2022 Genesis Electrified G80 review: Prototype first drive

It’s no surprise that Genesis chose its G80 executive sedan to debut its EV aspirations, in creating the Genesis Electrified G80. After all, the G80 is a natural successor to what was once the Genesis, the four-door luxury Hyundai model, well before its namesake became a standalone luxury brand. Call it fitting continuity.

Nor should it raise eyebrows that the simply named Electrified G80 first lobbed at the Shanghai motor show, over a year ago, as the marque’s introductory foray into the Chinese market, where big luxury limos remain sizeable business.

It’s no secret that here in Australia, where the SUV is the meal ticket, that the G80 and other large luxury sedans have, ahem, niche appeal, to put it charitably. So it’s of little wonder that the local arrival of ‘eG80’, for brevity, is timed to align with the Q3 launch of an electric version of the GV70, the Korean marque’s biggest-selling model, and the smaller GV60, the forward-thinking crossover technically twinned with Hyundai’s Ioniq 5.

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It’s very short odds on betting that, of the Genesis electric newcomers, the eG80 will be the unicorn on Aussie roads. That’s no foul: exclusivity has its rightful place. And exclusive it most certainly will be because, at around $150K, the new electric limousine will be all the Genesis very good money can buy.

Genesis Australia rolled out the “prototype” version tested here, for local media to sample at an off-street facility, months ahead of local release. But it’s no camouflaged R&D hack.

From its shiny Electrified-exclusive Matira Blue paintwork to its fetching ‘forged wood’ interior inlays, our subject looks about as production-ready as it could be. And it feels as much, too, if the driving experience is anything to go by. 

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Pricing and features 

While the figure is yet to be finalised, the eG80 will arrive in one lofty variant trim that Genesis expects to price somewhere between $140,000 and $150,000. That’s a significant fiscal lunge beyond the G80 3.5T AWD’s $102,000, let alone the 2.5T RWD’s tip-in point of $86,000. In comparison, the all-you-can-eat six-pot Sport Luxury ICE version wants for $121,000. All prices before on-road costs.

Clearly, the eG80 isn’t positioned to be a palatable choice for limousine hire car companies, even if EV drive might, in theory, fit the bill well. Not that there’s isn’t broad enough scope for an eG80 of vastly humbler, more affordable specification than the launch variant will offer.

Right now, the electric Genesis has few large four- or five-door sedan EV competitors and it will undercut the most affordable Porsche Taycan, the RWD, that wants for $156,300 before on-road costs and options.

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As the clear flagship of the G80 range, the Electrified promises features and equipment currently offered in high Luxury trim, plus some EV exclusives, as demonstrated in our prototype test car.

Some of the confirmed features include Road Preview camera-based adaptive damping, 12.3-inch 3D digital instrumentation, 14.5-inch multimedia with augmented reality navigation, an Ergo Motion massage driver’s seat, bio-processed Nappa leather trim (ala Ioniq 5), recycled forged wood trim inlays, 21-speaker Lexicon audio and a solar panel roof to help trickle charge the battery pack when the car is stationary.

From its Matrix LED headlights to soft-close doors, the form guide suggests it’s stacked with features, though the finalised local spec is yet to be revealed. 

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Despite being the priciest of the three-pronged Genesis debut EV foray, the eG80 brings a less-powerful dual-motor drive system than will be offered in the Electrified GV70 or the higher grade of two GV60 variants to be sold here. Each of the sedan’s axles adopts 136kW and 350Nm motors for a 272kW and 700Nm total system output, whereas the SUVs will offer 360kW and the same torque peak.

However, the sedan boasts a larger 87.2kWh battery (playing 77.4kWh) for a superior range of “500 kilometres plus”. Its 800-volt charging architecture, accessed via a hidden port in the grille, allows an 80 per cent charge using 350kW DC fast charging of “around 22 minutes”. A full charge using a standard 11kW system is expected to take around nine hours.

The eG80 also features the nifty vehicle to load (V2L) feature that can draw 3.6kW from the battery to power appliances on the go, though unlike the GV70 that offers an in-cabin facility, the sedan only has an exterior socket.

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Comfort and quality

Climb inside and the eG80 is lavish and opulent, pulling few stops to create the grandest impression both in presentation and sheer breadth of window dressing.

There’s nothing ‘prototype’ about the cabin. Execution and the sense of craft is superb, a complex array of surfaces and material textures that come together cohesively and under close scrutiny, managing to pull off a flamboyant wow factor while just avoiding being gauche or too over the top.

The core design is typically clean and crisp, minted in an inimitable style that is unmistakably Genesis. If it does draw inspiration from more established premium marques, it’s hard to pick. Overall, its key elements, even the overtly jewellery-like areas such as the 3D driver’s screen or crystal-like console controls, are neatly integrated.

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It feels as first-class as it looks, with a proper suppleness to the seat hides. It seems considerable effort has gone into touchpoint tactility and a nice solidity to all of the controls, without a hint of parts binning anything from mainstream Hyundais.

The seating is superb, relaxed enough to fit the limousine bill yet supportive and cosseting enough for a bit of sporty adventure, complete with active bolsters that present a rib-hugging party trick once you delve into the racier drive modes.

Bar some EV-centric content in the 3D digital instrumentation, the format in its usability is thoroughly conventional. The paddleshifters serve to adjust regeneration force up and down, though even the transmission controller is the same as you find in ICE G80s.

Regular stock also gets a row-two arm-rest console array that mirrors the look and feel of that up front when used as a four-seater, though the jury is out as to whether this will port into the Electrified version.

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Instrumentation and multimedia are clearer and more fuss-free to use than many often-complex German approaches, but there are some superfluous touches, such as the blind-spot camera system that, while meaning well, is a little unnatural to use. Infotainment offers quick responses from its pleasingly simple interface – although, at a huge 14.5 inches, it’s so large that designers have been compelled to locate it just out of convenient arm's reach.

