Final Report: Grateful for what we had
Like many things in life, it’s not until you experience the alternative that you really appreciate what you had. Having bid a tearful farewell to our Genesis GV70 and embarked on a lengthy southerly journey the very next day, I was able to reflect on the differences between a more run-of-the-mill EV and the extraordinary properties of the GV70.
And guess what, the adage that you get what you pay for turns out to be true. Who’d have thunk it?
Now, we can argue until the cows come home whether any motor vehicle is worth the fat end of £80k, let alone one with an obscure Korean emblem on the bonnet, but I guess that depends on how much you value badge kudos over exceptional refinement and quality. Although it’s almost impossible to quantify well-being, as there are so many erroneous factors that come into play, what I can say for certain is I arrived at my destination feeling considerably more fatigued in my lesser charge than I did whenever I tackled the same journey in the Genesis.
Given the 335-mile trip consisted mainly of three-lane highways I can say with utter confidence that the most telling factor here is the difference between a car which does an OK job of noise, vibration and harshness suppression versus one that is verging on being hermetically sealed.
Throughout my reports, I’ve returned time and again to the value of refinement and comfort and the associated safety benefits of not feeling jiggered because of exposure to excessive noise bombardment and I’ve lost count of the folks I’ve bored to death with diatribes relating to how quiet, how cosseting and how relaxing it is to drive an Electrified GV70. Maybe in some distant future, when magnetic levitation finds its way into car suspension, we’ll look back at steel springs and adjustable dampers in the same way we now view Dobbin and his cart but as things stand the Electrified GV70’s ride quality strikes as good a balance between comfort and control as any large SUV using the tools that are currently available.
Of course, there were other factors that fed into my Zen-like experiences, such as the fine leathers and subtly back-lit translucent trim that adorned the GV’s interior, and in the case of our GV, £1,660 worth of heated, massaging, comfort seats. To many this may seem like a frivolous extravagance but if you are a high-mileage driver then what price avoiding a numb bum and an ongoing series of appointments with your chiropractor?
While the seamlessly electrified operation of the seats and windows and the reassuring precision of the switchgear all added to the sense of sophisticated build integrity, the contribution of clearly legible menus and haptic rotary infotainment controller shouldn’t be underestimated. Negating the need to studiously prod at an infotainment menu on a touchscreen while trying to focus on the road ahead is yet another one of the GV’s subtle stress relief aids, which only made for a more relaxing experience. I still find it baffling that we continue to punish people for using their phones while driving yet permit them to prod and poke touchscreens with total impunity.
Anyway, taking everything into account, and despite the best efforts of the charging network to undermine its many virtues, my time with the Electrified GV70 was almost entirely positive. Certainly, there were times when I considered getting the train to visit relatives down South rather than endure the two or three stop, seven-hour ordeal to get from Newcastle to Weybridge but this had more to do with the failings of the charging network, which remains at best a joke and at worst an absolute nightmare.
Yes, more chargers are being installed every day, but hello, there are even more new EVs being sold daily, and wouldn’t it be nice if you could rely on the current ones to work, maybe a bit like filling up at a petrol station, rather than crossing your fingers and girding your loins every time you flip open the charging flap?
Okay rant over, because although I could fill a book with the number of frustrations I experienced with the charging network – and granted some of those vexations have been exacerbated by the GV’s relatively modest battery range – if I take those frustrations out of the equation then my Genesis experience overall was one of great positivity, thanks to its outstanding luxury and genteel refinement.
| Model | Genesis Electrified GV70 Sport |
| P11D price | £64,300 |
| As tested | £77,825 |
| WLTP Combined Range | 276 miles |
| Test consumption | 2.4 miles per/kWh |
| Mileage | 8,780 |
5th Report: An exclusive choice
If you’re looking to stand out from the crowd, then a GV70 could be the answer to your prayers.
You’ll certainly be joining some rarefied company if you do take the plunge because during the last five months of my tenure I’ve not clocked a single other GV70. Well, apart from a day spent on a Genesis-organised driving event.
