What Makes the Genesis GV70 Electrified So Special?

The Independent

The Genesis GV70 EV might just be the most underrated premium SUV on the market. Steve Fowler takes it for a spin — and finds a lot to like.In this Drive Smart review, The Independent’s EV Editor Steve Fowler tests the Genesis GV70 — a sleek, all-electric luxury SUV from a brand that’s quietly becoming one to watch.With a smooth ride, high-end finish, and strong performance, the GV70 could be the surprise hit of the year. But is it enough to win over UK buyers?

Transcript

00:00There have been so many changes on this new GV70 electrified, but I am pleased to report

00:06the one thing I've always loved about this car hasn't changed, and that's the way it drives.

00:12Genesis, the car company. I reckon it's one of the automotive world's best kept secrets,

00:32and the Genesis GV70 electrified is a brilliant car, but now they've made it even better.

00:39Let me take you through what's changed. It's difficult to spot, admittedly, so I'm going

00:43to point it out. Okay, new headlamps. All Genesis cars take this sort of two-line theme, and

00:48they're new LED headlamps in there, apparently. It's a new bumper with an air duct in there,

00:54a new big grille with a fancy different arrangement on the front there. The bonnet's new, the Genesis

01:00badge is new. It's always been a pretty car. Down the side, well, not a lot has changed

01:06down there. You've got new wheels, and you've got the option of white brake calipers. Now,

01:12Genesis has got a hot brand called Magma. You'd think they'd put orange brake calipers on them.

01:16You'd put white. No? Anyway. Let's go and have a look around the back, shall we? I'm going

01:21to struggle, really, to tell you what's different around here. Apparently, the indicators used

01:26to be down there. They're now in these sort of twin-stripe lights here. What else is different?

01:31A new bumper to accentuate the width of the car, and a little camera up there. That's

01:37quite cute. It's got a digital rear screen, which, if you're my age and you need reading

01:41glasses, you really struggle with. But it's technology. Another lovely little feature here.

01:46If you want to open the boot, you've got to press the button. Oh, hang on. Oh, I've pressed

01:49it. We might as well have a look in the boot while we're here. And, yeah, it's very nicely

01:56trimmed. Look at all this under there. That's rather neat, isn't it? A couple of Genesis

02:00notepads, tire mobility kit, high-vis. And look at this. This is your... It's stuck. It's

02:08Velcroed. It's not going to move around. But I'm told in there is probably your charging

02:12cables. Okay. That's the boot. I'm sure it'll shut automatically. And we're going to have

02:16a look inside. The inside of the Genesis GV70 electrified has always been lovely. But look

02:25at this. It's all new. It's more new than the outside with the screen, which we'll talk

02:30about. The ambient lighting. New ambient lighting. Loads of colours you can choose. And the door

02:36panels. I love these door panels that are supposedly kind of resembling the Milky Way, which, of course,

02:41is the sweet you can eat between meals without ruining your appetite. Loads of tech. Lovely

02:45big panoramic sunroof that opens. New steering wheel. Places, obviously, to charge your mobile

02:52phone. My favourite, though, is if you're a bit of a dirty boy or a dirty girl, you've got

02:57a cleansing space down here, which you can put your phone or your keys or anything else you

03:05find under there, press the button that's in there, and ultraviolet lights come on to cleanse

03:13whatever's hidden in there, which is great. So you leave it for about 10 minutes. You take

03:19your phone out, and it's really clean. I could do that with my mind. So it's all very lovely

03:25in the front, but what's it like in the back?

03:28Now, I'm a dreadful backseat passenger. I'm not made for the backseats, but if I was to

03:34be made for a backseat, I'd be quite happy to sit in the back here. There is decent room,

03:39the same level of quality, heated seats back here. Can I imagine the massaging seats you

03:43can get in the front and heated steering wheel? Real luxury, but more ambient lighting,

03:49but good headroom, good shoulder room, good legroom, considering the seat is set up for me

03:53in front. I'm very happy back here. I think it's about time I took myself for a drive.

03:59There have been so many changes on this new GV70, electrified, but I'm pleased to report the one

04:06thing I've always loved about this car hasn't changed, and that's the way it drives. Now,

04:11in a world where so many car makers go chasing lap records at the Nürburgring, I don't care about

04:17that. What I care about is a car that can get me paid to be really comfortably and something that

04:24just feels a bit posh, and the Genesis GV70, electrified, does exactly that. The ride comfort

04:31is really good. It's really impressive on our really rubbish UK roads with potholes and grids and

04:37cat-sized, all that sort of stuff. This is really comfortable, and it's really quiet too. It's really

04:44serene. In fact, there is a serenity pack, I think, that you can add to this car. We'll come on to that

04:50a bit later on. But yeah, there's double glazing, so it's nice and quiet. There's noise cancelling

04:55tech, so all the road noise is cancelled out through the clever speakers. Oh, banging aloof some stereo

05:01as well. Apparently with Dolby Atmos, I'll be trying that later with my dreadful 80s music. But this is

05:07such a relaxing car to drive, always has been, and that hasn't changed. What has changed

05:14is the battery. So one of my big criticisms of the old Genesis GV70 electric was it didn't go far

05:22enough. 77 kilowatt hour battery in the old car. Now that's up to 84 kilowatt hours. So the range has

05:29jumped, hasn't it? Well, a little bit. The range of the pure car, which is the entry-level car with

05:37smaller wheels than this one, 298 miles. It's just not enough, is it? It's not enough. It's a shame

05:44because it probably is enough. If you think about what sort of mileage you do and how you're using

05:48your car, 298 miles for a lot of people is going to be enough. But in a world where things like the

05:54Volkswagen ID7, different car, even Tesla Model Y, they go, that's about 400 miles, 298 miles.

