KIA EV6

Can Kia's breakthrough EV keep pace with a fresher set of rivals?

Being technologically and stylistically progressive, Bthe EV6 was a badge of honour for Kia when it came along in 2021 - and a key indicator that the time of the midmarket electric car had arrived.

The EV6 became the first Korean Car of the Year winner in 2022. It advanced our expectations of how spacious and innovatively packaged an EV at its size and price could be, but also how engaging to drive, thanks to assertive performance and a fairly agile rear-drive chassis.

Standards have developed quickly among mid-sized EVs since then, of course. So now to scrutinise Kia's response to the competition that the EV6 has attracted since 2021, represented by cars as different as the Renault Scenic and regrettably short-lived Fisker Ocean.

Has the firm done enough to preserve this car a place, as it ages, among the more recommendable EVs of its kind? Or is the pace of advancement in a hotly contested class beginning to overtake it?

The EV6 remains an eyecatching car three years after its introduction. This update is a fairly minor one that preserves this status, but while it may look like little more than a fresh set of lights and bumpers, there's actually quite a lot more to it than that.

As evidence, consider this: Kia's new fourth-generation nickel-manganese-cobalt battery pack - 8% more energy-dense than the one it replaces, yet a kilogram lighter, with a usable capacity up to 84kWh - extends range by a significant margin from a maximum of 328 miles to 361 miles, depending on trim level.

And yet our test car is 80kg heavier than its pre-facelift equivalent, as part of a mechanical update that has altered the EV6's body-in-white chassis, suspension specification and standard equipment level.