Genesis GV60 crossover revealed as the luxury lineup's sporty EV

The hatch-tastic Hyundai Ioniq 5 introduced the world to the Electric Group Modular Platform — E-GMP to its friends — the dedicated battery-electric architecture shared among the Hyundai Group. The architecture showed up next under the Kia EV6, leaving Genesis as the only member of the South Korean group trio yet to show its hand. That changes now, with Genesis revealing the GV60 electric vehicle.

As number designations decrease in the Genesis lineup, sportiness increases, meaning the GV60 is meant to be sportier than the GV70 and GV80. Many of the brand cues Genesis created to identify itself show themselves in front, burnished for use on a first-of-its-kind for the automaker. A stretched crest grille takes in plenty of air to cool the electronics within. Above that, quad headlamps wrap around the front corners, defining the leading edge of a clamshell hood, another first for the brand. The Genesis badge front and center is not only almost 80% thinner than the usual Genesis badge, it's engraved with a guilloche pattern often seen on expensive watches and enamel jewelry. 

The profile gives the Genesis away as the luxxed-up version of the Kia EV6, especially as it omits the dramatic, declining shoulder line that's a calling card on every other Genesis. Designers fitted rear-facing cameras for the side mirrors, they project images onto screens set into the top of the doors in the cabin. The flush exterior door handles automatically pop out as the driver approaches.

The overall shape is as perfectly fine here as it is when it wears a Kia badge. But Genesis has spent three years showing us fascinating electric concepts, starting with the belongs-in-a-video-game Essentia grand tourer in 2018, the charming cosmopolitan Mint city car in 2019, and the why-haven't-you-built-this-already X concept from this March. The GV60's grille graphic has clear ties to the Mint; otherwise, the production electric car would struggle to prove its common lineage with the concepts aft of the front fascia. It seems Genesis wants us to eat our meat before we can have our pudding.

Inside, the gear selector has been turned into a rotating Crystal Sphere atop a floating center console. When the GV60 is dormant, the Sphere appears to be a piece of transparent jewelry that throws off mood lighting. Turn the vehicle on, and the Sphere flips to become a deeply scalloped gear selector knob. The circular and oval theme continues with the door pulls, side mirror adjuster, and surrounds for the switchgear to the left of the steering wheel, the HVAC controls, and the glovebox handle. A pair of very fancy pedals live in the footwell.

Genesis hasn't given away any specs, so we'd have to crib from the Ioniq 5 and EV6 to establish a range. That could mean battery capacities from 50 to 77.4-kWh, and a range of 300 miles or thereabouts on the European cycle.

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By Jonathon Ramsey