New cars editor for Parkers Alan Taylor-Jones introduces the Genesis GV60 Premium, a large and luxurious rear-wheel drive electric SUV. It’s with the Parkers team for six months, and will be facing the rigours of family life for much of that time. Keep checking back for reports to see how we’re getting on.

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Update 1: Welcome to the long-term fleet

Think of ‘premium’ car manufacturers, and a few familiar names will always pop up first. However, for every Audi, BMW and Mercedes, there’s at least one other brand that’s tried or is trying to break into the luxury sphere. Remember Infiniti? How about Xedos, or maybe Cadillac’s attempt on the UK market?

That leads us to the Genesis GV60, an electric SUV from Hyundai’s upmarket offshoot. It certainly comes from good stock as it shares a platform with the highly recommendable Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5. As a result, the performance figures will look familiar to anyone who’s considered its siblings.

As tempting as the twin motor models are, it’s the rear-wheel drive Premium that’s the big seller, so that’s the one I’ve selected. When I was growing up, 229hp and 0-62mph in 7.0 seconds were the numbers you’d expect from a performance car, not a sensible family SUV, so they’ll be more than adequate for our needs.

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Perhaps the most important numbers with an EV are the range and charging speed. The former is no longer near the pointy end of the class – plenty of rivals can almost hit 400 miles these days – but 321 isn’t bad, and Hyundai’s efficiency numbers usually impress, so I hope to get closer than most to that official figure.

Charging speed is particularly impressive, with an 18 minute 10-80% charge time if you can find a 240kW or stronger charger. That’s amongst the best in class. A 0-100% charge on a typical 7.4kW home wallbox is over 12 hours, but that should still be enough to fully charge the GV60 by the time it’s time to leave in the morning.

What you get as standard with a Genesis GV60 Premium

Technically, Premium is the bottom of the GV60 range, although you wouldn’t think it looking at the spec sheet. That is reflected in the price, with £54,105 the amount you’d need to buy one outright. That’s significantly up on the EV6 and Ioniq 5 and in line with other upmarket rivals.

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Here are 10 features of note that are standard:

• 18-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Dual-zone climate control
• Electric tailgate with height adjustment
• Heat pump
• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Facial recognition for entry, and fingerprint sensor for authentication
• 12.3-inch infotainment screen and 12.3-inch driver’s display
• Blind spot monitoring
• Adaptive cruise control

Optional extras

As well equipped as the GV60 is, there were too many tempting items in the options list. Metallic silver paint is a cost option, but you can pick the light interior over black at no extra cost. The B&O stereo is nearly a grand and arguably worth the money for the clear, crisp and powerful sound it delivers.

The £1,120 sunroof makes an already light cabin even airier, and the £80 auto-dimming door mirror has proven worthwhile at night. As for the £280 copper brake calipers, they look better than plain metal ones, but are completely unnecessary.

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The final options are the £2,810 Innovation Pack and £880 vehicle-to-load pack (V2L). The former is the priciest option by far, although it does add plenty of useful kit. I’ve been appreciating the upgraded adaptive LED headlights as the nights get shorter, I’m always a fan of a head-up display, and the highway driving assist keeps the car in lane well.

V2L turns the car into a giant power bank so you can power all manner of items using an adapter that goes into the charging port. I’ve not used it yet, but it could be very handy.

You also get automatic rear braking at parking speeds, improved forward collision avoidance assist that deals with junction turning and crossing, and a system that’ll show a camera feed of your blind spot in the driver’s display when you indicate. Finally, there’s a remote parking system that allows you to move the car via the key. I’ve only used it on the drive so far, and I suspect it could be very handy in tight parking spaces.

Early impressions suggest this is going to be calming and relaxed family transport with plentiful range for our needs. Whether it’s big enough remains to be seen…

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Update 2: How well does the GV60 drive?

With our GV60 primarily used for commuting and toddler transportation, rapid acceleration was not top of my wish list. With that in mind, I opted for the entry-level GV60 Premium for its combination of best in model range driving range, peppy but not OTT acceleration, and a lower purchase price than the two twin-motor all-wheel drive GV60s that sit above it.

The 0-62mph time of 7.0 seconds means my wife and I are usually away first at traffic lights, with even short sliproads causing no bother. Being electric, all that punch is deployed almost instantaneously which can cause some issues. Accelerate hard out of a tight bend on damp and mud-covered roads and you can often feel the rear tyres struggle for traction as the tail of the GV60 skates around the road’s surface.

The stability control quickly steps in to prevent the tail stepping out too far, so it never feels like you’re going to spin into a ditch/tree/house, but it does come as a shock the first time it happens. While I was in some respects pleasantly surprised as a keen driver, my wife was less entertained by these sideways shenanigans.

Naturally, I had to explore further. Unlike most EVs (and modern cars in general), the button that turns off the traction and stability control does actually turn them right off. That turns the base GV60 into a surprisingly good drift car, with lots of oversteer available if you want it.

