I’ve decided that EVs are weird. Not bad by any means – they’re a great alternative for most people – but definitely weird. They’re all fast (ridiculously so), all feel fairly similar (perfectly linear and numb), and all sound exactly the same (varying degrees of silence). Our test vehicle this week, a 2024 Genesis Electrified GV70 highlighted this point for me rather neatly.
The Electrified GV70 joins the Electrified G80 and the GV60 as the third EV in the relatively young Genesis brand’s portfolio. It builds on the already excellent and still pretty new GV70, swapping out the turbocharged gas engine for a pair of electric motors supported by a 77.4kWh lithium ion battery pack. The result is nearly 500 horsepower and more than 500 foot-pounds of instantaneous torque, which means the Electrified GV70 blows the doors off the already fast gas GV70, and most of the cars on my bedroom wall when I was growing up.
Here’s where it gets weird for me: outside of the general sameness mentioned above, I find it weird that these things are so fast and it’s already old news. Those kinds of power numbers were reserved for exotic sports cars and crazily over-engineered super-sedans up until very recently. The Electrified GV70 can rip off a sub four second 0-100km/h sprint all day long, which was extremely impressive not even ten years ago, and the fact that it can do it with approximately zero sense of drama or theater is wild.
It used to be that if you built a car that fast, every facet of the car’s design had that caliber of performance in mind. Now it almost feels like an accident, like it’s a totally normal whatever commuter car that, by raw force of coincidence, just happens to be stupidly quick. This isn’t a sports car with taut suspension, this is a genteel sport utility vehicle with a plush ride, and it feels so weird when it’s accelerating faster than a Corvette.
It’s clear that unlike a Corvette, this was never intended to go this fast. When you put your foot down, especially in boost mode, the front end gets real light and it wants to wander around, unnaturally swept away on a wave of voltage. There’s also a very slight, uncanny delay in throttle response as the many computers between you and the road decide how to most effectively manage the monstorus twisting force that comes with leashed lightning.
This is not all to say I don’t like the Electrified GV70. The fossil fuel fed GV70 is terrific, and this one, naturally, is even better. The GV70 was already impressively quiet and refined, and so it’s no surprise that removing the controlled explosions of a gas engine and adding a big battery pack as a giant sound-deadener makes the luxuriously appointed cabin downright serene. Ride comfort is fantastic, with just enough body control for confidence inspiring handling in any situation that a reasonable, non-hooligan would ever encounter.
There’s few weaknesses, most are nitpicks that are shared with the gas GV70. While the infotainment system looks great and works fairly well with its combination of an ultrawide 14.5-inch touch display and a dial controller, the use of said dial and a dial for the gear select seems like a huge oversight – I frequently scrolled through radio stations while trying to shift into reverse, and vice versa. There’s also the distinct absence of wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a curious omission that seems to dog a lot of higher end Hyundai/Kia/Genesis products.
The most significant problem with the Electrified GV70 is its range, or relative lack thereof – 385 kilometers. This isn’t bad, it’s right in line with a lot of other EVs, and it is realistically well more than enough for the overwhelming majority of people. But, cars like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Cadillac LYRIQ, and Tesla Model Y are all offering at least a hundred kilometers more, as are its corporate cousins, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 6. A powerful onboard charger softens the blow of this, allowing the GV70 to pick up most of a charge in 20 minutes.
In this early adoption era of EVs where range anxiety is still so prevalent, I worry that range, or perceived lack thereof will hold a lot of people back. I hope that doesn’t end up being the case, as the Electrified GV70 is very handily one of the better driving EVs on the market, and the Genesis brand’s Bentley-ish styling that gives their cars a healthy caliber of discreet distinction well above and beyond other EVs in this price segment.
At $84,150 before tax credits, it’s an excellent entry in the premium EV segment, being decidedly more premium than its competitors. I may have initially thought it was weird to have an upper-middle class SUV that can outrun nearly every car that I’ve ever dreamed of owning, but the fact is every EV in this segment can do that – that’s just where technology is. What sets the 2024 Genesis Electrified GV70 apart isn’t that it’s an EV, it’s that it already was an excellent vehicle that looks, feels, and drives fantastically well. The fact that it’s silent and absurdly quick is just a bonus.
