2022 Kia EV6

Scored on the dual-motor 77.4-kWh AWD configuration (Wind/GT-Line AWD). 2022 is the launch model year of the first generation and has no GT — the 576-hp GT arrived for MY2023 — so 320 hp is the top of the 2022 range.

Dual-motor combined torque available from zero rpm makes the AWD EV6 feel far quicker in traffic than its horsepower alone suggests.

Instrumented tests of the AWD car land around 4.5 s, well ahead of Kia's conservative 5.1 s claim and quicker than nearly every gas compact SUV; the RWD cars are far slower.

Single-speed EV delivery with no lag or combustion coarseness, and the 800V E-GMP system sustains output under repeated load. Held just short of the top because hard AWD launches produce some front-axle push.

Single-speed reduction gear — nothing to hunt or shift harshly. Paddle-selectable regen levels and i-Pedal one-pedal mode give good control; docked slightly for the regen/friction brake blending that 2022 reviews criticized.

Only a light trailer rating — fine for a small utility trailer, not a camper — and the biggest drag on the category.

Dual-motor e-AWD with a disconnecting front motor and snow mode is optional on Wind and GT-Line. Slightly below 2023 because no trim has it standard (no GT yet), the entry Light is RWD-only, and there is no low range or locking hardware.

About 6 inches of ground clearance, road tires, no skid plates and no terrain modes beyond snow — a pavement car.

Battery-electric only with no gas, hybrid or PHEV alternative. Narrower than 2023: three configurations across two batteries and RWD/AWD, with no high-performance GT yet.

The volume dual-motor configuration rates 105 MPGe (about 32 kWh/100 mi) — solid for a compact AWD EV, a little behind the 2023 AWD's 109 and the RWD cars.

City is the strongest EPA figure, as for any EV, helped by adjustable regen and i-Pedal.

Highway efficiency drops about 19% from city, the usual EV pattern.

The volume AWD gets 274 EPA miles from the 77.4-kWh pack — 36 miles short of the RWD car on the same battery and 8 miles short of the 2023 AWD rating; mid-band for a compact EV SUV.

The 800-volt E-GMP architecture accepts roughly 240 kW on the 77.4-kWh pack — well above most 400-volt compact electric SUVs of 2022.

Kia quotes 18 minutes 10–80% on a 350 kW charger for the Long Range pack — among the quickest on sale in 2022.

EPA puts the volume AWD at $700 a year at 15,000 mi — a fraction of a comparably quick gas crossover.

No gasoline, 800V fast charging, a 10.9 kW onboard charger for overnight Level 2 fills, and vehicle-to-load. Held back because the CCS1 port had no Tesla Supercharger access in 2022, leaving public charging dependent on the then-unreliable Electrify America network (Kia bundled 1,000 kWh of free EA charging).

NHTSA did not publish an overall rating for the 2022 EV6 (rollover not rated), but both 2022 variants earned 5-star frontal and 5-star side results, and later model years of this same first generation earned 5 stars overall, so the generation's latest-tested rating is used. MEDIUM because the 2022 overall itself is 'Not Rated'.

Every IIHS crashworthiness test is Good, but the 2022 Top Safety Pick+ applies only to vehicles built after August 2022 (when the headlights were improved); the bulk of 2022 builds carry the same structure without the award, so it sits below the 2023 car's score.

Kia Drive Wise is standard on every 2022 EV6 trim (Light, Wind, GT-Line): Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with pedestrian/cyclist/junction-turning, Lane Keeping and Lane Following Assist, Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Highway Driving Assist, Blind-Spot and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, Safe Exit Assist. HDA2, Blind-Spot View Monitor and Surround View Monitor are GT-Line extras.

IIHS rated the standard Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist Superior in both vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime pedestrian testing; no nighttime pedestrian result is reported for 2022, so it stays below the band ceiling.

Blind-Spot and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist are standard with active braking/steering intervention, plus Safe Exit Assist; the Blind-Spot View Monitor camera is GT-Line only and there is no trailer-aware coverage.

Lane Following Assist and Highway Driving Assist give true lane centering on all trims, with HDA2's assisted lane change on GT-Line; reviewers find the calibration competent but slightly busy with small corrections in curves.

