This incognito rocket ship has some tidy tricks
2024 Genesis GV60 Performance review by The Road Beat
Words and pictures by Mitchell Weitzman
484 horsepower hits so so hard in the Genesis GV60 that it really does question how it's legal for anyone to purchase a 1,000 horsepower Tesla or Lucid without a special license. I demonstrated the slingshot acceleration for a pair of friends who both said it made them uneasy. This brief craze is just that, brief, by instantaneously reaching 30 MPH from standstill before acceleration notably wanes, but that initial blast is still so effective that I don't know how casual motorists aren't steering their vastly more powerful Teslas into ditches on the regular. This kind of speed is superfluous in the real world - unnecessary, that is - yet it's also quite addicting to repeat. On another note, the rest of the GV60 does well for a luxury crossover, even if the outright range leaves room for improvement.
What it does right
Accessing the car's sport mode unleashes 429 horsepower, but wait, there's more! Press the comically labeled boost button on the steering wheel, and you temporarily get access to all 484. It's at this point where, if you don't warn passengers, you might then have some rather unprepared and cross companions. The piling speed does relent after a few seconds, by which time it'll already have reached highway speeds, but this smooth and instant inertia is a trait of an electric car that combustion will forever have trouble matching. Also, with only one moving part, there are no vibrations whatsoever and no coarse noises, even if I for one miss the aural pleasure and grunt of a finely-balanced six or eight-cylinder engine. Really, any engine with more than four cylinders...
For a compact crossover/wagon mashup measuring just shy of 178-inches long, there is a decent amount of interior space and room for passengers in the rear. The design itself inside is exciting, with lots of interesting focal and touch points, including a revolving orb/gear selector that looks a bit like one of Tolkien's Palantirs. Comfort is also fittingly appropriate for a luxury vehicle, with hospitable seats, a fair ride quality without sacrificing body control, and hushed volumes when on the freeway.
In operation, in addition to those addicting throttle prods with your right foot, the steering is accurate and while not exactly encouraging of backroad hustling, the GV60 has the dynamic chops at the ready when needed to make quick work of curves at an effectively effortless pace. The all-wheel drive traction and grip helps in these aspects, able to reliably deploy all the electric horsepowers in tidy and reasonable fashion. Could it be sharper? Heavens yes, but as a bridge between dynamics and comfort, the GV60 accomplishes its brief admirably well. If you want crazy, parent-company Hyundai has the Ioniq 5 N coming soon, or Teslas revamped Model 3 Performance.
When it does come time to charge a GV60, the Genesis is capable of ultra-fast, industry-leading 350KW charging to top up from 20-80% in about 15 minutes with applicable DC fast chargers (and granted that said chargers are even available and working). It's not as quick as filling up a car with gasoline, but it's among the most rapid replenishing electric cars available today.
Where it misses
Even while driving with the heater rarely in use (known to drain batteries), the actual range of this GV60 is about 220 miles when filled to the brim with electrons. Fortunately, that isn't well below the EPA estimate of 235 as other electric cars notoriously miss their EPA ratings by up to 100 miles at times. Even if the real-world range is close to the promised estimate, this is a lot of money to pay for a car that can only barely do just over 200 miles between charges. Which brings us to the price: $71,320 for this AWD Performance model. No matter which way you spin it, that's a premium price for a compact vehicle and does represent an increase over its closest and most comparable competitor: the Tesla Model Y Performance. However, the Tesla is not a luxury car in the same way as the Genesis.
As enchanting as some of the interior details are to the eye, there are pieces that look either cheap and/or can be frustrating to use. A good example are the interior grab handles, boasting a large and visible seam in plain sight. The volume control is operated by this rolling wheel in the center that is just more difficult than a traditional knob, and while the rotating orb/gear selector is cool to watch, resulting the dial itself is too close in placement to the infotainment knob and requires muscle memory to learn their respective locations (I definitely reached for the wrong one multiple times). Speaking of which, the center display is big and bright, but there are so many items to scroll through on the main menu that it can be frustrating to use at times. And this is a tech forward car, yet you have to physically connect your iPhone in order to use Apple CarPlay? Lol. Really! There are similarly too many buttons on the steering wheel and it just at times becomes needlessly complicated to operate the most basic functions of the car. It's almost like a gimmick for the sake of being gimmicky, because gimmicky obviously mean futuristic, right?
Where it stacks up
This funky-looking luxury EV has the speed to create some excitement and fast charging for added convenience, but the price and size might be a turnoff for many. Will people really want to pay extra for a GV60 rather than a Tesla Model Y? Considering how many Model Ys I see in California, and how few GV60s, I would say that's a no. Corporate parent Hyundai also has their rather excellent Ioniq 5 crossover that can be nicely loaded up for $15,000 less. At least it is vastly, and I mean vastly, superior to Lexus' lazy RZ 450e that just came out for a way-too-similar price. Even if it's not a purpose-built EV, the GV70 Electrified is a more a luxurious and slightly larger car for only a few thousand more, and I think that's an increasingly appealing car in most ways with its similar range and a nicer interior. For those shopping an electric luxury crossover, that GV70 Electrified is probably the right choice for most.
2024 Genesis GV60 Performance
As-tested price: $71,320
Pros: Ballistic acceleration; Fast charging
Cons: Range; Funky looks not for everyone
