Large luxury sedans seem like the perfect candidate for electrification. These segments are often associated with tranquility and luxury.
So it seems a no-brainer that part of the Genesis electrification strategy including electrification G80 sedans. While this is not a bespoke EV platform, it is a stepping stone to a bespoke EV platform that will power future generations of Genesis electric vehicles.
The Genesis Electrified G80 is all about taking the internal combustion platform and turning it out with electrical components.
How well does it work? We had the opportunity to drive a pre-production car on a closed road near Sydney to find out.
How many, how much Price of Genesis Electrified G80?
Pricing is yet to be confirmed for Australia, but it is expected to be around $150,000 when it goes on sale in late 2022.
For reference, here is the price equivalent to Tesla Model S Long Range before the price was removed from the company’s website.
The Electrified G80 will be sold in Australia with a single specification that reflects the Luxury Package, which means it will pick up all the bells and whistles.
What is Genesis Electrified G80 like inside?
Don’t expect a big deviation inside the cabin compared to the all-electric G80. Genesis has focused on making the G80 Electrified look very similar to its internal combustion cousin.
That means the interior of the cabin is all about minimalist luxury. Some brands discount large screens and electronics overload to offset the large sticker price you’re paying for the deluxe model.
On the other hand, Genesis keeps it simple and focuses on the perception of luxury. There are soft finishing touches to the eye, while the infotainment system has the same look and feel as other high-end Genesis variants.
That means a large 14.5-inch color touchscreen controlled by touch or by a rotary controller right near the gear selector. It’s easy enough to use, high-resolution, and comes with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – though both are wired, so unfortunately there’s no wireless smartphone connectivity.
In front of the driver is a large 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that provides 3D layering. We don’t really like the look and feel of the 3D layering system, and often tend to turn that feature off. It lacks clarity and doesn’t offer any real tangible benefits over a laminated display.
It’s a super cozy place to be seated with modest wood grain used throughout the cabin. The seats even have airbags in them that can be charged for massaging purposes while driving. It’s great technology that works well, and you can really feel it doing something – some of the cheaper massage chair systems are quite inefficient in terms of their performance.
Genesis has chosen strangely to go down the USB-A connection route in the G80. It’s a strange move as the world is moving towards USB-C connectivity and their latest and greatest model doesn’t have this modern plug.
The second row offers plenty of knee space, but toe room is compromised, as does head room. It feels like they tried to attach the battery to the floor and as a result didn’t leave enough space for the toes. The director’s office is similar, thanks to the sloping roofline.
The two front entertainment screens for the rear passengers provide touchscreen functionality, while the center armrest has additional controls for the display, ambient lighting and power rear curtain.
Cargo space has been significantly compromised thanks to the electric drive components. It feels like an older LPG Falcon would take up space in the back of the boot. The Electrified G80 has a similar hump in the trunk that takes away your cargo capacity, cited at 354 liters compared to the 424L of the regular G80 models.
One thing we love is the Electrified G80’s rooftop solar array. While it’s insignificant in the grand scheme of things, it does offer the ability to deliver around 800Wh of battery capacity over the course of a day. It’s not much, but it’s thermal energy that would otherwise be wasted.
What’s under the bonnet?
Powering the Genesis Electrified G80 is a dual electric motor system with one electric motor on each axle. Equally sized electric motors generate 136kW a piece, producing combined outputs 272kW and 700Nm.
It pulls its energy from a 87.2kWh battery and features Hyundai and Kia’s new high-tech charging platform.
On the charging front, the Electrified GV70 has the same 400/800V charging architecture as Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. That means AC charging at up to 11kW using three-phase and DC charging at up to 350kW.
In addition to the charging capability, the Electrified GV70 is V2L capable with an output power of 3.6kW. The training ground is yet to be confirmed for the Australian market, but we expect it to over 500km.
Genesis quotes a 0-100km/h time of about five seconds.
How Genesis Electrified G80 drive?
Worth mentioning again the car we drove was a pre-production example. While the final production car will have suspension tuning with components from other markets, the car we drive doesn’t have complete suspension components or complete production tuning.
But, having said that, we are very impressed with it. Right from the start, it feels like any other electric car – it’s smooth, powerful, and behaves like anything electric.
At low speeds, the steering is light and the throttle is responsive enough without jerking your neck if you pedal too hard. In terms of energy regeneration, the Electrified G80 offers three levels of recuperation, along with a ‘single-pedal’ driving mode that allows the vehicle to come to a complete stop without using the brake pedal.
It goes from Level 0 recovery when it’s fully operational, going into active recovery slows things down much faster.
What impressed us the most was the trip. The Electrified G80 sits on 19-inch alloy wheels destined for the Australian market and uses a front-facing camera to adjust adaptive damping.
While that ride is extremely luxurious and smooth when just driving around, it almost completely changes personality when switched to Sport mode. In Sport mode, the full 700Nm of torque can be felt as it pins you back to the seat and starts to feel like a car half the size.
It lays flat through corners, and a well-organized stability control system lets you keep your foot in tight corners while aligning the rest. It doesn’t move like its size would suggest and despite carrying a 2300kg mass – about 300kg heavier than the internal combustion G80.
Genesis has also integrated the entire system nicely thanks to its progressive brake pedal feel and good switching between regenerative and frictional braking.
The silence inside the cabin is also next level. It’s inherently quiet thanks to the level of sound insulation to block out road and wind noise, but being electric, it’s inherently quieter with the internal combustion engine removed from the equation.
CarExpert’s Takes On Genesis Electrified G80
There’s a real vibe about the Genesis Electrified G80.
When you put it next to German competitors, it’s real and feels more than it is just a large luxury sedan.
It’s not mentally fast like a Tesla Model WILL, but I’m fine with that. It’s not need In that way and where the Model S delivers direct performance, the Electrified G80 outdoes it in luxury as well as fit and finish.
For some, if not most, that will mean more than just how fast it moves in a straight line.
Electrified G80 is hard to fault. Outside of second-row legroom and reduced trunk space on the internal combustion version, it creates a high level of water in the luxury EV sedan segment.
I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the production version to see if it’s as good as the final product.
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THAN: Everything Genesis G80
