The Kia EV6 has always been the loudest dresser at the EV party. For 2025, it isn’t toned down — it’s just traded the Hawaiian shirt for a tailored blazer. There are also the usual updates to its wheels and bumpers, while the headlights now squint as if they’ve just spotted a Tesla.

The wardrobe updates keep its appearance modern while its basic shape remains unchanged from its debut four-and-a-half years ago — thank goodness. And let’s talk about its tail — that long, unbroken plane sloping rearward while its tweaked taillights stretch across the hatch like Broadway’s opening night. Subtle? No. Effective? Absolutely. Distinctive? Like a Saab.

Inside, it’s an airy atrium decorated with a minimalist vibe and boasting a new panoramic display housing a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen stretched across the dash like a Times Square billboard. Buttons? Banished like relics of an age when radios crackled with static from far-off AM towers. In their place is standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with a redesigned wireless smartphone charging pad. A fingerprint-authentication system is optional. Controlling this Kia cutie means dealing with somewhat clunky screen menus and sub-menus. This is fine until you try to change the radio while driving 70 mph; the automatic climate control is easier to use.

The EV6 is offered in ascending Light, Light Long Range, Wind, GT-Line and GT trims. All can be had with rear-wheel drive, except the GT, which is solely all-wheel drive. You can also get all-wheel drive on all other trims except the base Light model. This year, a larger 84-kWh battery pack replaces last year's 77.4-kWh unit with a range of 237-to-319 miles depending on model and whether you drive like an amateur Andretti. Recharging with a DC fast charger allows the EV6 to inhale electrons in less than 18 minutes with a 350-kWh DC fast charger — should you be able to find one.

Driving the base EV6 is a quiet, polite conversation as its single motor generates 167 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, providing an adequate 8.3-second 0-60 mph time. Light Long Range, Wind and GT-Line models provide 225 horsepower with rear-wheel drive, and 320 horsepower with all-wheel drive, serving up a 7.3-second and a 5-second 0-60 mph sprint respectively, according to Kia. The GT is a very different animal. With as much as 641 horsepower in Launch Mode, it’s akin to being shouted at by your personal trainer — intense, exhilarating and just a little bit scary. Reaching 60 mph takes but 3.4 seconds. Handling all the extra juice is an electronic limited-slip differential, an adaptive suspension, firmer suspension and beefier brakes.

My test vehicle was a GT-Line with all-wheel drive. Like all EV6s, its real magic is in the chassis. It’s not just capable — it’s cheeky. It takes corners with the kind of confidence that says, “Go on, I dare you,” and you find yourself following its advice. Forget the marshmallow softness of yesterday’s family hatch or the anesthetized steering that plagues far too many EVs. The EV6 confronts curves with a predator’s grace, digging in and responding, “I’ve got this,” as you exit the turn a true believer. Park it, and the lights keep pulsing as if it’s alive, sitting there, smug yet silent, an exemplar of the future — albeit, a very fun one. It’s so endearing, you’ll be tempted to name it.

Then again, if the EV6 were a person, it’d be the one friend who talks you into going along with them to karaoke, then picks the hardest song, nails it, and still has enough breath left to make fun of your dancing on the way home. Yes, the EV6 remains that good.

2025 Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD

Base price: $60,375 (including destination)

Powertrain: Dual AC synchronous permanent magnet motors

Horsepower/Torque: 302/446 pound-feet

Range: 270 miles

Recharge time (150 kWh DC fast charger): 29 minutes

Length/Width/Height: 185/74/61 inches

Ground clearance: 6.1 inches

Payload: 1,058 pounds

Cargo capacity: 24-48 cubic feet

Towing capacity: 2,700 pounds

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