06:01It might put you off, which would be a great shame because this is such a lovely car. And I urge you

06:07to think about how you'd use it and what sort of mileage you'd do and how you'd charge it up. There

06:12is fast charging. This car will charge you at 240 kilowatts, which if you can find an appropriate

06:17charger is a reasonable speed. You'll get from 10 to 80% charge in 19 minutes. That's good.

06:24But I can't get that 298 mile figure out of my mind. The thing I would say is that all

06:29the Genesis cars I've driven, other GV70 electrifieds, they do what they say on the tin. So if you

06:36say you've got 298 miles, you do tend to be able to get 298 miles out of them. But 298 miles,

06:42I just wish it did more. The charging port door now opens electrically. And did you know you

06:49needed it heated too? I guess it's because it's in the front and it might get a bit cold up there,

06:53but the charging door is heated. That's luxury. So I've told you how comfortable the Genesis GV70

06:59electrified is to drive, but it's also quick. 0-62 in 4.4 seconds with a boost mode, which is a button

07:07that you can see down here on the steering wheel. So I'm just going to press that and you get 15

07:11seconds of boost mode. There we go. Hey, woohoo. That is pretty quick. And yeah, the steering's

07:21pretty good. I mean, it's no sports car. It's an SUV. You don't want to, nor will I let you take

07:26this round the Nürburgring. But it's quick. You can have a bit of fun in it. And then when you want

07:31to just sit back and relax, these seats are super comfy as well. So outside, you're going to have

07:38to work quite hard to spot the difference. But inside, look at this. This is glorious. The old

07:45silly little screen that was up in the middle of the car there. You've now got a 27-inch OLED screen.

07:52Now, yeah, it does sound as though I'm working in Currys, but that is a crystal clear display.

07:57You've got your touchscreen display here. Customizable driver display in the center.

08:03But do not fret because you have got down here, lower down, separate heating and ventilation

08:09controls. They are touch sensitive, but trust me, they work okay. And you've got knobs. You do have

08:15knobs. You've got knobs for the temperature controls. You've also got knobs to turn the volume and even

08:22tuning. Do you remember that when we used to have tuning knobs? This has got a tuning knob on it. So

08:27a good blend of technology, which is quite impressive. And a bit of analog in there as well.

08:34And of course, there are buttons on the steering wheel that, frankly, I don't know what they do.

08:39Probably something to do with the adaptive driving system. And it's got a new adaptive driving system.

08:44So it will drive itself as much as you're allowed to these days. And all the other bits. Oh, fast keys

08:50that can stop the annoying beeping that the EU has insisted that every car does if you just stray

08:56over the street than it might one mile per hour. So you've just got a fast key to do that, which I think

09:01is really clever. Another reason to really like Genesis GV70 electrified. I've always liked the

09:08Genesis GV70 electrified. And this one is so much better. They've improved all the little bits that

09:14really needed improving. The tech is great. The quality is even better. The design, I think, has just been

09:21tweaked. So it's really, really cool. And it's got a bigger battery and more range, although 298 miles still

09:28isn't far enough. But I know what you're thinking. I need to talk to you about pricing, right? I've

09:32been very good. I've written all this down so you can get all the details here. Three models to

09:36choose from. The Pure is the entry-level car, £65,915. So lots of money, isn't it? Dynamic, although not the

09:45most dynamic thing. I should have called it comfort, really, because that's what it majors on. Dynamic, £70,715.

09:53But this car, which absolutely is loaded with all the bells and whistles, the luxury

09:58model, £74,915. A lot of money. But from a quality perspective, yeah, it stacks up. You've

10:07got eight pearl colours, four matte colours, three interior colours, and six option packs to choose

10:14from. So Genesis GV70 electrified. I love it. It is expensive, but then so are its rivals. It doesn't

10:21quite go far enough, but I really do urge you to look beyond that and think about how you might use

10:26the car. Could you live with it? Because this car is so good. If you don't want your BMWs,

10:31your Audis, your Mercedes, or even your Zikas and your Neos and cars that are coming to challenge

10:37those cars, the Genesis GV70 electrified is just really, really good. And I like it. It

10:43doesn't go far enough. It's quite expensive. But for me, it's still worth a look. I'll think

10:49about one. Seriously.

Category

Transcript

Recommended