2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 Electric SUV Review

Korean luxury brand Genesis keeps going from strength to strength. It’s launching new products, gradually increasing its Australian dealership network and gaining sales traction – its sales are up 32.6 per cent so far in 2023, for example. Part of that boost in sales is its love for electric cars, of which sales are up a massive 157.6 per cent in this year alone. The latest part of its electric car range is the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70, which has been on the market for a few months now. Is it the best mid-size luxury electric SUV? Let’s find out.

As the name suggests, the Electrified GV70 is the all-electric version of the company’s popular GV70 mid-size luxury SUV. Instead of the regular GV70’s petrol or diesel engines, the Electrified GV70 has a twin-motor electric drivetrain that makes up to 360kW of power. Is that enough to earn your mid-size luxury SUV money?

Price & Equipment: 7.5/10

For now, there’s just one spec of 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70: the, uh, Electrified GV70. It’s based on the loaded Sport Luxury variant of the GV70 range, and is priced from $127,800 plus on-road costs or around $138,500 drive away. 

Standard equipment on the Electrified GV70 includes 20-inch alloy wheels, dusk-sensing all-LED lighting, automatic wipers, keyless entry and start with both remote start and remote forward and backward moving ability, an easy-open tailgate, heated and auto-folding mirrors that dip in reverse with puddle lamps, roof rails, a panoramic sunroof, tri-zone climate control with rear vents, Nappa leather upholstery, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, 64-colour LED ambient interior lighting, 18-way electrically adjustable front seats with heating, ventilation, massaging and memory for the driver, a heated steering wheel, a huge 14.5-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation with live traffic, digital radio, a 1,050W 14-speaker Lexicon by Harman sound system, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a wireless phone charger, multiple USB-A ports, heated outboard rear seats, sunshades in the doors for rear passengers and rear privacy glass. 

The purchase price for the Electrified GV70 also includes either a five-year subscription to ChargeFox or a home charger including installation. 

Safety kit includes eight airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection assist, lane keeping assistance with lane trace assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert (both with braking), a blind-spot camera, adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality, driver attention monitoring, smart exit assist, rear occupant alert, intelligent speed limit assist, Matrix adaptive high beam functionality for the headlights, a heads-up display, traffic sign recognition, front and rear parking sensors, automatic low-speed rear braking and a 360-degree camera. 

As with the regular GV70, the exterior colour range for the Electrified GV70 is excellent with only matte colours costing extra. Non-matte options include ‘Uyuni White’, ‘Saville Silver’, ‘Makulu Grey’, ‘Vik Black’, ‘Mauna Blue’, ‘Barossa Burgundy’, ‘Cardiff Green’, ‘Atacama Copper’ and ‘Capri Blue’. $2,000-extra matte options include ‘Matterhorn White’, ‘Makulu Grey’, ‘Brunswick Green’ and our test car’s ‘Atacama Copper’. Interior options include all-black, blue with white and blue with dark green. 

There are a few rivals to the Electrified GV70, including the BMW iX3 ($104,500 plus on-road costs), Jaguar I-Pace EV400 R-Dynamic SE ($148,800 +ORC), Audi e-tron 55 ($148,000 +ORC) and Mercedes-Benz EQC400 ($128,000 +ORC). The BMW looks quite well priced in the segment thanks to its Chinese production source and that it’s loaded with equipment – but it’s also only rear-wheel drive only and makes 210kW of power. But if you’re looking for an electric luxury mid-size SUV, the iX3 is good value.

Comparing apples to apples, the EQC400 competes best with the Electrified GV70, thanks to similar pricing, range and performance. You do still have to spend around $5,000 in options for the Mercedes to get it to Electrified GV70 levels of equipment, and the I-Pace and e-tron are comfortably more expensive (plus options for both).

The biggest problem in the Electrified GV70’s value equation is the petrol GV70, which tops out at just under $101,000 drive away – a full $37,500 less than the electric version. Of course, batteries are expensive and what not, but that’s a massive price difference to consider.

Performance & Range: 8/10

Underneath the regular-looking Electrified GV70 is the same dual-motor drivetrain as the Electrified G80 luxury sedan. There are two electric motors on each axle for a combined output of 320kW of power and 605Nm of torque – but putting the car into boost mode (only for 10 seconds at a time) boosts this to 360kW and 700Nm. The motors draw power from a 77.4kWh battery mounted underneath the floor for a WLTP range of up to 445km with a claimed overall energy consumption of 19.9kWh/100km. 

The Electrified GV70 can be recharged from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 18 minutes and can be charged at up to 350kW – using a more common 50kW charger increases this to 73 minutes. In boost mode, the Electrified GV70 is capable of a 4.2-second 0-100km/h sprint time and a top speed of 235km/h. In reality, the Electrified GV70 is quite rapid and offers quite a satisfying level of grunt.

In boost mode, which allows for the maximum 360kW/700Nm outputs, the Electrified GV70 is really quick – it’s more than capable of making you feel nauseous, if that’s what you’re after. Boost mode only lasts for 10 seconds a time, but by the time it ends, you’ve already very much lost your licence. But even in eco mode, which limits the torque to 350Nm for extra range, the Electrified GV70 gives a satisfying level of performance.

