2024 Genesis Electrified GV70

Test Drive Notes Library

Pros
Smooth. This is one of the best riding vehicles we’ve driven, gasoline or electric. We don’t know if Genesis engineers worked their programmable calculators to the bone in figuring out how to make a car seemingly glide, or whether they just put a battery pack in the existing gasoline-powered GV70 and said, "Holy Crow. Get a load of this, Frank!” Whatever the case, they’ve turned a nice enough gasoline powered, midsize SUV into something quite a bit more impressive than that.
Luxurious ride. The Electrified GV70 (that’s the formal name) practically glides over the road. Between the quiet of the EV drivetrain and the isolating suspension, the GV70 seems almost undisturbed by those black pave-y things underneath it. Normal roadway bumps get soaked up easily, and only larger bumps or potholes will rattle occupants. The GV70 handles well, taking on city and suburban streets with precision, offering drivers a solid, substantial feel. Toss it into some curves and it does fine, although the extra 700 pounds of battery reveal themselves there, as you can feel the weight far more than you do in the gasoline-powered GV70. Drivers can set their desired amount of regenerative braking on the fly with steering wheel paddles, allowing everything from one-pedal driving to coasting.
Interior. The interior is decidedly upscale. Materials and build quality appear to be excellent, with lots of padded surfaces and switches that feel solid and well made to the touch. It feels more luxurious inside than its $66,450 base price suggests. The front seats are extremely comfortable, and the cabin is a calm, quiet, refined place.
Good looking. We love the exterior design of the GV70. It accurately conveys the essence of the vehicle; sporty and premium. It’s a nice size if you’re not in the three-kids-and-two-dogs phase of life.
Acceleration. Like many EVs, acceleration is abundant. But unlike some others, it’s delivered calmly and smoothly in the GV70. It feels like you always have power in reserve — not that you have to be careful not to overdo it when taking off from a stop light. The GV70 EV has two electric motors, front and rear, providing the all wheel drive. Total horsepower is 429. Yeah, that’ll do. There’s even a “boost” button that gives you maximum power in ten second intervals, for when you want to pass a semi on a two lane road, or just scare Uncle Chuck. While the GV70’s driving range is not great (see below), charging is great, and fast, thanks to a 240kW maximum input. At a local fast charger, we took the 77 kWh battery from 90 miles to 150 miles of range in about 30 minutes. On the road, highway ramps were fun, and passing was instantaneous.

Cons
Range. We saw about 225 miles of range in our testing. That’s on the low side these days. In fact, most of Hyundai-Kia-Genesis’s other vehicles do better. 250 miles seems to be the accepted point of entry these days, and Genesis wasn’t able to get there in this current set up.
Ergonomics. We still haven’t come to love the Genesis screen interface. And one clear ergonomic bungle is putting two, similar sized rotary controllers in the center console. One is the gear selector, while the other controls the infotainment screen. During our week-long test drive, I can’t tell you how often we reached down, intending to twist the car into Reverse, and accidentally changed the satellite radio station to the Sleepy LaBeef channel.
A step behind on connectivity? While the GV70 comes with a wireless phone charger, you’ll still have to plug your phone in if you want to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Another hint that it’s time to upgrade the connectivity; You’ll need an old fashioned USB-A cable to plug in your phone, since there’s no modern USB-C port.