John Kendall reports back on our Genesis GV60 long-term electric SUV.

Genesis GV60 Premium 77.4kWh

P11D £61,005 BiK 2% RANGE 321 miles ON FLEET RANGE 321 miles

Report 3:

The more I drive the GV60, the better it seems to get, and passengers generally like it too.

It is not without quirks though. Generally, I prefer to switch off the spoken navigation directions. A rummage through the settings menu tracked that down and I ticked the box to mute navigation announcements. The result? They have carried on just the same. I need to look into that one a bit further…

While there are certainly gaps in the nationwide charging network, the rate at which they are being installed is impressive. That said, I came across a problem that I didn’t know I was going to have at Taunton Deane services northbound on the M5.

The Gridserve installation now provides a bank of a dozen or so chargers, arranged in pairs with a single CCS charge cable on the outer sides of each pair. I reversed into a vacant one – the GV60’s charge point is where you might find a fuel filler – but it was on the opposite side of the car. There was enough length in the cable to enable it to reach to the other side. Several attempts to charge just generated an error code, despite changing chargers. Even a call to the Gridserve helpline didn’t sound promising.

Then a Porsche Taycan finished charging next to me and a helpful Volkswagen ID.3 driver who had experienced similar problems suggested that I move across so the charge cable and point on the car were on the same side. Problem solved. It could be an issue with the communications cable that is incorporated, apparently, but it might be worth Gridserve’s while to check it out.

Report 2:

A 330-mile trip to Northumberland recently was obviously more than could be carried out on a single charge in the GV60. The charging network on the eastern side of the country now seems to be far more developed than that on the western side, based on my experience during the trip.

A charge at Wetherby services, where there are medium- and high-powered chargers – with more being installed – had the journey covered. The GV60’s 800V electrical architecture enables some really quick charging. It’s some 250 miles to Wetherby services from home and, for various reasons, I had to leave home without a full charge, so making it that far was impressive. The 90% charge figure came up in around half an hour. I did the same on my return journey and reckon that my estimate of 300 miles on a full charge is not far wrong.

The GV60 proved to be a comfortable long-distance cruiser. So far, it has impressed all the passengers who have ridden in it. That said, I have had the same criticism from different rear-seat passengers; they cannot slide their feet under the front seats, forcing a knees up sitting position. That’s the price you pay for the batteries stored under the floor but, on a long journey, I can appreciate the situation is not ideal. Also, the front seats automatically slide back when the front doors are opened and forward again once they are closed, which is great when it comes to easing access for those upfront, but can take rear seat passengers by surprise.

All round, this is one of the best electric cars I’ve driven so far and I’m getting to like it a lot.

Report 1:

Having had an Audi e-tron GT and Jaguar I-Pace for long-term test cars at the end of last year, the chance to sample a premium EV with driving range stretching over 300 miles was too good to miss. So when the Genesis GV60 recently joined the FW long-term test fleet and I was offered it, I couldn’t turn it down.

The best-selling GV60 in the UK is the two-wheel-drive Premium, offering a range of 321 miles (WLTP combined). With a fair bit of travel in the diary for the next month, it will be interesting to see how well that range stands up to a variety of journeys.

First impressions of our Saville Silver GV60 are very good. There’s lot of white in the cabin which might be a challenge to maintain in pristine order, but it brightens up the interior, helped by the panoramic sunroof, fitted with an electric blind to reduce the cabin temperature in hot weather and reduce air con energy consumption. There’s a lot of standard equipment, from safety kit to heated seats front and back and more besides. Given its all-up £61,000 price tag, compared with some rivals, you get a fair bit for the money, although there’s a lot of choice for similarly priced petrol/hybrid rivals. It looks and feels like a premium product.

With a 100% charge, range is registering 261 miles, some way short of the 320 miles combined figure, but I shall be monitoring this carefully to get a more accurate figure. The car will be with us through the winter so we should build up a good picture of how far it will take us. I’m looking forward to it.