By: Tim Plouff
On the path to electric car acceptance, how will consumers embrace the shift?
Currently, no pun intended, there remains high anxiety about range and how far the existing EV’s can travel before seeking out a re-charge point that may or may not be available, may or may not work, and may or may not suit my travel needs. Several billion dollars from now, we may gain a clearer view of how that issue will be resolved for the masses, not the early adopters.
We are seeing a strong emphasis on enhanced styling, a move away from science experiments run amok, to cars with grace, proportion, even rakish sexiness. Yes, to the cars that ignite our senses visually as well as our nerve endings at the base of the spine.
And clearly, the enticement to both early EV adopters and to the masses is to make early battery electric cars fast and fun to drive. The Whoosh factor cannot be overlooked.
How impressive it is then, that a relative start-up automaker, a luxury brand looking to establish its reputation in a highly competitive marketplace, seems to have combined these attributes into one virtuous compact crossover, a sexy coupe-like five-passenger rocket ship that signals ‘I have arrived’. The new Genesis GV60 sends that signal, plus a whole lot more.
How can an enthusiast driver balk at a crossover that drives like a Porsche Macan, looks as luxurious as an Audi Q5, yet sells for only a token few dollars higher than its more plebian siblings from Kia and Hyundai? Well, you just can’t. And there-in lies another secret sauce in Hyundai’s expanding portfolio of award-winning vehicles.
From the first few minutes behind the hot, heated steering wheel in the Performance trimmed Genesis, $69,415, the GV60 repeatedly exposed its virtues. It is fast. It is silent. It turns and rides with aplomb. It is packed with the subtle goodies that the three brands from Hyundai Motor Group are known for, and, did I mention that it is fast?
The back seat, nicely heated here, works for five adults, with a perfectly flat floor throughout that lets gym bags, grocery bags, empty lunch bags, and more, disappear around the floating console. The E-GMT electric battery platform, shared with its Kia and Hyundai siblings, provides a solid base for the electronically assisted suspension, as well as the spacious cabin above. It is also among the quickest batteries at replenishing itself when properly engaged with a Fast Charger network.
Yet, as great as the Genesis performs in the daily chores of being a road warrior, the car’s visuals earn praise too. The dual-level LED lites, front and rear, the distinctive front fascia, the rakish rear hatch profile (no wiper??) the flush-mount door handles, plus the 21-inch sport wheels which aid in the whole proportional profile, the GV60 seems like modern eye-candy. Why impress your neighbors with a new EV if it looks like everyone else’s dated design?
Webster’s says that genesis is “the origin or the coming into being of something”. The GV60 is definitely something. Will it be the origin of this fledgling luxury brand’s imminent EV success? Seems hard to imagine otherwise.
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