► Month 6 of Genesis GV70 long-term test
► Flitting between petrol and EV models
► Read month 1 here
My GV70 Electrified is still away having SIM and trim issues rectified so I’m driving a GV70 Fossilised instead this month. It has the 300bhp turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, all-wheel drive and an eight-speed auto, but otherwise is visually largely identical to my EV version, down to the rather lovely puddle lights which make it look like you’re summoning Batman.
My old friend, US podcaster Jonny Lieberman, was surprisingly enthusiastic about the petrol version – ‘imagine a BMW X3, only good!’ – and while I have a philosophical objection to retro-fitting an EV powertrain to an existing combustion platform, as Genesis has done with the GV, the comparison is instructive.
Quick and refined though the petrol engine is, coming to it after getting used to the electric version is a bit like stepping back to a time when Nick Clegg was still deputy prime minister. It can be a shock to find that you don’t have an electric motor’s instant torque under your right foot when pulling out or overtaking.
And isn’t petrol expensive, and not walking outside to find a fully charged car every morning a serious inconvenience?
Read month 1
Read month 2
Read month 3
Read month 4
Read month 5
Logbook: Genesis GV70 Electrified
Price: £64,405 (£78,895 as tested)
Performance: 77.4kWh battery, twin e-motors, 4.2sec 0-62mph, 146mph
Efficiency: 3.6 miles per kWh (claimed), 2.7 (tested), 0g/km CO2
Range: 283 miles (claimed), 210 miles (tested)
Energy cost: 10.6p per mile
Miles this month: 0 (still using a courtesy car)
Total miles: 9776