Full-speed Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go and Highway Driving Assist are standard; HDA2 and navigation-based cruise on GT-Line integrate well. Held at the band floor for conservative gap-keeping and because the best version is not on the volume Wind.

No hands-free highway driving is offered on any 2022 EV6 trim; HDA/HDA2 are hands-on systems requiring steering-wheel input.

IIHS rated the headlights Poor on EV6s built before September 2022 — the majority of the 2022 model-year run — and Good only on late builds after Kia's running change. High Beam Assist is standard, but a typical 2022 car carries the Poor-rated lamps.

High beltline, thick rear pillars and a small raked rear window split by the spoiler restrict rearward and over-the-shoulder views; forward visibility is good. Surround View and Blind-Spot View Monitor are GT-Line only, so the volume Wind relies on the rear camera.

The flat E-GMP floor, 114.2 in wheelbase and ~39 in of rear legroom leave room for car seats, with two outboard LATCH positions and three top tethers; the sloping roofline and low rear cushion make rear-facing installs more awkward than in taller rivals.

Two-row, five-passenger layout on every 2022 EV6 trim (Light, Wind, GT-Line); no larger seating configuration offered.

The volume Wind trim has no sunroof and gets the full 39.0 in; the GT-Line's sunroof costs over two inches.

Mid-pack front legroom for a compact SUV.

The sloping shooting-brake roofline holds rear headroom to roughly the segment average.

The 114.2-in E-GMP wheelbase and flat floor give generous rear legroom for a compact crossover.

The EV6 is strictly a two-row five-seater; there is no third row on any 2022 trim, so the item lands in the low band.

The low-roofed shooting-brake body trails conventional compact SUVs (CR-V, RAV4 ~37–39 cu ft) on cargo behind the second row.

Maximum cargo space is well below the compact-SUV norm of 65–75 cu ft.

Flat floor with open storage under the floating center console, a small frunk and underfloor cargo bin, plus Vehicle-to-Load power from Wind up; the fixed console and tiny AWD frunk keep it out of the top band.

Supportive power front seats, ventilated on the volume Wind trim; the rear cushion sits low over the battery floor, leaving taller adults with little thigh support.

The launch-year EV6 is tuned firmer than the Ioniq 5; composed on the highway but busy over potholes and broken pavement, especially on the GT-Line's 20-in wheels.

Silent powertrain and little wind noise, but noticeable tire roar on coarse surfaces; added acoustic insulation arrived only with the 2025 facelift.

Heated front seats and a heat pump are broadly available and Wind adds ventilated fronts, but in 2022 the heated steering wheel is Wind AWD/GT-Line only and heated rear seats are GT-Line AWD only — a narrower spread than the 2023 lineup.

In 2022, its launch year, the EV6 opened with the Light RWD Standard Range trim. Kia dropped that trim for 2023, so the 2022 entry price is about $8,000 lower than any later year.

Wind AWD is used as the representative trim. It is mid-ladder, it is the configuration Edmunds prices for its cost-to-own model, and it matches the trim used for the other EV6 years. Kia publishes no trim mix, so the volume trim is an estimate.

As a battery EV it needs no oil, spark-plug or exhaust service, and regenerative braking extends pad life. Kia includes no free scheduled maintenance, and the published estimates disagree widely, so this figure is a midpoint.

Many launch-year EV6s were bought at dealer markups, then used values fell sharply as EV prices dropped in 2023–24. At about 4.5 years old, a Wind AWD's private-party value is roughly 40–45% of its $52K sticker, which points to about 38% at five years.

Kia's 5-year/60,000-mile new-vehicle limited warranty is two years longer than the industry-standard 3 years/36,000 miles.

This coverage tops the band, and it includes the high-voltage battery and electric drive components.

There is no included scheduled maintenance, unlike Hyundai's 3 years/36,000 miles on the Ioniq 5. Kia added 1,000 kWh of free Electrify America DC fast charging in February 2022, worth about 3,500–4,000 miles and usable for three years, alongside 5-year/60,000-mile roadside assistance and a Kia Connect trial.

$52,115 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (38% retained, or about $19,804) leaves about $32,311 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,000 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $37,311 in total.

Mixed, leaning below average. J.D. Power rates the 2022 EV6 'Average' on quality and reliability, but 2022 was the launch year of the first E-GMP Kia and carries the heaviest complaint load of the generation, concentrated in the ICCU/12V electrical system that can strand the car — below the 2023 car's standing.

