This Kia Is The EV I Tell Everyone To Buy (But This Ford Might Steal Its Thunder)

After a week behind the wheel of the 2026 EV6, I'm pretty sure it's my favorite vehicle in Kia's lineup. On top of having the best styling in its class, the EV6 rivals just about any electric vehicle for standard and optional equipment, charging speed, and comfort. It's priced reasonably, is relatively fun to drive, has more than enough range for the average commute (and even a long road trip), and it has lots of premium touches. 

Don't get me wrong, the EV6 isn't perfect — no car is. I miss the previously available high-performance EV6 GT, and while the GT-Line is powerful enough for a bit of entertainment, it's not nearly as exciting as some other powerful EVs in the class. There are little issues, too, like the USB ports that are in strange locations, and the need to switch back and forth between climate control and stereo controls on the dashboard's lower touch panel, which is certainly a pain. But even with those idiosyncrasies and a bit of missing power, I still really enjoyed my time behind the wheel of the Kia EV6.

Let's talk about the missing powertrain before I fully praise the EV6's many virtues. Kia is missing high-performance vehicles pretty broadly across its lineup right now, and where that absence is felt the strongest, for me anyway, is with the EV6 and its discontinued GT model. The EV6 GT used the same powertrain as the shockingly-good Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which meant it put out 641 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque.

The current EV6 has three different power levels to choose from, starting with the Light trim at 167 hp and 258 lb-ft. Then, there's the Light Long Range, Wind, and GT-Line, all of which come standard with 225 hp on rear-wheel-drive models (torque stays the same at 258). Opt for all-wheel drive, like my GT-Line test car, and that number goes up to 320 hp across the board, though torque is much more impressive at 446 lb-ft.

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Launching the GT-Line all-wheel-drive model, while it isn't as exciting as it was in GT models, was definitely done in a rush. Zero to 60 mph is taken care of in 5.0 seconds flat (according to Kia), and there's no scenario where that's not quick enough on a public road. It's a bit of a drop from the 3.25 seconds of the GT, but still satisfying, and more than enough for any dash away from a set of lights.

Dashing away from lights and making easy passing maneuvers is all well and good, but the majority of the time I drove the EV6, I was doing so on boring, packed Los Angeles freeways and city streets. Happily that's one of the places where it shines the brightest. For starters, the EV6 delivered really well on its range and charging promises in those environments. Standard range models with the 63-kWh battery are rated by the EPA to go 237 miles on a full charge, while long-range rear-wheel-drive models can go up to 319 miles.

My test vehicle was a Long Range model, but with all-wheel drive and 20-inch wheels. That meant range dropped to an EPA-estimated 270 miles, but I felt like I could easily stretch a bit more out of it with a light foot. The 84 kWh battery didn't seem to drain quickly, and when I plugged it in at my local fast-charger, the 800-volt charging capability meant I added nearly 100 miles of range in less than 10 minutes. According to Kia, a charge from 10 to 80% at a 350 kW charging station will only take about 20 minutes – a claim that's pretty accurate based on my experience at public charging stations.

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On top of being easy to charge in a hurry, the EV6 was comfortable everywhere I took it. The suspension was soft enough to soak up bumps without feeling spongy. The seats were well-padded, and yet supportive enough to keep me comfortable on jam-packed freeway hauls. What's more, the heating and cooling functions on the front seats worked in a hurry. The EV6 expertly balances strong driving dynamics with impressive comfort — that's a winning combination.

Whether it's in motion on the highway, stationary in traffic, or somewhere in between, the EV6 is a nice place to spend time. From the outside, it looks like it's got a pretty narrow roofline, but I had no problems with outward visibility. On the door panels, the dashboard, and the steering wheel, all the materials felt high quality. 

To add to the strong build-quality, I liked the color scheme in the interior of my test car, too: contrasting darks and lights gave it a sense of interior space, as opposed to feeling like a drab cave.

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If you're looking for a place to store your water bottle, or the extra four to five other water bottles you've brought along on your commute because you're a nervous traveller, the EV6 has you covered there as well. The center console is large enough for big purses, the doors have enough space for those extra hydration devices, and there's generally space to stretch out everywhere else. The sloped roofline makes getting into and out of the back seat a duck-and-cover maneuver for most adults, but once you're inside, there's plenty of legroom and headroom in the front and the rear.

Complimenting all the impressive materials and the comfortable seats is an easy-to-use tech interface that'll be familiar to users of other Kia products. Two 12.3-inch displays are side-by-side on the dashboard, with the left screen housing all the EV6's various gauges for the driver, and the center screen acting as the infotainment center. There aren't any real buttons on the dash to control the screen's functions, but the touchscreen responds quickly to inputs and figuring out the location of the touch controls is pretty easy. The steering wheel also had a pretty easy-to-use interface with well-labeled buttons.

