Review: 2026 Kia EV6 GT AWD Dual Motor – Korea takes on Germany, and wins
The properly magical thing about electric vehicle technology is that it levels the playing field between the great and the merely good, so much so that it’s possible to speak about a car from Kia and one from Porsche (okay, not really, maybe BMW) in the same sentence without seeming snide, or simply absurd.
Sure, Kia made a car called the Stinger that had a twin-turbo V6 engine, and was highly amusing, but I never seriously compared it to a BMW in my head, even if various police highway patrol people did.
Building an ICE car as good as a German one is hard, and expensive, but, clearly, making an EV that’s fast and fun enough to provide the same kind of chunters and chuckles from a driver that you’d get in a punchy BMW electric car is a lot simpler.
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Indeed, Kia’s stepsister company, Hyundai, has, in the unfortunate shape of the Ioniq 5 N, produced an EV that’s damn near as exciting, and fun, as any European electric vehicle the world has yet seen.
The EV6 all-wheel-drive GT is, essentially, Kia’s mad crack at the Ioniq 5 N recipe and the two vehicles no doubt share lots of related bits under the skin. It’s no coincidence, for example, that, this latest MY2026 version of the dual-motor GT now offers a super-car-spec 448kW, plus 740Nm, in “Normal” driving (there’s not much normal about it, to be fair) and a gut-scaring 478kW/770Nm in Launch Control mode, which is up from the outgoing model’s 430kW/740Nm – now exactly matching the Ioniq 5 N.
That much power in any kind of ICE vehicle would set you back at least two small fortunes, so how much will Kia charge for it, in EV form? Read on.
2026 Kia EV6 GT AWD Dual Motor: price and equipment
So the bad news is that the price of Kia’s EV6 has risen, across the range, yet only by an inexplicably small $70 from the MY25 model (the words “why bother” hove into view) so the entry point is now $72,660, while the GT we’re driving is $99,600. Gulp.
Unique items for the GT AWD Dual Motor include sexy, redesigned 21-inch alloys and less-sexy Neon Green brake calipers, which are exactly no-one’s idea of stylish.
Your $70 extra gets you a larger 84kWh battery (up from 77.4kWh), for more range and more grunt, plus the introduction of Kia Connect (warm up your seat before you even leave the house, using an app, etc.) and OTA updates across all variants. There’s an all-new infotainment system, which, vitally, now includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Inspired by the award-winning EV9, the new EV6 also now has a new steering wheel design and an updated centre console and the integration of Kia’s Fingerprint Recognition functionality on GT trims. This must be well hidden, as I didn’t notice it at all. Invaluable, then.
While the EV6 does now have more claimed range, buyers of the GT AWD are going to get a lot less than that number, because they won’t be able to resist using all the amps and volts enthusiastically.
A base model EV6 Air RWD will now go a claimed 582km, which is quite something, but the GT offers just 450km, if you drive it like your Nanna. A 10 to 80 per cent charge should take 18 minutes on a 350kW fast charger, with a maximum charging rate of 235kW.
The headline act in terms of the MY26 model might be the battery, but the most noticeable element is the fact that the EV6 GT received further dynamic attention globally, with stiffer rear sway bars and softer front springs. As a result, Kia Australia retuned both the suspension and the steering for the GT variant, to fully take advantage of those hardware upgrades.
That retune has resulted in claimed improvements in terms of ride and handling dynamics, “with increased natural feel & grip levels”.
The retune has also improved steering feedback “with natural feel, improved cornering accuracy and effort build up”.
Sounds impressive, but what’s it really like?
2026 Kia EV6 GT AWD Dual Motor: What we think
In isolation, the EV6 GT is a pretty spectacular sporting EV – although I do still struggle, at times, to imagine who the customer is for such a vehicle – but it’s impossible to consider it without the impressive Hyundai Ioniq 5 N in your mind.
The main advantage the EV6 has is that it looks less like a collection of angles jumbled together and more like a car. It’s still a bit weird looking, and more like a pumped station wagon than an SUV, but it’s neither ugly nor alarming to look at the way the Hyundai undeniably is – just slightly confused.
Officially, the EV6 is categorised in VFACTS sales data as a Large SUV Over $80K, but if it’s a large SUV I’m an NBA player – it’s a Medium SUV to my eyes, and a low rise one at that. The sleeker look, courtesy of a lower roof line, means that it’s not quite as spacious, and that your daughter will complain, constantly, about banging her head every time she gets in the back seat. Perhaps she shouldn’t be so freakishly tall.
The good news is that I really could feel the benefits of Kia Australia’s efforts to retune and improve what was already a pretty impressive driver’s car. Ride is one of those things that you only really notice when it’s either really bad, or staggeringly good, and the ride/handling balance of this vehicle is exceptional. A knowledgeable colleague of mine calls the EV6 the best driving EV money can buy, and after a week of trying to disagree with him I found it hard. This Kia really does manage to feel like a Euro-spec, $150K-segment car, at least in terms of the way it steers and pours through corners.
The interior is pleasant enough, aside from some weirdly garish colour splashes, but it’s here that you can really see and feel the difference between a Korean car and a German one. It doesn’t feel cheap to touch – and the new steering wheel is lovely – but it surely doesn’t feel expensive. Circa $100K? Well, not in the details, but definitely in the way it drives.
Some mention must go to the way it accelerates, which is as ballistically bat shit as the power figures would suggest, even though it does weigh 2.2 tonnes (and the fact that all that weight doesn’t ruin its cornering ability is quite miraculous).
There’s something very BMW M about all the various settings you can play with in MyDrive mode, while the GT button on the steering wheel unleashes pure, hilarious madness. Like zero to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds madness.
The sheer thrusting ballsiness of the GT never gets tired and fortunately this is a chassis that can handle it. What does get weird is the fake noises Kia has chosen to give the car, which sound like a spaceship that’s got a broken diff. Fortunately you can turn them off and experience the weirdness that is a very fast silent thing.
Is it as much fun as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N? Well, no, because the Hyundai has its wonderful ersatz gearbox thing going on, and that just appeals to me personally, but in other ways the Kia actually feels a little more refined and a touch less unhinged, without feeling any slower in real terms.
I couldn’t buy either car, because I have functioning eyes, but I’m sure that if you’re in the market for a BMW-style, properly exciting EV, but you’d like to spend a bit less money (and go quite a bit faster), the Kia might be your thing. But with the 2026 BMW iX3 50 xDrive set to cost only $10k more, I feel like the EV6 GT really should be a bit cheaper to really grab a Euro buyer’s attention.
2026 Kia EV6 GT AWD Dual Motor: Verdict
This new version of the already impressive EV6 GT AWD is a proper driver’s car, and a surprisingly luxurious one in terms of its ride and handling.
But while it might take on the Germans in terms of driving dynamics, and even blitz them for pure pace, there’s still a way to go in the styling and perceived value stakes.
SCORE: 4/5
Kia EV6 GT AWD Dual Motor: specifications
Price: $99,600
Basics: EV, 5 seats, 4 doors,SUV
Range: 450km (WLTP)
Battery capacity: 84kWh
Battery warranty: 8 years/160,000km
Energy consumption: 20.6kWh/100km (ADR)
Motors: Dual Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors: 478kW/770Nm.
0-100km/h: 3.5 seconds
