E-Auto: Test Genesis GV 70 im

50,000 km in about 1.5 years: It’s important to stick with it. After all, that’s the distance of a full trip around the world and all of Europe at that. It was a good thing for us that the all-electric Genesis GV 70, driven this distance, has such formidable ride characteristics. Whenever there was a long journey, my colleagues liked to use the Start key.

On the one hand, this is due to its powerful engine. Engines on the front and rear axles, each with 180 kW or 245 hp, provide 436 hp of system output. And if the “Boost” button on the steering wheel is pressed, an impressive 490 hp and 700 Nm are released in no time. After 4.2 seconds, 100 km / h is reached by the Porsche 911, which was close to you, slowly visible on the outside mirror (0-100 in 4.5 seconds). And if you still do not lift your foot on the accelerator, you can accelerate to a maximum speed of 235 km / h. Most other electric cars have been banned much earlier.

However, no one has used its performance regularly, because the car does not like such extremes. Even in the “Sport” position, the chassis seems overpowered when accelerating at full speed. The chassis lifts up from the springs and steering precision is flawed. No, despite his vast reserves of power, Genesis is not an athlete. On the contrary, his field is a high level of comfort.

It charges very fast

If you take it a little slower and don’t rush every corner to the last groove, you will quickly appreciate the stability and calmness of the car. Peace and quiet because the engineers have pulled out all the stops to make the car quiet. Four sensors register the sound inside the interior and the counter sound that is calculated at lightning speed is played through eight loudspeakers, which eliminates annoying noises (the so-called “noise cancellation”). It works surprisingly well. The comfort of moving increases only by maneuvering. The camera monitors the road in front of the car and adjusts the humidity to the respective road conditions in a fraction of a second. The reward for the effort is quiet travel, even over long distances. This is also compared to fault-free brakes, where the transition from electrical depletion (recuperation) to mechanical breakdown is not visible.

Another attraction of the car also contributes to its high suitability for commuting. Thanks to the 800 volt technology (400 volts is standard), the car can be charged much faster. At the peak of the conditioned battery we achieved a charging speed of 238 kWh. There are only a few cars that are faster. And the factory claims of 10-80 percent charge in 18 minutes are quite believable. However, we did not reach consumption figures of 19.2 – 19.9 kWh / 100 km. We got 22.5 kWh for the whole time, which is still not reasonable. With a battery capacity (net) of 77.4 kWh, this results in a practical range of 350 km (summer) to 280 km (winter). As with all electric vehicles, values ​​vary greatly from each other.

Charging the best plan prevents itself

You can leave the programming of charging points to the on-board computer, but with a little experience you can do it better yourself. An alert navigation system directs you to a charging station very early, often with 100km of range left on the display. We managed the Hamburg-Frankfurt route manually with one charging station, the system wanted to do two. This could be done better.

What hinders the transportability to some extent is the only average knee room in the back with an average volume of 504 liters. In our opinion, the 380 liters measured by ADAC is more in line with reality. But his colleagues were traveling more on business and traveled with small luggage. Then 1.8 tons were impressive for an electric car. Trailer loading is not claimed.

The inspection, which was carried out at about 30,000 kilometers, was like the beginning. Finally, each buyer is assigned a personal assistant who handles all vehicle-related issues. When it comes to inspections, this means: One phone call is enough and the car will be picked up on the required date and another car will be delivered to your door for the duration of the inspection. We exchanged again that evening. All this does not cost a penny within the first five years. Any operating equipment and wear parts that may be required are also included in the price. With a base price of 69,580 euros, it is at the same level as the premium German competition (BMW iX3 67,300 euros), but includes more equipment and services. Our test car cost 78,000 euros with all available extras.

On-board power batteries are the most common cause of breakdowns

And then there was a stain on the clean slate. Shortly before the end of the trial, ADAC had to act. However, the reason can be blamed less on the car than on the author. In a difficult download situation (“Guests are coming!”), the author forgot to lock the car properly, which means the “ignition” was not completely turned off. In this case, the various systems continue to work without being detected in the background and draw energy from the 12-volt battery on board which is also located. And a lot of it. After a good three hours the juice ran out and the car could not be restarted. Case in point with a technician who briefly connected a 12 volt battery to his charger and recovered a minimum charge. By the way, contrary to popular belief, it is not dead drive batteries but dead on-board power batteries that are the most common cause of electric vehicle breakdowns: 43.2 percent of all electric vehicle breakdown assistance calls were due to this, according to. for ADAC 2022.

And how is the car doing after 50,000 km? Almost flawless. The paint is as bright as it was on day one and the interior has not been worn at all. The white leather interior (“Glacier White”) only shows dirt and needs a little cleaning, especially on the driver’s seat. Otherwise, all components work flawlessly and without any defects, as they did over the entire 50,000 km. Wear is invisible or visible. The future owner can be happy: He will receive a car that looks like new and still has a 3.5-year warranty. Well done, Genesis.