Genesis GV70 Electrified Sport - long-term review

Charlie Rose  (TG’s resident filmmaker) has been living with an internally-combusted GV70 - the one with the 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine - for a little while now. You can read his six month’s-worth of reports on TG.com, but as a little bit of balance, we thought we’d also take a closer look at the electric version of the same car.

And here we have it: a Genesis GV70 Electrified Sport. You can absolutely tell, because this one came with the numberplate ‘GV70 BEV’ (battery electric vehicle, in case you didn’t know), which is the equivalent of permanently wearing a ‘My Name is…’ badge on your forehead. Still, as ‘cherished’ plates go, this only makes me look like I’m driving a dealer demonstrator or a massive geek, though not many are familiar with what it is anyway, so it’s not as bad as it could be.

So what is it? Well, for one thing, it’s not a bespoke EV platform, as the petrol version suggests. Instead of the four-pot engine and AWD IC drivetrain with 300bhp/311lb ft, we have a 74kWh battery pack  - which would make it somewhere just under half a tonne of lithium-ion chemistry - powering a pair of motors to give all-wheel drive. And those motors are not small, generating a combined output at max of 483bhp/516lb ft, good for a 4.2 second 0-62mph time which comfortably stomps the petrol car. Those figures only come into play if ‘Boost’ mode is engaged, by the way, but we’ll cover that in a later update.

Charlie’s specced-up version cost £57,995 (though you can get a GV70 from just over £45k); the Electrified starts at £64,405 - and the one we have here lists at £78,805. Cough. That’s a lot of cash for a little-known brand. Just as a quick rundown of why we’re sitting on £14,400 of options, there's the [deep breath]: 'innovation' pack (£3,560), comfort seats (£1,630), Nappa leather (£2,350), Lexicon audio system (£990), convenience pack second row comfort seat pack (£1,780), sunroof (£1,460), fingerprint reader authentication (a meagre £80) and vehicle to load (£880).

Plus the 'Savile Silver' exterior paint is another £750, and the 20in dark alloy wheels are £630, though they seem to have wandered off - this car is on the range-friendly 19s that look a tiny bit too small for the big-body GV. Still, I want range. The WLTP stats say 283, of which there appears to be about 220 miles available from first appraisal in single-digit temperatures, which… is pretty average. Let’s see if I can coax it to Heathrow and back on one charge - that’s a regular journey of mine at 110 miles each way. Anyone want to play range roulette with me in the coming weeks? No?

After that, the electric GV70 gets a big blanked-off shield grille with the charge port on the right-hand-side as you look at it, different, smoother bumpers front and back that make it look a bit lower (though it isn’t), a tiny frunk where the engine sits and a different steering wheel. For some reason.

Anyway, just a quick chat about the ICE vs electric moment. I quite liked Charlie’s GV70. Ok, so the 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol gets a bit gruff if you stretch it, and it’s not economical at all (28mpg driven gently, 30 if you’re lucky), but treat it with old-person cruising attitude and it’s a perfectly amiable companion. I do think the GV70 specifically looks like the kind of car that appears in computer games when no one wants to get sued for copyright, and that C-pillar design is, frankly, horrible, but it’s a handsome enough thing from certain angles; you just have to walk around it to find them. And also squint a bit. Charlie insists that some people mistake it for a Bentley Bentayga, but those people are obviously quite, quite mad.

Charlie’s car also felt light (especially compared to the Electrified) and handling-positive, and had a nice interior. The latter also true for the Electrified version. Though obviously here we get those different bumpers and grille, as well as the fact that it weighs quite a bit more, which makes the handling more deliberate. But the Electrified is quieter, more responsive, feels denser - which adds to the quality ambience. It costs more to buy and will be cheaper to run (hello company car schemes), and also has a lot more grunt.

In fact, that’s the GV70 Electrified’s party trick so far, and not just from a standstill. This is a 2.3+ tonne SUV barge that can hit 62 in near four seconds, yes, but it’ll also run from 50-75mph in 2.5. Which is probably something you’ll use more. It’s got the same lovely interior, some super-fast 800-volt charging (which peaks at 230kW, but provides an excellent average) and loads of gadgets, not all of which I’m annoyed with. Mainly because you can switch off the lane-keep assist with one long press of the button on the steering wheel, instead of several swipes at the touchscreen. Oh, and it’s got a cursor wheel as well, because the touchscreen is too far away to actually touch on the move, but it works very well.

On first impressions, it’s nice enough, but I’m not blown away so far. Let’s see how we get on in the next few months.