Luxury upstart Genesis has spent the first six years of its existence trying to catch up to European and Asian rivals, which have had decades to perfect the combustion engine format. And the Korean newcomer has done a commendable job on the product side, even as its retail strategy has struggled.
But now the Hyundai Motor Group brand sees an opportunity to change the story. Because the playing field in electric vehicle technology is still relatively level, Genesis hopes to position itself as an EV pioneer, with bold new features and performance.
To be sure, that plan won’t be easy. Its competitors have name recognition and heritage on their side. But those assets are potentially diminishing in a market that’s being turned upside down with fresh players such as Rivian, Polestar and Lucid.
The Genesis brand’s first strike in what’s likely to be a contentious battle for the hearts of luxury EV buyers is the GV60. The compact crossover, due next year, is bursting with engineering and design advances that have caught the eye of industry analysts.
“What we’re seeing in the GV60 is a really compelling design, first of all, but also a sense that it’s fully baked,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.com. “A lot of these electric cars feel like: It’s close, but it’s not fully baked.”
There was certainly a lot to bake with the GV60.
The crossover is the first Genesis product built on the Hyundai group’s E-GMP platform for battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles. The 800-volt battery architecture means that it can charge faster than with the traditional 400-volt systems used by competitors such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes and even Tesla, according to Hyundai engineers.
The GV60 allows for multiple configurations using its standard 77.4-kilowatt-hour battery. The most basic build will have a single rear-drive motor with 225 hp and an estimated 280 miles of range on the Korean test cycle. The top model with two motors will have 430 hp and about 230 miles of range, Genesis said.
The battery system allows the GV60 to charge from 10 to 80 percent in just 18 minutes under ideal conditions. The crossover also comes with a Boost Mode that increases power output for 10 seconds. That enables the top all-wheel-drive trim to hit 60 mph in under four seconds, Genesis said.
The GV60 will likely face an uphill climb in the U.S. at first. Americans are only starting to become familiar with Genesis, analysts say, and the overall EV market is still difficult to judge. Estimates on EV adoption vary widely, and competition will be fierce.
And while there haven’t been any public drives of the GV60 to gauge impressions, both the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 that use the same E-GMP platform have received high marks from auto journalists in Korea and Europe.
While the Hyundai group hardware offers a solid foundation, Genesis has stressed its focus on exterior styling, interior materials and a significant list of unique touches. One of the Genesis mantras, “design is brand, brand is design,” is emblematic of its efforts to distinguish itself from Hyundai and Kia and its rivals with fresh ideas that aren’t over the top.
The brand’s combustion engine vehicles have been well received, particularly the GV70 and GV80 crossovers that arrived in the U.S. over the last year. But SangYup Lee, head of the Hyundai Global Design Center, said in a recent video presentation that the shift to EV technology requires a fresh design aesthetic.
Without the styling limits of an internal combustion vehicle, with its prominent motor and cooling requirements, the GV60 breaks some of the old rules.
“The sleek coupe profile, long wheelbase and dramatically short overhang exude a distinct sense of novelty visible at a glance,” Lee said.
Smooth surfaces replace character lines for a futuristic feel. The headlights use 20 LED beams.
When Brauer went to see the GV60 up close at a Genesis event, he was expecting some of the design weirdness that has marked recent EVs from legacy automakers as they tried to blend the old and the new. But he came away surprised by the Korean crossover.
“I walked in thinking this would be some kind of bizarre-looking EV,” Brauer said. But, he said, “walking around in person and really just studying the design elements, I liked it as soon as I saw it.”
Genesis has modified some of its existing design features, which are only a few years old anyway. They include the “two lines” theme for exterior lighting, the geometric Crest Grille that now sits lower on the front end, and an interior focus on minimalism without completely wiping out physical knobs and buttons.
One EV-inspired interior element is the Crystal Sphere shifter knob. When the GV60 is off, the sphere is visible as a rounded object with interior lighting. When the car is turned on, it rotates to reveal a sculpted rotary shifter. Besides being a unique design element, Genesis said it serves as a safety function in a vehicle with no audible motor at rest.
Other unique tech elements are a facial-recognition system on the exterior door pillar. Face Connect not only opens the doors for two different drivers, but it launches driver profiles for seat position, mirrors, steering wheel and infotainment preferences. Likewise, the GV60 has a fingerprint reader inside to turn it on or pay for online services.
Genesis has also used recyclable materials in the plush interior to make the GV60 more sustainable.
“The seats, door armrests, console armrests, and crash pads are made with plant-based leather,” Genesis said in a press release. “The seat covers and door center trims feature fabrics made with yarns extracted from recycled PET bottles and fishnets.”
Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit, has so far only seen the GV60 in images. But on paper, its tech specs and features are impressive.
“Genesis GV60 looks to cement its position with luxury and convenience technology that has potential to make it less complicated to live with, a hallmark of the luxury space,” she said. “It’s not clear if all of the technologies will reach the U.S. market at launch, but the blend is aggressive and can help build a luxury technology story for Genesis.”