Travis Langness/SlashGear

Like it does in other Kias I've driven lately, the climate control panel in the EV6 shares space with the audio controls, and that was particularly annoying during my test. Hopefully, when this generation of cars is redesigned, Kia gets the message that putting these two sets of controls in the same place and making the driver toggle between them is frustrating and distracting. 

I'd also be pretty happy if they brought the USB ports a bit higher up, maybe to the armrest area of the cabin, rather than having them down near the floor. The upgraded 14-speaker Meridian stereo was a high point on the EV6, though, with impressive sound quality across the range.

The Mustang Mach-E is one of my other favorite EVs in this class. And while I wouldn't exactly call it my favorite Ford at the moment (especially not while the Mustang Dark Horse and the Maverick Lobo exist), I definitely enjoyed my recent seat time in the Mach-E California Special. Essentially, it's a GT with a few options packages, making it stand out in a crowd with some hood stripes and interior upgrades. Since the high-horsepower version of the EV6 is no longer available, though, I think it's worth mentioning a few things about the Mustang Mach-E GT here.

The Mach-E is still available with the high-performance Mach-E GT model, and it can be had in the dirt-ready Rally trim level. Neither could keep up with the wild EV6 GT, but both the Rally and the GT offer 480 horsepower, a big leap ahead of the EV6's top GT-Line trim. Plus, the Mach-E GT is about the same price as the EV6 (more on that in a bit), and it has a better EPA-estimated range of 280 miles.

On top of enjoying its prodigious power, I really liked spending time in the Mach-E GT on a regular basis. It's the performance model, sure, but the ride wasn't stiff or unforgiving. Part of that is thanks to the optional Magneride suspension, but even without it, the Mach-E can easily serve as a daily driver.

The one-pedal regenerative system in the Ford bled off speed in a hurry, meaning I could spend a bit of time stitching corners together without ever touching the physical brake pedal. The Mach-E performed similarly well in the city, where for long stretches at a time, I could go from light to light, stopping and starting along the way, without ever touching the brake pedal – that might not be a top priority for some shoppers, but for EVs it's a must-have in my book.

Ford's BlueCruise driver aids did an excellent job of keeping the Mach-E in its lane and at a decent following distance on the highway, making any commuter's day a bit easier. Where the EV6 clearly beats out the Mach-E is in the infotainment screen's refinement and ease of use. The big stuck-on volume knob for the Ford's vertically-laid-out screen isn't very intuitive, and the size and placement of the screen is a distraction. In the tech battle, the Kia is the winner. In a lot of other categories, though, the EV6 and Mach-E are neck-and-neck.

There's a pretty simple selection of trim levels available for the EV6: Light, Light Long Range, Wind, and GT-Line. The base Light model has an MSRP of just $39,445 (including a $1,545 destination fee), and it's equipped with most of the necessary items to make the driving experience pleasant – stuff like the front heated seats and the dual 12.3-inch touchscreen displays are standard. The base model has the smaller battery, though, so I say it's worth a few thousand dollars (and a total MSRP of $42,745) to get the Light Long Range, which adds 82 miles of estimated range.

The middle-of-the-range versions of the EV6 creep upwards into the $45,000 range, with the un-optioned GT-Line starting at $50,245. Kia sent me a pretty feature-and-option-packed version of the EV6 GT-Line, priced at $56,140, but it would be easy to pick one of the other middle trims without feeling like you got a de-contented version of the SUV. At that price, though, the Mach-E GT makes a lot of sense. It doesn't feel quite as premium on the inside, but with the extra power and the price of $56,135 it's hard to pass up for performance junkies.

Even with a shrinking affordable-EV market in the United States, there are still some pretty strong rivals to consider. As thoroughly discussed, the Ford Mustang Mach-E fills a performance void, even if it does lack the Kia's upscale feel; that might be worth the trade-off for some shoppers. The Chevy Equinox EV is worth a look for bargain shoppers, but prices on that model can go up quickly, without meeting the EV6 for enjoyment or modern feel. And, of course, there's the upmarket Ioniq 5, which shares its underpinnings with the EV6 and is surprisingly affordable by comparison.

Every time I drive the EV6, no matter what trim it's in, I come away thinking how good it is at being an everyday vehicle. More than just an excellent commuter car, though, it's good at providing a bit of entertainment, too. 

After testing early models, I've recommended the EV6 to family members and friends, a few of which have gone with my advice and purchased one for themselves, and I've got no big complaints from them yet. I'm still invited to dinner at the holiday tables, thankfully. And this recent test experience gave me the confidence to recommend it for a few more years to anyone who asks about EVs in this segment.