This said, there is a commonly held belief that there needs to be roughly 10,000 examples of a new marque on the roads before people start noticing them and given Genesis only sold around 1,200 vehicles across its entire model lineup last year it’s going to be a while before we start taking the Korean marque for granted.
As things stand, I’ve lost count of the people who have asked me ‘What kind of car is that?’
In the interest of brevity, I’ve tended to satisfy these enquiries with ‘It’s basically a posh Hyundai’, although I know this is doing the GV a huge disservice.
Of course, if I happen to be engaging in my favourite outdoor pursuit, which involves hitting a little white ball with a stick around a field, my fellow garishly-pantalooned golfists know exactly what a Genesis is. This is primarily due to the company’s high-profile televised golf tournament sponsorship and the exploits of a certain Tiger Woods. He may be the greatest player of his generation and still able to hit a golf ball 170mph and swerve it fifty yards in the air but he’s not quite so adept at coaxing a Genesis around a bend on a Californian highway.
Anyway, notoriety and rarity value aside, even without the benefit of a decibel meter or back-to-back comparative testing, I can say with some confidence, the GV70 is one of the most refined motors I’ve ever driven, certainly in terms of wind, road and electric motor whirr isolation. Wind suppression on the motorway is especially impressive, no doubt helped by the acoustic windscreen and all-round laminated side windows, plus the Lexicon sound system, which pumps out active noise-cancelling sound waves.
Call it witchcraft if you want but given the opportunity to test the electrified GV against any combustion powered rivals, including the silkiest of V12s, I’m convinced the Genesis would win hands down.
In fact, the only aspect I can point to that isn’t quite as polished as the rest of the vehicle is the motorised rear tailgate lift, which emits a bit of audible strain when called into action. This same labour-saving device has also developed a habit of unlatching but not lifting just lately, although I’ve always managed to overcome this reach-for-the-stars reticence with an additional press of the key fob. I could go full-on diva mode and demand an investigation into the root cause of this first world problem by taking advantage of Genesis’s concierge pick up and re-delivery service but given the nearest dealership to me is in in Edinburgh, some 80 miles away, unless the problem gets significantly worse, I’ll save Genesis the expense and hold fire on reporting the matter until the service interval is due.
Other than this occasional glitch and the inevitable fading of its unmistakable new car smell, the GV has remained as tight and as rattle-free as the day it was delivered. Yes, the infotainment can be a bit slow to load on initial start-up and the automatic parking brakes tend to bind on if left undisturbed for a couple of rainy nights, releasing with a pronounced thud, but show me a car with automatic park braking where this doesn’t happen?
Given the emphasis I’ve placed on refinement, efficiency and the countless expletives I’ve exhausted on the frustrations of the charging network, and the lack of words I’ve devoted to driver enjoyment, you could be forgiven for thinking that the GV must be a bit like so many other powerful EV SUVs, i.e. insanely quick off the mark but a bit of a lumbering hulk on a country road. In practice, it’s quite the opposite and because the GV is blessed with a neutral front-to-rear weight bias, neatly controlled body movements and an excellent steering connection, it’s a very precise and easy car to hustle along no matter how demanding the road.
With a 0-62 time of just 4.2 seconds and immense mid-range shove, a determined squeeze of the organ pedal ensures spiriting past slower motors is an absolute breeze. Of course, every time I glance in the rear-view mirror after doing so, I can always see the folk behind mouthing ‘what kind of car is that?’
| Model | Genesis Electrified GV70 Sport |
| P11D price | £64,300 |
| As tested | £77,825 |
| WLTP Combined Range | 276 miles |
| Test consumption | 3.1 miles per/kWh |
| Mileage | 8,125 |
4th Report: Charging woes (again!)
Even though it’s super-comfortable, super-quiet and has some of the best massaging seats I’ve encountered, I still struggle to think of our electrified GV70 as a top long-distance cruiser. Although the official range potential is 276 miles, if I stick to the most efficient charging strategy, preventing the battery’s reserves from sinking below 20% and never charging above 80%, the effective range is actually closer to 180 miles. Of course, this mileage limitation isn’t helped by a woefully inadequate charging infrastructure. In a recent survey, Europcar discovered the number of UK fleets being held back from electrifying by EV charging concerns increased significantly during 2024. The rental company’s EV barometer surveys conducted throughout the year confirmed that the percentage of people naming charging infrastructure as a concern rose from 33.8% in Q1 to 37.4% in Q4.
