Genesis doesn’t make a supercar yet, but it’s easily among the speediest brands of luxury vehicles—if we’re talking about product pace. Not even a brand a decade ago, Hyundai’s upmarket label sports a trio of gas-powered sedans and a duo of gas-powered SUVs, along with a swell battery-electric original, the Genesis GV60.

It’s so intent on capturing drivers before their eyes wander to other brands, it’s jammed batteries into two of its best vehicles, too. The Electrified G80 sedan presents one prospect to folks who want to drive without petroleum; maybe the more intriguing conversion comes this spring in the form of the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 SUV. 

A rival for the Acura RDX and Alfa Romeo Stelvio when it drinks 91-octane, the GV70 sets its sights on the Tesla Model Y when it’s configured with the new battery pack that slides beneath its floor, twinned with electric motors at the front and back. Sold in 15 states, capable of 236 miles on a full charge, and rechargeable to 80% in under 20 minutes, the Electrified GV70 can’t steal Tesla’s long-range thunder or charging network—but, boy, does it trounce it in every other way.

Electrified Genesis GV70 style

In part that’s because the startling look of the GV70 hasn’t been touched a bit in the flip-flop from cylinders to motors. The GV70 wears a broad grille and slim LED headlights, and the Electrified model only changes the grille’s texture—it’s reversed so the lines are stamped in, and there’s a charge port cut out of it. More sculpted on its sides than the Model Y, the Genesis GV70 also executes its most controversial styling piece better: the Model Y’s porpoiselike rear end comes off bulbous, while the GV70’s AMC Pacer-style sloped roofline genuinely draws battle lines between friends and family. I’m not in the love-it column, but many people I respect adore the look. Controversy grabs attention, either way—and the Electrified GV70’s body-colored skid plates and five-blade wheels only add to the drama.

No need for controversy inside, where Genesis’ fabulous sense of style washes over the mostly unchanged cabin like the first waves of spring break. Clad in a new Glacier White tone, the oval-rich environment drops in a 14.5-inch touchscreen atop the pristinely fitted dash, slips in the right knobs and buttons amid the digital gauge cluster and touch-convenient controls, and trims it out with standard leather or nappa hides with quilting and a matching sueded headliner, supported by a matte-finish metallic trim.

Genesis Electrified GV70 battery charging

The design needed no changes, but perhaps the 300-hp turbo-4 or the 375-hp twin-turbo V-6 weren’t the ideal powertrains for a personal luxury shuttle so studiously shaped like a futuristic egg. Problem solved: by ripping out those amply powerful gas engines and all their ancillary gear, Genesis leaves behind room for a 1,063-pound, 77.4-kwh lithium-ion battery pack. It slides in beneath the SUV’s floor, bracketed by twin electric motors, good for a combined 429 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque under most circumstances. With motors spinning frantically but quietly, an indelicate stomp on the accelerator will generate 0-60 mph times of about 4.5 seconds.

For neighbors and others who need show-off moments and features, a discreet button on the low spoke of the steering wheel kicks in a Boost mode that spins out 483 hp in 10-second increments, great for passing malingerers, slowpokes, and their ilk.

Power comes cheap, but not cheaply enough to get Genesis the kind of 400-mile range ratings of a Tesla. Here, the brand promises 236 miles from a single full charge of the Electrified GV70’s battery—and that’s with the standard 20-inch wheels. Our test vehicle showed 209 miles available for use, and on a drive route through the north Georgia hills of about 120 miles, it consumed its energy at a rate of 2.5 miles per kwh. That’s decent efficiency, but nowhere near the 3.0 miles/kwh and above that a ground-up, big-battery model might generate.

What’s more mixed a signal is the Genesis charging solution: though it promises 60 miles or more from a 5-minute DC fast charge of 250 kw or above at a properly outfitted station, it’s supplying owners with three years of free charging at Electrify America stations, in 30-minute increments. Many EA users find well-maintained stations ready to put out more than 200 kw, but most of our editors have documented much slower output and faulty equipment. It’s bound to be a sore spot in the otherwise immaculate Genesis luxury experience. At home on a 240-volt outlet the GV70 will recharge in about seven hours.

As a side bonus, the GV70 can charge accessories such as laptops and small appliances from a cargo-area outlet. 