It’s not the most efficient electric vehicle, however. The claimed energy consumption is 19.9kWh/100km – not the best on the market thanks to its weight, but still superior to the EQC400’s claimed 21.5kWh/100km rating. In our testing, including a lot of highway driving, we achieved 20.3kWh/100km to give a range of around 381km, which isn’t as efficient as Hyundai-Kia-Genesis’ products that use the dedicated electric car e-GMP platform – in similar driving, we achieved 17kWh/100km in the Kia EV6.

Ride & Handling: 8/10

The regular GV70 is one of the best driving medium luxury SUVs thanks to its well-tuned ride quality, good dynamics and tuned for Australia driving experience. The Electrified GV70 is mostly the same, though there are differences. It uses the same platform as its ICE-powered siblings, but thanks to its battery, weighs a lot more than even the heaviest GV70 with a 2,310kg tare mass that makes it 272kg more than the GV70 3.5T. Because of that, the Electrified GV70 just doesn’t handle as well as the regular GV70. But that’s not its focus, instead, it feels more like an old-school luxury car.

But it’s still a great car to drive – just for different reasons. The regular GV70 is great for a back road blast thanks to its relatively nimble handling, but the Electrified GV70 doesn’t like to do the same thing – push relatively hard in corners and you quickly feel its weight. Instead, the Electrified GV70 shows the serene luxury SUV vibe quite well. It’s very quiet, even at highway speeds, thanks to its lack of engine noise and acoustic laminated glass. The ride quality is nicely soft in comfort mode, but still displays a good level of body control. 

Interior & Practicality: 9.5/10

As with the cabin of the standard GV70, the interior of the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 is a great place to spend time. It’s high quality, very comfortable, packed full of useable technology and also reasonably practical too. We particularly like the quality inside the GV70’s cabin, which features lots of soft Nappa leather on the seats, stitched leather on the door tops and dashboard, plus lots of lovely switchgear like heavy feeling metals on the drive selector, for example.

There are some good storage options in the Electrified GV70, including a deep centre console box underneath the armrest, a big glovebox, reasonably big door bins, big cup holders and a wireless phone charger in the centre console. 

The centre of the Electrified GV70’s cabin is a 14.5-inch touchscreen that features wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and satellite navigation with live traffic. It’s very easy to use – you can use the touchscreen or the wheel in between the seats to control it – and the screen quality is excellent. We wish it had wireless phone mirroring and live services, but it’s still a great system.

The 14-speaker Lexicon sound system is punchy – much more so than the one in the GV80 – though the digital driver’s display, while great quality, could be more useful as its customisation is quite limited. You can activate the 3D mode for a funkier look though. We quite like the 64-colour ambient lighting, which gives a soft slow around the climate control oval, the centre console panel and the doors. You can choose any colour from 64 options as well.

The back seat of the Electrified GV70 is perhaps its biggest drawback as it’s not that roomy. Two six-footers will be fine, but legroom isn’t great. It is quite well featured, however, with a separate climate zone, two USB-A charging ports, heated seats and sunshades for the windows.

The boot of the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 measures 503-litres with the seats up and 1,678L with them folded flat – that’s just bigger than the EQC with the seats up (503L versus 500L) and much larger with the seats folded (1,678L versus 1,460L). The boot has a few features like remote releases to drop the seats, underfloor storage and a three-pin socket for vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality. There’s also a space saver spare wheel, which is very rare for a modern electric vehicle. 

Service & Warranty: 10/10

The 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 comes with a five-year/unlimited warranty with 10 years of roadside assistance. The battery also has an eight-year/160,000km warranty. Five years of servicing is included in the price – if you live in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane and within 70km of a service centre, the brand will also pick up and drop off your car on service day, and leave you with a Genesis loan car for the day – and its service intervals are once-yearly/every 15,000km – 5,000km further than petrol and diesel-powered Genesis models. In the luxury segment, warranty and service doesn’t get better than Genesis’ offering. 

Genesis’ rivals all give five years/unlimited km of warranty for their products – Mercedes-Benz also gives five years of roadside assistance, while BMW gives a lesser three years. A five-year/125,000km service pack for the EQC400 costs $2,650 ($530 per service), while a six-year/unlimited km service pack for the iX3 costs $1,800 ($300 per year).

The 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.6/10

Overall, like we discovered with the petrol GV70, the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 is an impressive mid-sized luxury SUV that offers a lot: a polished driving experience, a luxurious cabin, lots of useable technology, great practicality, a long list of standard equipment and a great aftersales package. It’s also handsome to look at, it’s very quick – especially in boost mode – and it can be charged quickly.

Of course, it isn’t perfect – it could be more efficient, it could offer more range, it could be lighter and the rear seat could be bigger. There’s also the matter of price – at almost $38,000 more than the equivalent petrol GV70, there’s a big price for going electric and that much money buys a lot of petrol. But overall, we think that the Electrified GV70 represents the Genesis brand well: it’s got a lot going for it and you’d be crazy not to include it on your test drive list you’re after a well specced and premium EV.