Not that I need a survey to know this, because almost everyone I encounter when I’m compelled to stop at a charging station usually has their own personal horror story. Although we are constantly being told things are steadily improving, this has not been my experience.
Even Gridserve, who I’ve found to be by far the most reliable supplier, managed to make a recent trip up the M4 more arduous than usual. Stopping at Leigh Delamere services on the eastbound side I was greeted by a pathetic muster of one 50kw item and a pair of 22kW chargers, which were fully occupied. Not having enough charge to make it to the next services at Membury, I consulted Zapmap and concluded that if I drove a couple of miles further, I could take the slip road and then head back West to access a host of 100-plus kW chargers. Trouble is, by the time I’d completed this roundabout route I’d added 15 miles to my journey. My next source of frustration involved a detour to a shiny new BP Pulse charging station at Brooklands in Surrey, where the promise of ‘up to’ 150kW and lots of available chargers seemed almost too good to be true. Indeed it was.
Having plugged in and swiped my tortured debit card, – many chargers will not accept credit cards – I toddled off to a nice warm café nearby, returning an hour later to discover the GV70 had increased its range by a grand total of 30 miles. Yep, the charger had crashed at around the same time I was blowing the froth off my first cappuccino. Having repeated the rigmarole and spent the next hour crossing my fingers and freezing my tootsies off; while telepathically daring the charger to throw another paddy, I finally achieved the heady heights of an 80% charge. As for the tantalising promise of a rapid 150kW delivery rate, at no point, did I see the meter exceed 65kW. As frustrating as these experiences may have been they were mere bagatelle compared to what awaited me at Cambridge services on the A14 and the fun and games Ionity had in store for me.
Two bank card interactions and three different charge point attempts later, with not so much as a glimmer forthcoming, I rang the hotline, more in hope than expectation. Speaking to a nice lady who asked me to remain calm while she led me a merry dance around the Genesis, involving locking and unlocking, plugging in and plugging out while patting my head and simultaneously stroking my belly in a circular fashion – I may have made that last bit up – she too tried in vain to persuade the tight-fisted charger to put out.
Finally, the lady on the phone surrendered and offered to supply me with a small emergency boost, free of charge to get me to the next available charging station. Although she could not explain how she was able to do this and yet she wasn’t able to let me pay for a full charge. Finally, we ended our chit-chat with her sighing profusely and me giggling manically like a condemned man tucking into his pre-neck-tie breakfast. I suppose if there is one saving grace in all this, it is the fact that the price being charged by these companies for electricity is so reasonable. Of course, I’m joking.
With the price of juice now commonly, ranging between 79p and 85p per kilowatt for anything approaching a reasonable rapid rate, asking an EV to take on long journeys is still a frustratingly inconvenient and prohibitively expensive undertaking. That said, I suppose the fact that I am currently writing this report plugged into a 22kW charger on a charming little industrial estate just outside of Doncaster proves enforced downtime doesn’t need to have a downside. Tell it to the birds.
| Model | Genesis Electrified GV70 Sport |
| P11D price | £64,300 |
| As tested | £77,825 |
| WLTP Combined Range | 276 miles |
| Test consumption | 3.1 miles per/kWh |
| Mileage | 7,049 |
3rd Report: Winter a time of dread for EVs
Winter, is it really the season to be jolly? Not if you’re running an EV. With freezing temperatures having such a devastating effect on range and resorting to Arctic expedition-grade parkas becomes the norm rather than using the battery-draining heater, personally, I reckon winter couldn’t be any less jolly if it tried.
Of course, my experiences of such dire predicaments are mainly the results of spending too many chilly miles in modestly powered EVs like the Nissan Leaf and Cupra Born. Don’t get me wrong, if you use one of these aforementioned motors primarily for commuting and local journeys and you’re fortunate enough to have access to a home or office charger, you may well be thinking what on earth is that old Scrooge Tullin banging on about?
