► Month 5 with *a* Genesis
► Our car goes back with a SIM issue
► Do we need all this tech, really?
EVs give us less to write about – from a dynamic perspective, at least. So, I don’t have much to say about how the Genesis GV70 drives, other than the very impressive ride and refinement previously mentioned. It’s not as quick as theBMWiXM60 I ran for a while, but quick enough for confident overtaking. Instead of focusing on aural quality, gearchange tactility and throttle response, we need to focus more on build quality, design and cabin tech, and the car’s more holistic qualities.
With no stand-out dynamic qualities, does it cohere as a package? It’s a family car, and the family think so. Partner Sophie has declared that for its balance of size, mass, comfort and range, the GV70 is her favourite of the four EVs we’ve run in succession – following a Kia EV6, that BMW and a Ford Mustang Mach E. Daughter Rosa-Grace has named the Genesis ‘Jenny’, and there’s a slight slump of the nine-year- old shoulders and stamp of the size-threes if she has to travel by any other means.
If they’re happy (and safe), I’m happy. Mostly. While our GV70 is currently away having a failed SIM card rectified, its replacement is offering all the ‘live’ services which went dead in ours: chiefly the satnav and the remote functions facilitated by the app.
It’s good to have those back, though Google Maps works fine via the wired-only connection. But some of the others I could really live without. The main screen in this car has been configured differently and the less than intuitive interface means I can’t be bothered to change it before ours comes back.
That means I’ve spent the last few hundred miles with a live sports ticker in my line of sight, updating me on scores in the Magical Kenya Open golf tournament and the women’s pro-tour game in Thailand. Really? I’m not a golf fan, but is anyone – and I mean a single occupant of any GV70, anywhere – sufficiently interested in these events to need the scores displayed alongside important data like their car’s range, and the next turn you’re due to take?
With tech, just because you can doesn’t always mean you should. The Genesis does a perhaps excessively good job of alerting you to every possible danger, but maybe a more logical approach might be to simplify the user experience, resist the temptation to over-compensate for a slightly anonymous driving experience with a blizzard of infotainment options, and not distract the driver in the first place.
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Logbook: Genesis GV70 Electrified
Price £64,405 (£78,895 as tested)
Performance 77.4kWh battery, twin e-motors, 483bhp, 4.2sec 0-62mph, 146mph
Efficiency 3.6 miles per kWh (official), 2.7 (tested), 0g/km CO2
Range 283 miles (official), 210 miles (tested)
Energy cost 10.6p per mile
Miles this month 0 (using a courtesy car)
Total miles 9776