Kia was at its dependability peak around 2022 — the top mass-market brand in J.D. Power's 2022 Vehicle Dependability Study and a repeat top-five IQS finisher — but sits mid-table in Consumer Reports brand rankings, short of the Toyota/Lexus/Honda tier.

Every 2022 EV6 is in the ICCU loss-of-drive-power population, and the first remedy (SC302) was followed by a second campaign (SC327) recalling already-repaired cars; an early-build electronic parking brake recall adds to it. A repeated recall on a drive-power failure is squarely the 'major or repeated' band.

The E-GMP motors and 77.4 kWh pack have shown no battery-fire recall and unremarkable degradation, and single-speed permanent-magnet drive units are low-wear. But the ICCU in the high-voltage charging path failed repeatedly on launch-year cars, and in 2022 the platform had no field history at all — a brand-new powertrain with one real red flag.

The launch cabin is modern with soft-touch upper surfaces, recycled-material trims and the curved twin 12.3-inch display, but reviewers flagged the dual-function haptic climate/media bar and hard plastics on lower doors and console — competitive rather than class-leading at its Premium price.

Assembly is solid — road tests flagged no systemic panel-gap, rattle or squeak problems — but launch-year electrical gremlins and the J.D. Power 'Average' quality figure keep it below the top band.

Kia's ~750–800 US dealers give dense coverage, but EV-certified service capability was uneven at launch (not every dealer sold or serviced the EV6 in 2022), and the ICCU recall produced widely reported multi-week downtime awaiting parts.

High-voltage parts are dealer-only with little aftermarket, ICCU replacement units were backordered during the recall, and 800V E-GMP collision repairs are costly with Korean-import lead times; cheap routine maintenance and the long warranty soften owner exposure.

Every 2022 EV6 trim, including the base Light, carries the 12.3-in navigation touchscreen as part of the curved dual-screen display.

Quick, logically laid-out system with sharp graphics, but the switchable touch-capacitive climate/media bar can't show both functions at once and is widely criticized.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are wired-only on every 2022 EV6; wireless projection arrived only with the 2025 facelift.

Standard embedded navigation with charger POIs and Kia Connect services, plus serviceable voice recognition that trails Google-built-in systems.

A 14-speaker Meridian system is standard from the volume Wind trim up — strong value — though reviewers note it lacks deep bass; the base Light gets a basic system.

A crisp 12.3-in full digital cluster is standard across the lineup, with Blind-Spot View Monitor feeds on the GT-Line.

The 2022 EV6 receives over-the-air map/infotainment updates only; powertrain and ECU fixes (including the ICCU campaign) required dealer visits.

Kia Connect covers remote climate/preconditioning, lock/unlock, vehicle locator and charge scheduling; no phone-as-key on the US 2022 EV6.

Wireless phone charging standard from the Light trim, USB-C front and rear, and Vehicle-to-Load from Wind up (interior outlet on GT-Line) to power devices.

Smart-key proximity entry, push-button start, app-based remote climate and a hands-free liftgate on Wind; Remote Smart Parking Assist on GT-Line, but no phone-as-key.

Rear camera standard and front/rear parking sensors on Wind; Surround View Monitor, Blind-Spot View Monitor and Remote Smart Parking Assist are GT-Line only.

An augmented-reality head-up display is available but exclusive to the top GT-Line; not offered on the volume Wind.

Long 114.2-in wheelbase, 39.0 in of rear legroom and a flat floor make rear-facing seats workable, but the 24.4 cu ft cargo hold is tight for a stroller plus groceries.

5-star NHTSA frontal and side ratings and a Top Safety Pick+ for later builds, with blind-spot, rear cross-traffic and Safe Exit Assist standard; early-build Poor headlights and no NHTSA overall rating for MY2022 hold it below the 2023.

Good rear legroom and ventilated front seats on Wind, but heated rear seats are GT-Line AWD only, the rear cushion is low, the ride is firm, and luggage space with four aboard is modest.

Seamless single-speed EV drive with paddle-selectable regen and i-Pedal one-pedal mode makes traffic effortless; the firm ride and restricted rear view are the only daily irritants.

About $700 a year in electricity on EPA assumptions for the volume AWD ($650 RWD), with no oil changes and minimal brake wear thanks to regen.

