2023 Genesis GV60 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

It is easy to get excited about bright, shiny objects, so perhaps some of our adoration for the 2023 Genesis GV60 is due to that syndrome. But given our experience in the models that share the GV60’s E-GMP platform—the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6—our appreciation for this new Genesis crossover is more than skin deep.

In all honesty, until we laid eyes on the GV60 in person, we thought its styling was odd and strangely proportioned. However, up close and personal, the design and its details won us over, in particular the unusual mint green paint on our test vehicle, which shouldn’t work at all but is somehow just right on the upscale and expressive GV60. We’re also fans of the intricately designed wheels pushed to each corner of the vehicle, the appearance of a floating roof, the Z-shaped chrome defining the rear roof pillars, and much more.

Open any door, and the GV60’s elegance, craftsmanship, and high-tech features are instantly evident. Our Genesis GV60 Performance test vehicle’s cabin was decked out in an Ash Gray over Glacier White colour scheme, and featured diamond-stitched Nappa leather upholstery, artificial leather on the dashboard, and simulated suede on the door panels and headliner. Diamond-pattern aluminum pedal covers and metallic trim complemented the interior’s vaguely retro rounded shapes and thoroughly modern digital instrumentation and infotainment screens. If there is a misstep here, it’s the silver plastic on the door panels that creaks under pressure, making it sound and feel cheap. The saving grace, however, is that this is likely up-cycled material, adding sustainability cred to the car.

The GV60’s electric drivetrain inspired Genesis to take an unusual approach with the interior design. The dashboard appears to float on a centre pedestal, and the centre console is a freestanding design with storage inside and beneath. The physical infotainment controls, front cupholders, and transmission gear selector reside on a platform that juts out toward the dashboard, and the gear selector is a dazzling piece of tech that Genesis calls the Crystal Sphere. Upon startup, it rotates to reveal the selector. Shut the GV60 off, and it rotates back to serve as “a true work of functional art,” according to Genesis.

Both the GV60 Advanced and the GV60 Performance model have a standard dual-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) powertrain. There are no options aside from extra-cost paint colours and dealer-installed accessories. Choose a standard colour and the Genesis GV60 Advanced will carry a new car price of $71,150 in Canada while the GV60 Performance AWD runs $79,150. As is standard with Genesis in Canada, both prices are all-in and haggle-free, plus they include five years of scheduled maintenance, map updates, at-home loaner drop-offs, and more.

While they use the same powertrain, the two GV60 trim levels have different outputs and range ratings. The Advanced trim has power specs of 314 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque from its two electric motors, and is rated to travel 399 kilometres on a single charge of its 77.4-kWh battery pack. The Performance trim increases output to 429 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque while offering 378 km of range.

Our GV60 Performance test vehicle was fast (said Captain Obvious), especially when using the Boost Mode button on the steering wheel that supplies even more of a thrill for up to 10 seconds. However, when not accelerating the GV60 wasn’t as much fun as we’d hoped, despite its huge 21-inch wheels, short-but-wide footprint, low centre of gravity, and adaptive-damping suspension.

Driven in Comfort mode, which is the closest thing to a normal mode, the ride displays too much bounce, especially at the rear of the vehicle. Otherwise, around town, the GV60 is a silent, speedy, smooth-riding, and comfortable place to spend time. It’s quite enjoyable to drive in urban and suburban environments.

Accelerate onto a highway, and there is more wind noise than you might expect once you’ve surpassed the 100 km/h mark. A Ford F-150 Lightning Pro we drove the week prior was subjectively quieter. In addition, the GV60’s wide tires produced quite a bit of road noise on some sections of pavement.

In the local mountains, the GV60 Performance proved that its name pertains only to straight-line acceleration and the boost button. We switched the GV60 into Sport mode to stiffen the suspension and tame some of the unwanted body motion, but did not discern much difference in the crossover’s athleticism or behaviour. The small footprint and large tires provide impressive handling but bumps, dips, and undulations in the road chip away at the GV60’s overall composure and the driver’s confidence.

Furthermore, though the steering wheel feels terrific in your hands, it is devoid of feel and feedback and doesn’t encourage enthusiastic driving. Also, while the regenerative braking system offers a pedal that is easy to modulate, if you trail-brake into a corner, the pedal can suddenly feel as though braking capacity diminishes when the GV60’s weight transfers to the outside wheels.

As for driving range, we began our test with a 58-percent battery charge and 191 kilometres of range. Running the one-pedal driving system in the lowest level of regeneration and the powertrain in Comfort mode for all but the really twisty parts of the evaluation loop, we reached our local DC fast charging station after driving 110 kilometres. We were down to a 24-percent battery charge with 79 kilometres of remaining range, and had averaged 4.5 kilometres of driving per kilowatt-hour of electricity. That’s 22.2 kWh per 100 kilometres, which is actually a little better than Natural Resources Canada’s estimate of 23.0 kWh/100 km.

One of the great things about Hyundai’s trio of new electrics is that they all have a 400-watt/800-volt rapid charging system and are compatible with 350-kW ultra-fast chargers. Genesis says the GV60 can recharge from 10 percent to 80 percent in just 18 minutes if you can find a 350-kW charger, which are still rare in North America.