Well not all of us have the luxury of home or office charging and my commute can often be in the hundreds rather than the 10s of miles, so any depletion of range and the additional cost wrought about by this reduction is something that really winds me up.
Thankfully the Genesis Electrified GV70 is fitted with a substantial 77.4 kWh battery, which under ideal conditions is theoretically capable of 276 miles. I say theoretically because even I’m not fool enough to charge the battery to 100% and then run it until things splutter to a standstill. Or at least that’s what I thought until I received an email from the Genesis PR department asking me if I’d like to participate in a coast-to-coast challenge. The idea being to charge the cars fully in Workington located on the Irish Sea before driving to Whitley Bay on the North Sea coast before returning to Workington, all on a single charge.
A quick glance at Google Maps revealed this expedition would be in the order of 206 miles. Now even on a balmy summer’s day, that’s a bit of an ambitious target and I’m guessing even towards the back end of November Genesis had hoped the daytime temperatures might hit the heady heights of double figures. As it turned out the early morning zero-degrees C that greeted me and six journalistic colleagues as we rolled up to our initial charging station meant a 100 percent charge promised a potential range of just 204 miles. Although there was a promise of an additional 15 miles if I was prepared to forsake the heater, having blood rather than anti-freeze running through my veins, I decided to ignore this kind offer.
Of course, this computer-generated forecast was based on my previous driving behaviour but knowing I’d driven the previous day and to our starting line like a nun leading a Sunday school outing, I was beginning to think things were looking increasingly sketchy.
I did have some hope that as the sun rose the temperature would do so accordingly and extend my range but as it turned out the mercury stubbornly refused to climb above 5-degrees throughout the entire journey. However, things did look more encouraging having spent the morning traversing the snail-paced A69 and pulling into the newly renovated Spanish City car park as I was greeted by a dash readout suggesting I’d averaged 3.3 miles per kW hours and still had 114 miles of motoring remaining.
Fortified by this positive halfway house achievement, along with a huge portion of fish and chips, mushy peas and bread and butter, I set off on the return leg before the Newcastle rush hour could kick in and I retraced my journey making near uninterrupted progress back to the gale-swept shores of Workington.
Arriving almost free of range anxiety with 11 percent and a whopping 23 miles left in the battery the GV70 had performed beyond its forecasted expectations by a healthy margin. By way of celebration, as I set off for home, after pausing for an hour to re-energise myself and the GV, I cranked the heating up to 28 degrees, maxed out the heated seats and heated steering wheel and thumbed the boost button to unleash a tidal wave of EV power every time I came across a dawdling line of traffic. As I’ve always said, winter is the season to be jolly.
| Model | Genesis Electrified GV70 Sport |
| P11D price | £64,300 |
| As tested | £77,825 |
| WLTP Combined Range | 276 miles |
| Test consumption | 3.1 miles per/kWh |
| Mileage | 6,019 |
2nd Report: Kid in a sweet shop
I must admit I’ve been feeling a bit like a kid in a sweet shop ever since our GV70 turned up. Yes, I know the rear three-quarter camera view that pops up on the dashboard whenever I indicate to overtake is available on lesser Hyundai/Kia models, and yes, the boost button which automatically tightens up the seat bolsters and simultaneously stiffens the suspension as it unleashes the full force of 490hp isn’t exactly groundbreaking. And yet, none of this prevents a cheeky grin from spilling across my chops every time I whoosh past a line of sleepy Sunday morning traffic.