Given the clear limousine leanings, it’s unsurprising that row-two accommodation is as richly appointed as up front, though due to some hidden electric architecture the eG80’s rear outboard seating positions don’t recline like they do in the petrol versions. That said, for a categorically large sedan, the amount of rear spaciousness feels closer to S-Class-rivalling upper large.

Still, the slim battery pack located between the axles does raise the floor a little, though not by enough to realistically impact cabin roominess, particularly headroom.

There’s no sunroof, as the solar panel roof is standard fitment. Other compromises creep in elsewhere, as the eG80 doesn’t offer interior V2L appliance power as fitted to the eGV70 SUV and the boot size has been reduced from the regular G80’s 424 litres to 354L for the EV version.

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On the road

So the priciest of the Genesis electric debutant EVs is the slowest in acceleration credentials: officially four-tenths down on the eGV70 and nearly a second behind the performance promised for the high-power version of the GV60.

And yet at 4.9 seconds claimed, the Korean electric limo is not hanging about.

The 272kW and 700Nm on tap is more than ample for a machine of this size and luxury leanings. In fact, for something with virtually no performance pretensions, just how enthusiastically it swings its stick and seemingly effortlessly piles on pace initially takes some driver recalibration.

Different drive mode presets each bring a noticeable hike in response as you scale upward from mild to wild. But crucially, the Eco setting offers a nice throttle pliancy ideally attuned to leisurely cruising and stop-start doldrums where a limo typically ought to shine. Squeezing the throttle is akin to rolling up the acceleration volume and while it’s still quick in Eco if you give it the berries, there's just more flexibility under the right foot.

As I discovered in the eGV70 prototype drive, the EV package is most at home in Comfort mode, one so broadly capable that you may never see a need to reach for the drive mode controller. It’s either placid or urgent, depending on the driver’s whim, if more precise and alert than in Eco, more confidently masking the sedan’s mass and inertia.

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Sport properly uncorks its Hyde, of course, and a couple of flat-pinned launches, instantaneous in response and surly in thrust, makes you question what on-road situation you’d really need more herbs than what’s offered. It piles on pace quickly and deceptively, thanks mostly to an almost absent soundtrack, and the roll-on torquey punch is, in typical EV manner, utterly obedient and downright addictive.

Against its EV kin, the eG80 trades outright pace for improved range. And having sampled just how much pace it can deliver, there’s a fair argument that a luxo-cruiser such as this could do with less output and even more range to bolster its outright grand touring chops.

The available regeneration settings are as broad, polished and downright useful as the drive modes. In its lightest, there’s virtually no perceivable drag from the motor-generators at all.

And it shuffles through progressively stronger regen ‘steps’ to a proper one-pedal mode, aka ‘i-pedal’, with aggressive enough retardation that the brake pedal is redundant at lower urban speeds. The brake feel, too, is quite natural, with only a hint of that strange granular vibe you find in some EV machinery.

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Genesis promises that its chassis is friskier than one might imagine, though at the short off-street road loop where I’m allowed to sample the prototype the corners are too tight and there’s not enough safe run-off to test that claim.

The Road Preview active steel sprung suspension, which uses a forward-facing camera to read the road and filter out nasty bumps with continuously variable damping, feels nicely compliant as default and fairly firm for a limo.

This prototype doesn’t fit the ‘local tune’, or at least the hardware and software spec cherry-picked from the global Genesis suspension menu derived from local Aussie testing. But it feels tauter and more focused than I remember of the ICE-power G80 Sport.

Clear and direct steering, a flat stance and enough grip to counter its considerable inertia – much of which is low in the chassis and neatly between the axles – mean the eG80 has the making of a decent corner carver, if in a chassis with a wheelbase that doesn’t inherently favour fun-filled agility.

We’ll have to wait for the Aussie spec on local roads to properly assess the limo’s dynamic mettle.

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Ownership

Genesis hasn’t revealed warranty and servicing terms for its EVs, but you can bet its priciest offering will get all the bells and whistles.

Currently, Genesis offers five years of unlimited-kilometre warranty on its ICE vehicles, with five years of complimentary servicing and roadside assist. Plus, the Genesis You program offers a free valet service for metro Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane while your vehicle is being serviced.

What is unknown is whether Genesis will offer a period of free DC fast-charging – as most premium brand rivals do – or to what extent it warranties the EV batteries.

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VERDICT

If our prototype drive is much to go by, the eG80 delivers exactly what’s expected from what’s clearly positioned as a more traditional luxury figurehead for the Genesis brand, in the local absence of its G90 range-topper. That it packs new-school electric motivation is a glove-like fit.

What it might lack in outright performance among EV-dom’s increasingly dull appendage-measuring habits it absolutely compensates for in class, dignity and polished execution.

And given its pricey, electric four-door sedan proposal lands on the fringes of today’s Aussie motoring radar, you can likely add ultra-exclusivity.

Sure, it’ll probably be vastly outsold by the more sensible (and quicker) eGV70 and technically slicker (and quicker still) poster boy GV60. But that’s not really the point of the eG80’s existence nor its inclusion in the local line-up.

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It’s a statement of sheer luxury indulgence electrified. That it’s not built upon bespoke underpinnings mightn’t bother the private buyers attracted to the cut of its jib, though its price and positioning will surely deter hire car operators tempted to go electric.

There’s probably a place for a cut-priced, fat-trimmed Electrified G80 as a school formal rental or airport shuttle, with lower power and longer range.

But not yet. Lobbing three debut EV models at once to stake its electric claim is probably biting off as much as the fledgling Korean luxury marque can chew right now.

2022 Genesis G80 specifications