Our local charger is a 150-kW unit. Once we connected and began the charging session, it said it would take 19 minutes to recharge from 24 percent to 80 percent, and 47 minutes to get to 100 percent. (The battery charges slower for that final 20 percent in order to preserve its long-term life.) With lots of shopping, restaurants, and coffee shops nearby, that 47 minutes would pass quickly.

However, we wanted to see what 15 minutes on the charger would give us. After that span of time passed, during which we caught up on email, social media, and the news while sitting in the driver’s seat, the GV60 had a 68-percent charge and 210 kilometres of range.

If you elect to install a 240-volt home charging station, Genesis says it takes about seven hours to recharge the battery from 10 percent to 100 percent. Plug the GV60 in before bed, recharge overnight when electricity rates are low, and every day you’ll wake up to a full charge and as much as 378 kilometres of driving range.

The GV60’s interior is more than just stylish. Four people will find this crossover to be extremely comfortable thanks to easy entry and exit, supportive front and rear seats, and plenty of legroom. If necessary, you can carry a fifth person in the middle of the back seat, but this will have a negative impact on overall comfort.

Every GV60 comes with a dual-zone automatic climate control system, a 14-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, and a 12-way power front passenger’s seat. The front seats are heated and ventilated, and the steering wheel is heated to keep your hands warm on colder days. Upgrade to the GV60 Performance, and you enjoy high-quality Nappa leather upholstery, an upgraded Ergo Motion seat cushion bolster, and heated rear seats.

Storage room is impressive, if not always easy to access. Also, instead of a traditional glove compartment, the GV60 has a dashboard storage tray that slides open like a desk drawer. Under the hood, there is a small covered storage compartment that Genesis calls a frunk (front trunk), but it measures less than 28 litres in size. That leaves you with the 679-litre trunk, which expands to 1,548 litres if you fold down the back seat.

Genesis marries two 12.3-inch displays under a single piece of glass to create the GV60’s digital instrumentation and infotainment panels. The infotainment display is a touchscreen, and both offer outstanding graphics and an intuitive user experience.

The infotainment system equips the GV60 with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, connected services with dynamic voice recognition, a navigation system, satellite radio, and a 17-speaker Bang & Olufsen premium sound system.

We put the voice recognition system to the test, and it responded accurately most of the time. One thing you’ll want to remember is that it interprets your voice commands depending on the selected function on the touchscreen. So, after asking for directions to a Starbucks, the selected function was navigation. This was fine until we told the system we wanted to listen to reggae music. Rather than change the SiriusXM station to Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Radio or The Joint, we instead received directions to a cannabis dispensary.

The GV60 also has a standard head-up display (HUD), but it’s not visible when wearing polarized sunglasses. This isn’t a big deal, though, because there is no requirement to see the information shown there in order to operate the vehicle (unlike in the latest Lexus models). If you drive without polarized sunglasses, you’ll appreciate that the HUD shows you blind-spot warnings, making it really easy to determine if it’s safe to change lanes.

The GV60 also has Face Connect and a Fingerprint Authentication System, two technologies unlike anything we’ve experienced in a vehicle. Once both are set up, you can leave the artfully designed key fob at home and use the facial recognition panel on the outside of the door to unlock the GV60 and the fingerprint reader on the centre console to activate the start button. Yes, it works. No, we didn’t trust it, and carried the key fob instead.

Alternatively, we could have set up the Digital Key. It allows you to leave your smartphone in your pocket and the car will unlock with a touch of the door handle. Once you’re inside, the start button is active and off you go.

Every GV60 has every driver assistance system in the Genesis arsenal. Among the more unusual features, you’ll find a Remote Smart Parking Assist system that autonomously parks the GV60 while you stand outside of—but in close proximity to—the vehicle.

Additionally, the GV60 has a Blind-Spot View Monitor, which enhances the radar-based blind-spot monitoring system with a camera-based view that shows drivers what’s in each blind spot when they use the turn signal to indicate a lane change. An Advanced Rear Occupant Alert system uses ultrasonic sensors to recognize movement inside the GV60, so if you accidentally leave a sleeping child or pet inside, when they wake up you’ll get a text message alerting you.

A next-generation version of Highway Driving Assist is standard on the GV60. It combines adaptive cruise control with navigation-based functionality, a lane-centring assistance system, and a new lane-change assistance system. This is not a hands-free system, but it’s close, and it works with remarkable accuracy and sophistication.

Unfortunately, the test vehicle’s lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assistance systems were badly behaved. They regularly issued false warnings and inaccurate corrections, a situation that rapidly became tiresome. That’s a shame, because otherwise the GV60’s safety features were nothing but impressive.

The Genesis GV60 is a great choice for a new electric SUV, but it’s too expensive to qualify for federal or provincial EV rebate programs. That puts it in the same boat as other luxury electric SUVs such as the BMW iX, Mercedes-Benz EQE, and Audi e-tron.

As a result of its high price, the GV60 isn’t a very good value compared to the dominant vehicles in the segment such as the Tesla Model Y. But we would still recommend the Genesis because it is a fantastic vehicle.

Note: Images show a US model.