Equally, at my age, I really shouldn’t get such a juvenile kick from abracadabra-ing the key-fob remote parking control, although, it is a proper showstopper. Not that I’ve employed it as intended to extract the GV from a tight shopping mall parking bay. Why would I do that, when I can shout, ‘Here-boy’ and get my magic conveyance to glide silently up to the front door and have the neighbours’ kids think I’m some interplanetary Time Lord. As with so much in life though, it’s the subtle things which can make the biggest differences. For example, the smoothness of the electric motors which power the Genesis’s windows and seat movements, and the expense involved in acquiring these ghostly movements is something I really appreciate. Especially as I know getting the bean counters to sign off on this type of non-essential expenditure is akin to persuading a Yorkshireman to get his round in. Equally, the way the GV70’s additional reversing lights pinpoint any hidden kerbs which may be lurking in the background and enhance the rear camera view may not constitute must-haves, but these items do suggest a level of customer consideration that all too many manufacturers fail to factor into their product planning.
Of course, the inclusion of many of these features is so often dependent on a vehicle’s development cycle and the budget that is available to purchase said features from suppliers during that period. For example, the GV70’s intelligent lighting does what most of these systems do. When full beam is selected myriad sensors, and no end of computing power, decide which parts of the lighting jigsaw to blank out and which parts to leave illuminated so as not to dazzle oncoming drivers. Although the Genesis system works effectively enough, there are some tell-tale shady striations visible between each lighting segment, which suggests it is an earlier iteration and a slightly inferior version of the near-seamless systems that are now available. Not that there’s anything old hat about the GV’s interior. The subtle backlit translucent mother-of-pearl door inserts and the glass-topped rotary controller, which operates the infotainment screen, set amongst a sea of deeply-padded leather facias and stainless-steel accents look and feel proper fancy. As do the multi-faceted diamond stitched seats which are super comfortable and chock-a-block with features. Granted I don’t think I’ll be activating the cooling ventilation function over the coming months but I’m sure the spicy heat settings and massage function will get a proper workout.
Genesis’s approach to the GV’s suspension will also contribute to my lumbar health. Yes, things can get a wee bit jittery on coarser surfaces, but the primary body movements are so luxurious I felt compelled to get down on my hands and knees to check for any evidence of air suspension. Yes, I really am that sad. Even though the undersides of the GV are shrouded in mystery, hidden behind a vehicle-length plastic skid plate, I did manage to catch a glimpse of some traditional steel coil springs as well as some spaghetti hoops of wiring entering the top of the adaptive dampers. Genesis says these dampers are informed by forward-facing cameras, which read the road surface and adjust the compliance rates accordingly, in advance of any lumps and bumps. Not that this technology is anything new, as Mercedes used a similar set-up a decade or so ago on its S-Class and back then the results were difficult to detect when compared to standard S-Class. Now perhaps modern processing powers have improved the effectiveness of this tech but regardless of the influence or non-influence of gathering advanced info, for the most part, the GV floats along in an imperious fashion. That’s always provided I don’t engage Sport mode, which instantly introduces a brittle unforgiving accent to proceedings. So that’s a lesson learnt.
| Model | Genesis Electrified GV70 Sport |
| P11D price | £64,300 |
| As tested | £77,825 |
| WLTP Combined Range | 276 miles |
| Test consumption | 3.1 miles per/kWh |
| Mileage | 3,975 |
1st Report
Regardless of what happens with import tariffs, we can expect to see a host of Chinese brands setting up shop on these shores in the not-too-distant future – many already have – so you could argue Hyundai couldn’t have picked a worse time to launch its Genesis luxury brand into the UK.
Obviously, Genesis is Korean, not Chinese, but it faces similar marketing challenges when it comes to capturing the hearts and minds of UK customers and that’s before the European legacy brands really start to roll up their sleeves. Anyone remember what happened to Infiniti?
Of course, you could argue Infiniti got everything wrong from the outset, introducing outmoded rolling stock that had been on sale for several years in the US and by the time the company realised it was totally out of kilter with market demands – at the time that demand was for fuel-efficient diesels, not gas-guzzling petrol engines – it was too little too late.
Now you could accuse Genesis of scampering down a similar rabbit hole by introducing the GV70 with 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol and 2.2-litre diesel engines but thankfully, some brave soul must have shouted loud enough ‘is it just me’ and convinced some high ups to sign off the funds to for an electrified powertrain, hence, the Electrified GV70.
