2025 Genesis GV60 Performance: A fun but highly exclusive ride

2025 Genesis GV60 Performance: Still fun after all these years?

Price: $71,320 as tested. Only Atacama Copper paint added $575 to the price.

Conventional wisdom: Edmunds likes the GV60’s “high levels of comfort, lots of standard features, quick acceleration from Performance trim, impressive fast-charging capability.” The reviewers are less impressed by the “smallish cargo area and subpar in-cabin storage,” that “a few tech features are a bit too gimmicky,” and “some interior materials aren’t up to luxury vehicle standards.”

Marketer’s pitch: “In a class of its own.”

Even higher up on the Genesis shopper website, though, is the header “Limited availability,” so here’s your chance to drive something truly exclusive. But at least it is available at some Pennsylvania and New Jersey dealers; the Keystone State availability was questionable two years ago.

Reality: A spirited electric ride.

What’s new: The old Spy magazine (1986-1998) used to delight in its Review of Reviewers column, where jerks like Mr. Driver’s Seat would get their comeuppance. Now we have the internet, so we get it every day. Progress. (But, no, I never read the comments.)

When I get a model like the GV60 — something I reviewed exactly two years ago this week, and which has remained fairly untouched — I feel like I’m fact-checking my own historical record. I recall how much we all loved it for a trip to the Poconos one summer, feelings shared by extended family members and friends (several of whom may have helped Mr. Driver’s Seat develop the thick skin needed for this line of work).

Competition: Audi Q4 E-Tron, BMW iX, Genesis GV70 Electrified, Lexus RZ

Up to speed: The GV60 Performance remains a smooth, fun companion, arriving at 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, according to Car and Driver. Sport mode is, of course, the fastest, but leaving it in Normal didn’t make me twitchy with impatience.

Note that Mr. Driver’s Seat tested a 2024 model, but the differences with the 2025 are slight — a new all-wheel-drive model with smaller 19-inch wheels has been added, plus a new color and infotainment features.

Still, whatever mode you’re in, the GV60 offers the best of the EV world, a place where it’s almost unnecessary to wait for an opening in traffic; the GV60 just zips in that quickly.

The Performance model is all-wheel drive, and it’s the GV60 in its most souped-up form — two 160-kw motors drive front and rear wheels to create 429 horsepower. An Advanced trim level also comes with all-wheel drive and 314 horses, while the base Standard trim powers just the rear wheels with 225 horses.

Shiftless: No gears, but the selector knob is a delight. It starts out as a colored globe and then rotates upon start-up into the shift dial, with Reverse a counterclockwise twist and Drive clockwise.

The infotainment knob is far less easy to commingle with the shifter as it is in other Genesis models, thanks to its dramatic opening act, and also because the shifter knob has notches while the infotainment doesn’t.

On the road: The GV60 handles nicely overall, though it feels like it could trip when cornering hard in Normal mode. The narrow tires provide not much surface for gripping.

I might have managed a nice little low-speed skid into the neighborhood one time, which of course you should never do, so in fact I probably didn’t. But if I did it would have been fun.

Driver’s Seat: I gave up a cuddly-seated Lexus for this so the Genesis seat felt kind of hard and made me a little sad. But over time my butt adjusted and I found the snug bolsters to be just the key to road rallying fun. If I were to, say, skid into the neighborhood. Which I’m sure I never did.

The dashboard features a digital speed readout with dials for charging reports and other information. Some information is tucked into the corners, obscured by the steering wheel.

Friends and stuff: The rear seat features a nice, flat floor stretching out before passengers, but there’s nowhere for toes to go under the front seats. Center-seat passengers will decry the console easing back into the allotted space as well.

But the seat itself is almost as nice as the front and provides extra comfort, and overall things are not terrible back here.

Cargo space measures 24 cubic feet behind the second row and 54.7 with the rear seat folded. There’s also 0.71 cubic feet in the frunk (the little front trunk that is common in EVs).

Play some tunes: The stereo system features dials for volume and tuning and a row of buttons for selecting various functions. The console knob does its knob thing to some avail but the 12.3-inch touchscreen does better.

Sound from the Bang & Olufsen premium audio is quite delightful, with just a repositioning of the tone controls for full awesomeness. This is an A.

Keeping warm and cool: The little HVAC touchscreen controls the fan and the source. Both are fairly hard to find.

Toggles operate the temperature controls, and they’re easy to find.

Buyers of a certain age: OK, Genesis, let’s talk visuals. Between the tiny HVAC graphics and the super-tiny key fob buttons with no way to distinguish them by feel, I would have a tough time convincing myself to buy this otherwise lovely machine. The average premium SUV buyer’s age is 57, according to JD Power; let’s keep this in mind. Perhaps a Jitterbug edition would help.

Electricity: The GV60 Performance has a range of 235 miles, but each mile will be delightful.

Save some money and go farther in the GV60 Standard, which goes 294 miles on a charge, but probably without such great stories.

A rapid charge in any of them can happen in as little as 18 minutes.

Where it’s built: Ulsan, South Korea

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the GV60 reliability to be a 3 out of 5.

In the end: Pretty, comfortable, great stereo, and spirited enough for the electric slide. (Theoretically.) This is still a yep.

In fact, the only contender I’ve tested (still no iX or Q4E-Tron for me) would be the GV70 Electrified.