section tyres on 19-inch rims.
A quick word about the safety of the Kia EV6—the new model makes long strides in occupant safety too, with five new autonomous features, part of a safety suite consisting of 27 different advanced driver assistance and safety features. These include junction turning and junction crossing, where the vehicle can detect oncoming traffic while turning at or driving through intersections; lane change assist and evasive steering assist offer additional protection during lane changes and emergency manoeuvres; and finally, lane follow assist, an improved version of lane keep assist, which stops the vehicle from drifting into other lanes unintendedly.
The Kia EV6 offers the kind of quality and performance which used to be the preserve of ultra-luxury marques, but despite being priced at ₹65.9 lakh ex-showroom, it is a value-for-money proposition. The reason for this is that the usage experience of an EV6, in terms of luxury and performance, is in the same league as that of the three Germans at a fraction of the price, while looking like nothing else out there. The concept of value is often user-defined, but in this instance, it is objectively measurable, thanks to its kind of performance, range, feature and safety, which makes the EV6 a winner in our books, and should you choose to buy one, in yours too.
