2022 Kia EV6 GT flagship set to cost close to $100,000

430kW AWD version of EV6 electric car will cost close to six figures to become most expensive Kia yet offered in Australia

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The 2022 Kia EV6 GT will become the most expensive car offered by the Korean carmaker in Australia, with a price tag set to fall close to $100,000.

Kia Australia has this week confirmed the local line-up for the brand’s first dedicated electric car. Pricing will not be announced until January ahead of the EV6’s February launch, but the company provided its first official cost indication for the flagship GT that will follow later in late 2022.

“There are dealers already taking deposits for [the EV6 GT] and it’s 12 months away,” said Kia Australia’s general manager of product, Roland Rivero. “Dealers are already guesstimating it will be around the $100,000 mark … but deposits are still coming through [from buyers].

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“We would like to think we would offer it a little bit below that [price point] and are currently in negotiations with Kia HQ.

“We haven’t even driven that [GT] variant yet, but we’re pretty excited. The [regular] EV6 is the best Kia I’ve ever driven and if that’s any indication of what the GT will be, we’re off to something special that’s never been part of this brand before.”

In the EV6 range for Australia, the GT will sit above a mid-range GT-Line, offered with rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, and a rear-wheel-drive base model.

The dual-motor, all-wheel-drive EV6 GT produces 430kW and 740Nm. With a quoted 0-100km/h time of 3.5 seconds, it is the fastest-accelerating Kia production car yet.

Other EV6 variants also use a 77.4kWh battery, but are equipped with less powerful motors or use a single electric motor.

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The 239kW/605Nm GT-Line AWD accelerates from 0-100kmh in 5.2 seconds, according to Kia. The time increases to 7.3 seconds for the rear-drive EV6, which will offer the longest WLTP-rated battery driving range – up to 528 kilometres.

Kia says a 58kWh battery version of the EV6 has been homologated for Australia in both short- and long-range form, but is not guaranteed to join the line-up.

Kia Australia says the EV6 has already achieved an unprecedented number of customer enquiries for a model, with 16,000 expressions of interest eclipsing the 12,000 for the pre-launch phase of the carmaker’s existing halo car, the Stinger sedan.

The company, however, is only able to offer 500 units of the EV6 in 2022 at this stage. It is pushing Korea for more supply, but even if successful, the maximum number isn’t expected to exceed 800 units.

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Kia Australia has also indicated the EV6 range could generally be more expensive than its Hyundai twin, the Ioniq 5, that starts from $71,900 in rear-wheel-drive form.

The EV6 will be sold in Kia dealerships, whereas the Ioniq 5 is being sold online only.

The EV6 GT-Line is expected to the most popular variant in the range.

Kia’s current most expensive vehicle locally is the Sorento plug-in hybrid, which costs $79,300 before on-road costs.

While Kia Australia remains hopeful of the EV6 GT arriving by the end of 2022, it says it can’t rule out a delay into early 2023.

Hyundai’s equivalent of the EV6 GT, the Ioniq 5 N, has yet to be revealed officially, but has been regularly spied testing.

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