We’re fans of the Genesis Electrified GV70. It doesn’t receive any major updates for the 2024 model year, which is fine. This relative newcomer is already attractive, comfortable, quick and full of useful technology.
But it’s not a vehicle a lot of drivers have experience with, or may even be familiar with. Its name is a little confusing, but make no mistake: In this case, “Electrified” means “fully electric.” Usually, it’s a euphemism for “barely electric.” The GV70, be it electrified or all-gas, is a compact luxury crossover. Genesis is a Korean brand, but the Electrified GV70 is built in the USA, at Hyundai’s plant in Montgomery, Alabama.
You can read all about the 2024 Genesis Electrified GV70 in our upcoming buying guide review, but here are nine thoughts from our most recent weeklong stint behind the wheel.
It’s fast
This EV boasts two electric motors at 160 kilowatts apiece. That’s enough for 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. It feels plenty quick in its Normal drive mode, but Sport takes things up a notch, pressing your passengers back into their seats and eliciting giggles and requests of “Again!” from the kids in the back. It really makes those around-town jaunts fun. You might even look forward to red lights just so you can enjoy them turning green.
It gets even faster with the Boost button
If Sport mode isn’t fast enough, or you just need a short burst of power when merging onto a highway, there’s a “Boost” button on the bottom of the steering wheel. It temporarily increases output by 54 horsepower, allowing for just a tad of entertaining wheel spin when blasting away from a stop light. It lasts for 10 seconds, then is ready to go again (unless the battery is below 25%). It also creates a fun animation on the driver’s display, like a subtle star-streaking like the Millenium Falcon going into hyperspace.
As Autoblog Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore noted in his Electrified GV70 interior review, “The GV70 delivers 429 hp normally, which is plenty; 483 is even better.”
Charge port is well hidden
When I first went to plug in the GV70 when it landed in my driveway, I walked around the car a few times, my son orbiting the car opposite me, looking for the charge port cover. We didn’t see anything in the usual places — the fenders — nor any obvious flaps up front or in the rear. “Dad, I think it’s in the front.” Sure enough, blended really well into the solid grille is a flap you press to release, under which is the charging receptacle. The only hint is a little “G” on one of the little patterned diamonds. You have to look really closely to notice the gap between the door and the grille.
The charge port lock had me stumped
Eventually, after finding the door and charging the GV70, I couldn’t get the plug out for the life of me. I pulled, I wiggled, I pressed the button on the handle, I locked and unlocked the vehicle. Eventually, I got in the car and dug through the infotainment menus and found a way. There are three charge lock settings: “Always,” “While charging” and “Do not lock.” The second was selected, and the car wasn’t fully charged yet. I picked that third option, breathed a sigh of relief as I unplugged the handle and got my kids to school on time.
Verbal charge notification is unsettling
After you plug in the Electrified GV70, and it begins charging, it hollers at you and anyone else standing near it, “Charging started.” The volume was set to medium, but it was still startlingly loud, and usually took me off guard. You can turn that voice off, though.
The GV60 I drove last year did the same thing, though I don’t remember it being this loud.
The back seat is small
I put my daughter behind me in her front-facing car seat. With boots on, she would freak out about her feet being stuck behind my seat. I had to move myself forward to a less-than-ideal driving position just so she could be somewhat comfortable behind me. I wouldn’t want to sit behind an adult in the GV70. Other compact electric crossovers — dedicated EV models, specifically — make great use of interior space, often feeling larger on the inside than they look on the outside. Not so with the Electrified GV70, which is based on the gasoline model and built with internal combustion packaging in mind. If you didn’t have to design around the motor up front, you could expand part of the cabin forward and give more space to the occupants.
The Ergo Motion seat is … interesting, but I think I like it
The Ergo Motion driver’s seat can offer you a massage, but it also changes shape to be more supportive in Sport mode. It does the same thing somewhere around 82 miles per hour, which was always a surprise.
The touchscreen is a reach
The infotainment screen is high up on the dash and pretty far away. I had to lean forward to reach it. There are other controls you can use, but they aren’t as intuitive as just tapping the screen. Furthermore, the rotary interface for the infotainment sits just in front of the rotary drive selector — or is it the other way around? — on the center console. They look different and have different textures, but they’re the same size. It’s confusing when you’re not looking.
People still don’t know what it is
Get ready for people to ask what you’re driving. Even though I did pass at least one other GV70 during my week with it, I’d still get comments in parking lots from folks who couldn’t identify what I was driving. One preschool teacher asked “Is it electric?” Yes, he was correct, but I didn’t have the time to explain that there is a gas version of the same model as well. It’s kind of cool to drive something that people don’t see every day, especially when it actually looks good.