Body roll is very well contained for a heavy SUV, and the steering is precise, if not bristling with feel. Good brake feel does make this a satisfying if not particularly exciting car to drive, assuming you’ve left the stability control on, of course.

Efficiency hasn’t been amazing, with the GV60 hovering around 3.2-3.4 miles per kWh during the autumn months. This is nowhere near Tesla Model Y good, but does put it ahead of the Renault Scenic, at least in my experience.

I’d also say the GV60 is more comfortable. You’re still aware of potholes passing beneath you, but these don’t feel as sudden as the Scenic or the closely related Kia EV6. By electric car standards, it’s a very comfy cruiser.

I would comment on charging rates, but to be honest we’ve not yet needed to visit a rapid charger. An accurate range estimation and battery that’s smaller than some rivals’ means it’s usually fully charged overnight on my home wallbox, and I’ve not done a really long journey in it.

And nor will I. After a couple of very pleasant months (save for some security-based annoyances that you’ll find out about soon enough), I’m handing the Genesis over to my colleague and Lord of the Vans, Tom Webster. With an additional child to worry about and some long journeys planned, the GV60 is going to have a tough few months.

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Update 3: A second chance at a first impression

As Alan said, he has handed over the keys to the GV60 for my safe keeping, which means that the Genesis has had another chance to make a first impression on someone pretty new to the brand.

This is not only the first time I’ve spent longer than a couple of hours in a Genesis, but the first time that I have lived with an electric vehicle. I had a Cord EV charging point installed at home not too long ago, which means that battery power is now an option where it was a bit of a headache before.

as I no longer have to rely on the public charging network, or eke out the range between trips to the office where I can fight for space on the 22kW chargers there.

I was genuinely excited about the prospect of experiencing something new – the endless variations of petrol and diesel engines offer less in the way of excitement these days. It’s sacrilegious in some of my colleagues’ eyes, but even the big fast things hold less appeal now that I have to consider the small passengers in the back.

But this initial excitement took a huge hit on my first couple of journeys with the GV60. The first issue was one that was solved fairly soon, but was baffling at the time. When I first took over the Genesis I automatically paired my phone and looked for the wireless Apple CarPlay option – it didn’t even occur to me that it might not have it, but that turned out to be the case.

Ok, fine, I’ll use my phone’s cable as it suggests I can – nope. It didn’t recognise my official phone cable or the Anker one I had. The result was that, for a couple of weeks at least, I had to rely on the car’s built-in nav (not so bad all told) and try and stream music via the Bluetooth, which wasn’t easily done, particularly if you were trying to control it as the only adult in the car. This is very much a first-world problem, but you try explaining to a three-year-old that they can’t have the Moana soundtrack and expect the conversation to end right there.

Oddly, this was then solved by an over-the-air update, suggesting it was possible all along, but just wasn’t activated. Still, sorted in the end.

Password protected

The GV60 also had something else I hadn’t seen before on a car – the ability to set up a log-in for each driver, which you need to have both keys present to do. The theory is that you set up your preferred seat position, heating, radio etc and then it will get you all sorted.

You then log in by entering a four-digit PIN (that you choose) or scanning your fingerprint. Lovely, in theory, except the fingerprint scanner works, at a conservative estimate, no more than one time in 10. The result is you try and scan several times until it tells you that it won’t let you do that any more, then you have to put in the PIN anyway.

Theoretically, you can use this system to start the car when you don’t have the key with you. I say theoretically because I haven’t been brave enough test it and I doubt I ever will be. I don’t want to risk it locking me out then having to sit and wait until it lets me have another go.

I have, however, used the face-recognition system that allows you to unlock the car. This works almost every time, and if it fails to recognise my face then it’s probably because I looked away or am wearing a hat or similar. That bit is great.

The rest of it is just infuriating. I’m getting into my own car, with the key, and it is still demanding I log in to give me full access to all the systems. It just feels like it’s unnecessary gatekeeping. Compare this to the VW system that lets you get in and doesn’t even require you to turn the car on – you just need to switch it into drive and go. Sure, you can set up a login, but it doesn’t sit there badgering you for a passkey when you have an actual physical key.

The difference between other EVs where you simple get in and put it into Drive is massive. Muscle memory means you get quick at going through the motions to get going, but it feels like a step that could easily be ditched.

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Update 4: Choose your colour

Now that I’ve got past the initial annoyances of the Genesis GV60, it has slotted quite smoothly into our life. There are many factors that are quite charming and have caught the eye of passengers young and old.

The gear selector that spins up from the central console is perhaps the most commented on, as it is the first thing that most front-seat passengers see that sets the GV60 apart from other cars. I wondered if it would start to feel gimmicky over time, but it has never ended up taking too long to arrive so it has never delayed me from getting going. Not with the endless signing into the vehicle anyway…

Cream was a bad choice

The second is the cabin colour. I winced when I first saw the GV60’s interior design, as it features a large amount of cream. In certain areas this hasn’t been an issue – I quite like a light headlining as it makes for a bright feeling interior. The same goes for the doors.

