Ian Lamming goes on a charge in the latest Genesis SUV
FINALLY, I’ve seen one on the road and perhaps this is what this particular brand needs.
Forget advertising on social media or in print, on radio or even TV, the best way to get the general public to find out about your product is to get it out there for real.
As we ply the highways and byways, park up at school or the shops, crawl through countless traffic jams, we have time to observe and reflect on our next automotive purchases.
There’s nothing quite like a vehicle catching your eye in one of these situations to whet your appetite and make you want to buy.
In this case it’s a Genesis and as it accelerates down the slip-road to join the motorway I instantly think ‘ooh, that looks nice, what is it’?
It’s actually a Genesis GV60, the stunning fully electric small SUV and I’m in it bigger brother the GV70 Electrified. This deserves a cheery wave, a knowing look that we are both in little known about but fantastic machines before we go our separate ways.
I can’t wait to see the Genesis dealer network spring up so we can actually look at, walk round and sit in the full range of these excellent Korean prestige vehicles.
The GV70 is a tad bigger than the GV60 and equally attractive. Everyone thinks it is a Bentley and I’ve got sick of correcting them so I just smile instead. It is perfectly proportioned with wide track, low roofline, highish waist and big alloys. It is curvaceous and sensual, it has presence and beauty.
When I first drove the GV70 I described it as the best car I’d driven all year and that was a diesel. The Electrified is better still but you’ll need a home charger.
I haven’t got one and have to resort to plugging it into the mains. With some EVs that works well enough adding 50 to 100 miles to the range overnight. But with the GV70 18 hours on charge actually saw the mileagedrop from 150 when I left it to 144 the next day – I must have been powering my house from the car. Truth be told if you are going to brave the new world of EVs you will have to have a home charger fitted as if you rely on public ones it will break the bank. Range is quite good at around 250 miles.
Like the diesel the Electrified is a stunning drive – even better I would say. It may look like an SUV but it has sports car pretensions. Just look at the stats – 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds and50-75mph in just 2.5 seconds. That’s something akin to a motorbike and makes it a superb car for safe overtakes on single carriageway roads.
Steering responses are a dream, ride, handling – it’s all-wheel-drive – and dynamics impeccable; it is incredible to drive, an absolute joy and just so much fun. You’ll be sad to reach home.
And when you see the interior you may choose to live in the GV70 it is that comfortable, that plush, that well specified. The instruments, touchscreen dash and switches are perfect, exuding quality and proving to be amazingly intuitive.
Like the rest of the Genesis range the GV70 Electrified is a wonderful car to behold and even better to drive. The more we see on the roads the better because they are just so pleasing on the eye.
Fact File
Genesis GV70 Electrified
Engine: two electric motors, AWD
Power: 245PS, 700Nm
0-62mph: 4.2 secs
Top speed: 146mph
Range: 283 miles
Transmission: one-speed automatic
CO2 g/km: 0
Price: from £64,405.00