Now there are obvious signs that the GV70 platform proably wasn’t designed with a fully buzzed application as a priority. Perhaps a mild or a plug-in hybrid may have been considered but the fact a great big transmission tunnel runs down the centre of the GV70 tells me it was formulated primarily with internal combustion engines in mind. Therefore, it is all the more remarkable that the Electrified GV70 feels so well resolved.
Granted, like almost every EV, Genesis’ mid-sized SUV is a proper heavyweight. At 2,300kg it is 400kg heavier than the petrol version but the combination of sophisticated suspension and accurate steering do an excellent job of disguising this inherent bulk.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of the Electrified GV70 is just how quiet it is, I mean, it is cathedral-quiet. While the electric motors are so well isolated you’d swear you are being motivated by celestial influence rather than any form of electrickery, road and wind noise are reduced to mere background murmurs. This is the best news possible, if, like me, you’re inclined to spend far too many hours enduring the torturous nature of our moribund motorways, as noise is an absolute terror when it comes to inducing tiredness. Our particular GV70 comes with a host of defences designed to outwit outside bombardments, such as all-round laminate side glass and a lush Lexicon sound system, which, as well as supplying rich melodies pumps active noise-cancelling tones into the cabin to help reduce the thunderous slapping of those tortured 20in tyres on pummeled tarmac.
Of course it helps that the interior also combines a sense of regal old money elegance with subtle and intuitive tech. While precison-tailored leather covers almost everything I’ll come in touch with, our car features the Nappa leather diamond stitched seats, designed to cosset and gently pulsate every inch of my lumbar regions.
A wide-screen infotainment display can be controlled via digit interaction, or in my particular case by the BMW-like rotary controller, and I’m absolutely cock-a-hoop about the similar rotary controls for easy adjustment of the cabin temperature.
What’s not quite so much in keeping with all this calm and deportment is the GV70’s ability to summon up bombastic performance thanks to a maximum power output of up to 490hp. If I chose, I can press the boost button, which is somewhat eccentrically located on the centre-spoke of the steering wheel and fire me and the GV70 from a standstill to 0-62mph in a scenery blurring 4.2 seconds. Of course, as gigglesome as these antics are I can ill afford to wave goodbye to the already rather limited 276 miles official range. And this is before Jack Frost and his range-depleting nip comes calling, so no doubt I’ll be exercising a measure of restraint most of the time.
From a load-lugging perspective the GV70 isn’t particularly great. Yes, there are handles just inside the boot so I don’t have to open the side doors to fold the seatbacks down but that sloping roof line means the boot is pretty shallow. What’s more, can someone tell me who signed off that cheap-o roller blind cover? ‘The boat was sunk for a hapeth of tar’ may be a bit excessive, but really?
Standard equipment: Keyless entry, remote central locking, tri-zone climate control, heated seats, digital cockpit, 14in infotainment screen sat-navigation, three-spoke leather heated multi-function steering wheel with paddles for recuperation level selection, 2 front & 2 rear USB type C sockets, wireless Apple Carplay, wireless phone charger. Adaptive cruise control with stop-start function and speed limiter, dynamic smart LED headlights lights with cornering function, lane assist, forward collision warning with automatic braking, driver alert system, acoustic side windows, front and rear parking sensors, rear view camera. Finger print reader authentication.
Options: Mauna Red metallic paint £750, 20in alloy wheels £630, Innovation pack including head-up display, surround view monitor, blind-spot view monitor, remote smart parking assist, dual LED headlights with intelligent front-lighting system, 12.3in 3D Cluster Display, Comfort seat pack including ergomotion front seats with electric lumbar, cushion extensions, heated and ventilation feature £1,660, Nappa leather seat pack £2,300, Lexicon Audio System £1,010, Convenience Pack+ second row Comfort Seat Pack including heated steering wheel, rear laminated side glass, heated front and rear seats, rear air conditioning with auto temp control.
| Model | Genesis Electrified GV70 Sport |
| P11D price | £64,300 |
| As tested | £77,825 |
| WLTP Combined Range | 276 miles |
| Test consumption/Range | 3.1 miles per/kWh |
| Mileage | 3,180 |