I had some concerns about the seats, but they have so far remained clear of any stains, be they denim or debris related. This either says something about the quality of modern jeans or the GV60’s leather upholstery, but my fears there proved unfounded.

The issue comes further down. Cream carpets and mats are a bold choice in any car, particularly one that is designed to carry children. But it has turned out to be the driver’s footwell that has taken the biggest battering. We live in a town surrounded by countryside, which means that there are inevitably going to be times when you have to get into the car with dirty shoes and there is only so much mud you can knock off without a doormat to hand.

Even rain-sodden urban streets will bring a degree of grime into the cabin, too, so the poor mats didn’t stand a chance. The other irritant with the floor mats is that they seem not to fit properly – when the seat is set forward in my wife’s preferred position, it bunches up slightly, meaning there is a permanent kink in the mat so the rear edge is now folded upwards. It doesn’t impose, it just doesn’t look great.

The one area where sense has prevailed is the boot. There, the carpet is black, which makes much more sense and it has managed to remain looking slightly smarter than the front section of the cabin. In short, go dark throughout if you can.

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Update 5: Being a touch over sensitive

I’ve had to take the Genesis somewhere completely out of its comfort zone recently – a petrol station.

Thankfully it was just to inflate the tyres, but I still felt conspicuous queueing up in something emblazoned with a green flash on its numberplates. It almost felt necessary to tell everyone that I wasn’t confused and I just needed a bit of air.

The car’s sensors had decided that one of the tyres was a bit low, but the mid-30s PSI didn’t seem that bad to me but it wouldn’t shut up about it so a top up was required.

It was irritatingly persistent in flagging that there was an error, with a little yellow triangle on the information display that never went away. The colder morning weather would see it reading lower PSI figures, too, so at times it said that all four wheels needed attention, while at others it was just the one rear tyre in need of air.

I’d hoped that the sensors would pick up on the fact that I’d topped up and recalibrate soon enough. I didn’t expect it would be instantaneous, but it took a good few short journeys for it to realise that I had put a couple of PSI in all around, and the rear wheel took the longest, meaning I was starting to wonder if there really was a problem until it then just didn’t appear one day.

I don’t resent being alerted to an issue, but it just felt a little overengineered and more intrusive than is necessary given how close to the recommended maximum air that the tyre had in it. Fair enough if it had dropped a significant amount, but it felt like overkill.

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Update 6: Verdict – am I an electric and Genesis convert?

The GV60 has headed back to Genesis, and it’s left me reflecting on a whole load of firsts. This was my first prolonged experience with the brand and the first time I’ve lived with an electric car for longer than a week. So the question at the end of my time with the GV60 is twofold – would I go electric again and would I return to the brand?

I’m not going to react to such a question in a basic binary manner, but the answer to one of those is unequivocally yes. The concept of EV motoring was something that went down incredibly well with our family. I loved the simplicity of being able to leave home with a full range and being able to recharge at work with ease. This combination meant that the 250-ish miles that the GV60 provided was generally enough to get us around on a weekly basis.

I also adored the quietness, the supple ride and precise steering and excellent visibility. I didn’t experience any of the tail-happy moments that my colleague Alan encountered, but that might say more about my staid approach on the road. Not least because one of my daughters is not a fan of going fast (the other loves it, so it’s not down to anything I’ve done…) so I rarely took the chance to test out the Sport mode and the acceleration it provided. When I did it was quick enough to elicit protests from the back seat. So that was the end of that.

Most of these are factors that are more electric-related than specific to the Genesis. I did appreciate some of those – the interior was suitably space age to impress even more sceptical family members who are convinced that EVs are all incapable of dealing with modern life despite all I said to the contrary. The rotating gear selector, tuneful start up and shut down routines and the high-quality materials were all glorious.

It stood up to family life well as well. I can’t say that it felt much like an SUV – more a big hatchback – but it was spacious in the rear and the boot was a decent size if not exactly replete with clever features. That black carpet was a welcome addition given how much the cream equivalent in the cabin took a battering…

But the main thing that I took away from life with the GV60 was the importance of a good first impression. This applied to my overall experience with it and each individual journey. The fact that it required a software update to get wireless Apple Carplay was an initial annoyance that subsequent owners won’t have to go through, but it soured my first few days with the Genesis and it had to work hard to come back from that.

I was then annoyed by how every journey started with a frustrating sequence of button pressing. Given that other EVs allow you simply get in and go, having to press multiple buttons to start the car, log into the infotainment and then turn off the various systems was annoying.

It wouldn’t take too many changes for me to be happy with living with the GV60, and the fundamentals of the car are excellent. However, the things that annoyed me are ones that you interact with most regularly, so I could never really get them out of my mind. I’m an EV convert but it will take a bit until I can say about the Genesis.