Now That's Performance! KIA EV6 GT - 165MPH Extreme Thermal Test

[Mach-Lee]

Kyle from Out of Spec really gives the EV6 GT a HARDCORE thermal test on the Autobahn and it really delivered. Even after 140MPH+ sustained on the Autobahn, with numerous 360 kW bursts of acceleration there was zero thermal derate, which is even more impressive considering it was DC fast charged (225 kW) from 0-100% immediately prior. It's the most impressive thermal performance Kyle has ever seen, even better than Porsche Taycan. Ford should pay attention to this car as a benchmark when designing their future thermal systems for sustained performance. You should be able to drive a car hard for quite a while (minutes or several laps) before noticing any sort of power reductions on a well-engineered platform.

High speed Autobahn run starts at about 14 minutes:



Key performance takeaways:

• 225 kW DCFC session immediately prior got pack hot
• 0-60% in only 15 minutes
• 414 kW / 555 HP peak motor power
• 300+ kW regen ability
• 100-150 MPH in 13 seconds
• Easily hits 165 MPH speed limiter
• 30+ minutes of high speed 130+ MPH Autobahn driving without limitation
• No noticeable power limitations until pack gets down to 25%
• Still charges at 210 kW immediately after high speed run

Kyle was only able to run into a thermal limitation after all of the above. Which is damn impressive from an engineering standpoint. Charging speeds dropped down to only 110 kW for a while, but continued without severe derate. Motor power output was limited to 230 kW / 310 HP with the thermal derate in effect, but with only about 10 minutes of rest time it was back to almost full power. It is truly a machine that just keeps going. It almost has to have liquid cooled contactors. The EV6 GT compared to the Mach-E GT is like night and day, 5 second rule vs. 30 minute rule.

Sponsored

 

[Scooby24]

By every account except for range, the GT is an amazing vehicle. Kia did a really really good job. Next iteration of this is going to be really something.

 

[SWO]

Thanks for the Cliff notes.

1. Were they measuring temperatures in the motors and HVB?

2. You say "there was zero thermal derate" at the beginning, but then say "...power output was limited to 230 kW / 310 HP with the thermal derate in effect..." Which is it?

Edit:

3. I suppose the million-dollar question is did the battery degrade as a result? Would have been interesting to do before/after tests.

 

[SWO]

By every account except for range, the GT is an amazing vehicle. Kia did a really really good job. Next iteration of this is going to be really something.

Range....and looking like a cockroach on wheels.

 

[Mach1E]

Kyle from Out of Spec really gives the EV6 GT a HARDCORE thermal test on the Autobahn and it really delivered. Even after 140MPH+ sustained on the Autobahn, with numerous 360 kW bursts of acceleration there was zero thermal derate, which is even more impressive considering it was DC fast charged (225 kW) from 0-100% immediately prior. It's the most impressive thermal performance Kyle has ever seen, even better than Porsche Taycan. Ford should pay attention to this car as a benchmark when designing their future thermal systems for sustained performance. You should be able to drive a car hard for quite a while (minutes or several laps) before noticing any sort of power reductions on a well-engineered platform.

High speed Autobahn run starts at about 14 minutes:



Key performance takeaways:

• 225 kW DCFC session immediately prior got pack hot
• 0-60% in only 15 minutes
• 414 kW / 555 HP peak motor power
• 300+ kW regen ability
• 100-150 MPH in 13 seconds
• Easily hits 165 MPH speed limiter
• 30+ minutes of high speed 130+ MPH Autobahn driving without limitation
• No noticeable power limitations until pack gets down to 25%
• Still charges at 210 kW immediately after high speed run

Kyle was only able to run into a thermal limitation after all of the above. Which is damn impressive from an engineering standpoint. Charging speeds dropped down to only 110 kW for a while, but continued without severe derate. Motor power output was limited to 230 kW / 310 HP with the thermal derate in effect, but with only about 10 minutes of rest time it was back to almost full power. It is truly a machine that just keeps going. It almost has to have liquid cooled contactors. The EV6 GT compared to the Mach-E GT is like night and day, 5 second rule vs. 30 minute rule.

Good to know it’s possible.

Some here seem to think a BEV will burst into flames if you drive it like this. Or that a few extra seconds of acceleration will melt all electrical components.

 

[AlpaChino]

Range....and looking like a cockroach on wheels.

I've seen worse.

 

[Vulnox]

It is definitely impressive and I hope it's a sign of what is to come for all Ford next gen BEVs. It's important for now to remember that like all the discussions that come up here on comparing to other BEVs, numbers on marketing materials or even single event real world tests are not the same as long term ownership results. Obviously this result is already better than the 5 second limitation, not discounting that, but will take a while to see how vehicles with these kinds of performance numbers hold up. Hopefully there aren't piles of EV6 owners with busted HVBJBs because there wasn't enough protection put around what a customer can do to the vehicle.

I personally hope there is no issue. I want to see BEVs continue to evolve and drop the limitations that are present. The performance enthusiast market is happy to give BEVs a nod when it comes to 0-60 times, but as soon as you talk about autocross or anything where the vehicle needs to make multiple passes back to back, the limitations are obvious. If the EV6 and other new gen BEVs are able to start overcoming that it will attract a very important segment of the auto world as far as making BEVs more generally accepted.

 

[Mach-Lee]

2. You say "there was zero thermal derate" at the beginning, but then say "...power output was limited to 230 kW / 310 HP with the thermal derate in effect..." Which is it?

There was no noticeable thermal derating during the entire first run (30+ minutes). He only noticed it during the second run after DC charging twice in an hour. He drove it so hard it drained the battery in only about 45 minutes.

 

[HuntingPudel]

@Mach-Lee ”…minutes or laps…” You mean that 5 seconds isn’t enough for you on a car that was touted to have track performance?

 

[Blue highway]

@Mach-Lee ”…minutes or laps…” You mean that 5 seconds isn’t enough for you on a car that was touted to have track performance?

5 seconds seems like plenty

 

[HuntingPudel]

5 seconds seems like plenty

Are you one of those guys who tells women that… Never mind.

 

[mkhuffman]

By every account except for range, the GT is an amazing vehicle. Kia did a really really good job. Next iteration of this is going to be really something.

We can agree on this!

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Saturday I was charging at a DCFC and one of these pulled in next to me. The driver let me check it out as he plugged in. I loved it.
His charge rate was triple was I was getting.
He claimed to have paid less than I did.
He scoffed at my 480 HP.
He was getting free EA charging for 3 years. (But not clogging up public charging because he was only going to be there 15 minutes)
His seats were way more like sport seats than mine.
His brake calipers and interior accents were a lovely lime green. We joked about swapping calipers.

First time I’ve left a charger feeling bad.

 

[Mach1E]

If only it looked more like a Stinger GT I would be tempted.

It’s basically an uglier Model 3 performance. And I already passed on that car because of how it looks.

Performance stats are legit though, but so are the Model 3 performance’s (for less $$ too).

 

[Ghost Ryder]

@Mach-Lee ”…minutes or laps…” You mean that 5 seconds isn’t enough for you on a car that was touted to have track performance?

In Ford's defense, they never stated the length of the track.

Sponsored