Written by Alan Taylor-Jones and Tom Webster Updated: 11 February 2025

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.

29

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.

29

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.

29

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.

29

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…

---

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.

---

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.