Compact footprint and a 38.2-ft turning circle are city-friendly, and Wind adds front/rear sensors; the small rear window hurts visibility and surround view is GT-Line only.

A 2,300-lb tow rating with a big range penalty and only 24.4/50.2 cu ft of cargo make the EV6 a poor work tool beyond light errands.

Long 10-yr/100k-mi powertrain and battery warranty, but 6.1 in of clearance, no underbody protection, a premium cabin and the 2022–2024 ICCU failure campaign argue against hard use.

Vehicle-to-Load (~1.9 kW) from Wind up can run tools at a site, but there is no factory hitch package, little upfit ecosystem and a small low-roofed cargo hold.

274 miles on the volume AWD (310 RWD) and class-leading 800V charging (10–80% in ~18 min) make for short stops; the firm ride and HDA2 being GT-Line only hold it back.

Available AWD and V2L for campsite power help, but 6.1 in of clearance, no off-road modes and a low-roof body keep it pavement-and-gravel only.

60/40 split-folding rear seat, underfloor bin and a small frunk help, but 24.4/50.2 cu ft and a sloping hatch limit bulky gear; no factory roof rails.

Low battery-floor center of gravity, a shorter wheelbase than the Ioniq 5 and firmer tuning give sharp, well-balanced handling for a compact crossover.

Accurate and quick but short on feedback — the typical E-GMP electric steering calibration.

Adjustable regen and i-Pedal work well, but the blend from regen to friction braking in the pedal is the launch-year EV6's most criticized calibration.

Instant, seamless dual-motor delivery (320 hp / 446 lb-ft on the volume AWD) through a single-speed reduction gear with no shift events.

Motors are near-silent with only faint whine under load; tire roar, not the drivetrain, is the main noise source.

Kia publishes a 19 ft 1 in curb-to-curb turning radius, i.e. a ~38.2-ft diameter — average for a compact SUV.

Good seat and wheel adjustment with a clear dual-screen layout, but the shared touch-sensitive climate/media bar and the narrow rear window are recurring ergonomic complaints.

The volume AWD runs to 60 in about 4.5 s with a sporty chassis; the 576-hp GT did not join the lineup until MY2023, so the 2022 range tops out at the 320-hp GT-Line.

The Light trim keeps the dual 12.3-inch panoramic displays, vehicle-to-load and the core Drive Wise driver-assist suite, but pairs them with the smaller 58 kWh pack and fewer comforts. From the volume Wind trim up, the 77.4 kWh pack, heated seats and a power liftgate are standard. Equipment is competitive with the Ioniq 5 and Mach-E rather than clearly ahead of them.

The 800-volt E-GMP hardware gives class-leading DC charging speed and strong range from a $42K entry price, and early-2022 buyers could still claim the $7,500 federal credit. Widespread dealer markups in the 2022 supply crunch, and the loss of the credit after the August 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, eroded real transaction value.

There are five configurations spanning $15K: a Standard Range Light RWD, then Wind and GT-Line each in RWD or AWD with the Long Range pack. That is a better-spaced ladder than in later years, which lost the Light trim, but the 576-hp GT did not arrive until the 2023 model year.

In its supply-constrained launch year the EV6 sold about 20,500 US units. That is a solid start for a non-Tesla EV, but well behind the Model Y and Mustang Mach-E and in line with its Ioniq 5 twin.

Following its 2021 rebrand Kia's image was rising quickly, and the EV6 was the brand's design and technology halo. Kia remained a mainstream value brand without luxury pull, though, and weak EV residuals later limited the halo's effect.

In 2022 supply was scarce and EV6s commonly sold at or above MSRP, often with dealer markups. The buyer benefits were the $7,500 federal tax credit until the August 2022 Inflation Reduction Act cutoff and 1,000 kWh of free Electrify America charging. The $7,500 lease-cash pass-through did not begin until January 2023.

2022 was the launch model year of an all-new dedicated-EV generation on the 800-volt E-GMP platform, Kia's first purpose-built EV. The facelift did not arrive until the 2025 model year.

This is one of the most-awarded EVs of its era. Reviewers consistently rated it the sharper-driving and better-packaged of the E-GMP twins, and its awards run from 2022 European Car of the Year to 2023 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year.