2022 Kia EV6 electric crossover teased with sleek looks and flush door handles

We’ve known for a while that Kia’s first dedicated EV would be a low-slung crossover riding on the Hyundai Motor Group’s new E-GMP platform. But thanks to a new set of teasers released Monday, we’ve got our best look yet, along with a confirmation that the new electric vehicle will be called the EV6, a naming scheme that the company’s future EVs will follow.

The EV6’s styling reportedly previews a new design language for Kia’s electric cars, and from what we can see, it looks damn good. It’s got a sleek, coupelike roofline with an integrated rear spoiler at the top of the raked hatch, and a slight ducktail as well. The front end is low with a seemingly short overhang, and the slim headlights have a cool segmented LED pattern. There’s no large grille, with the EV6 instead getting a thin black panel underneath the new Kia logo, but it looks like the car will have some large air intakes in the lower bumper.

We can also see that the four-door EV6 has flush door handles for better aerodynamics, large wheels, a blacked-out A-pillar and a kicked-up window at the C-pillar. Our favorite visible bit of design is out back, where the taillights extend all the way to the rear wheel arch and have an oh-so-ubiquitous light bar running across the hatch. These lights also have a segmented LED pattern, and the sequential turn signals connect at the base of the taillights and curve back around the base of the hatch.

Given that the EV6 rides on the already unveiled E-GMP platform, which it will share with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and a yet-to-be-revealed Genesis EV (as well as at least seven future Kias and lots of other Hyundai models), we know a lot about its potential specs. The base EV6 will likely have a single motor and rear-wheel drive, while a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup will be optional. The E-GMP platform allows for around 600 horsepower and 0-to-60-mph times as low as 3.5 seconds, but the quickest EV6 at first will likely share its setup with the top-level Ioniq 5, meaning 306 hp, 446 pound-feet of torque and a 0-to-60-mph time of around 5 seconds.

The EV6 should have a maximum range of around 300 miles on the European WLTP cycle, and it will be capable of 800-volt charging. The Ioniq 5 can gain 62 miles of range in just 5 minutes of charging and go from 10% to 80% charge in 18 minutes with 350-kW DC fast-charging. It remains to be seen whether the EV6 will be capable of the Ioniq 5’s V2L charging, in which the car works as a generator to power things like appliances and e-bikes.

Every Kia electric car name will start with the letters EV, and the EV6 leaves lots of room for a lineup of models at both ends, with the number corresponding to the model’s position in the lineup. This new naming scheme makes things simpler, especially across global markets, but it’s slightly disappointing that Kia won’t be using great names like Stinger, Carnival and Telluride. But lots of Kia models are moving to alphanumerics — look at the K5 and K8 — so it’s not exactly surprising.

Kia says the EV6 will debut later this month, and it will likely go on sale in the fall. We expect the EV6 will start at around $45,000 before any incentives and tax credits.