Electrified GV70 driving: it can handle it

Our driving experiences in the twin-turbo GV70 have been uniformly positive—and more of the same lies in wait for drivers of the battery-electric version, with some mild differences.

In gas versions, the GV70 delivers a ride somewhere between billowy and buttoned-down; the Electrified GV70 battens down the looser ride motions, in part because it weighs a thousand pounds more and can mute some of the ride motions that might upset the lighter gas model. Outfitted with a strut-and-multilink suspension and adaptive damping that uses cameras to assess the road ahead and to program a pre-action, the Electrified GV70 also wears middle-ambition Michelin Primacy tires, 265/45R20s front and back. The car’s tuned with reasonably responsive if light steering, but the drive modes should be selected carefully. 

I found myself setting it into Sport mode for acceleration, which left it lurching ever so slightly as motor power engaged and disengaged, and in Normal steering mode, which felt unpressed and not overly laden with useless weight. So configured, the electric SUV rounds about wide sweepers like a glider, aided and abetted by steering that responds to inputs with detached finesse. The body, more rigid thanks to the battery underneath, can deflect some road imperfections, but thin pavement seams and train tracks are an Achilles’ heel that resonate through the pretty body and into the cabin.

Genesis equips the Electrified GV70 with four-mode regenerative braking, and its one-pedal drive mode slowed it smoothly to a stop—a good thing, since in all it tips the scales at roughly 5,000 pounds. It can tow up to 3,500 pounds, same as the gas-powered model, but I wasn’t able to test that or its charging speeds.

Electrified GV70 space and technology

There’s very little noteworthy about the changes to the Electrified GV70’s interior space and safety features. It’s more of the same compared to the gas model, though I do wish the bottom-cushion bolster would stay inflated in other drive modes like it does in Sport mode. This model is fitted with more insulation and damping to cut down on whines and whistles that EVs send to the foreground—stuff that would be masked otherwise by engine and transmission sounds. 

Every GV70, electric or not, comes with automatic emergency braking, active lane control, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot monitors. On the options list are a blind-spot camera system that projects into the digital cluster, and a surround-view camera system with exceptional clarity. 

On the interface front, a standard 14.5-inch touchscreen has redundant controls available on a center console dial, as well as via voice commands or steering-wheel controls. The interface isn’t as flat as some of Hyundai’s best setups, and the rotary controller on the console takes too much time to spin, click, and tap to access functions easily found through touch inputs that require less time spent with the driver’s eyes off the road. The biggest caveat is that the infotainment system, while it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, delivers them through a wired connection. 

Electrified GV70 price: more than gas

The 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 electric SUV hails from Hyundai’s Alabama plant, but there is no discount for local assembly, or for friends, or for family. It costs at least $66,975, and while it qualifies for the electric-car tax credit, it may not qualify for all $7,500 that some buyers can claim, since its batteries are not made in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. Count on a $3,750 credit when those tighter EV tax credit requirements are outlined and phased in.

It’s nearly $22,000 more than a gas-powered GV70, but the Electrified model does come with leather upholstery, 20-inch wheels, a panoramic sunroof, heated and cooled power front seats, and a power tailgate. It also comes with your choice of four colors, which range from a daring black, to two very daring grays, to a daring silver. Paired with a black interior, it’s practically a Goth kid. Pick the white interior if you want to live dangerously in the drive-through lane.

Genesis also upgrades the EGV70 to a $73,775 Prestige version with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a microfiber suede headliner, nappa leather upholstery, a head-up display, heated second-row seats, a heated steering wheel, and a Lexicon premium audio system. All models come with a 5-year/60,000-mile warranty and 3 years/36,000 miles of free scheduled maintenance with concierge service and a loaner vehicle.

The Electrified GV70 marks an experiment for Genesis. Built in Montgomery, Alabama, it’s a sign of the future: Genesis plans U.S. production for a range of vehicles, and some likely will come from a vast new assembly plant Hyundai is building near Savannah, Georgia. By 2030, Genesis says it will have gone all-EV, from an all-gas lineup as recently as 2021. That’s nine years to change its direction completely. That’s not just speedy, that’s supercar-speedy.

 

 

Genesis put us up in an Atlanta hotel with great connectivity, a decent gym, and walkable coffee. It’s like they know us.