Kia EV6 GT boasts 576 hp of muscle and starts at $76,495

Kia’s most powerful production vehicle ever has arrived in Canada.

The 2023 Kia EV6 GT, first unveiled in August in Pebble Beach, will offer 576 hp and 546 pound-feet of torque.

The powertrain capabilities pit the vehicle against such exotic track stars as the Ferrari Roma and Lamborghini Huracan Evo Spyder.

The EV6 GT will start at $76,495.

Kia claims a zero-to-100 km/h time in the mid-three-second range, and a top speed of 259 km/h.

It illustrates the rapid expansion of EV offerings in multiple directions.

The GT marks the "next chapter" of the brand's electrification road map, Kia America COO Steven Center said in a statement. Its arrival is part of Kia's Plan S global strategy to launch at least two EVs a year and build a full lineup of 14 EVs by 2027.

“The EV6 was quickly established as the halo for Kia’s new brand identity and the physical representation of the company’s future under its Plan S strategy,” Kia Canada COO Elias El-Achhab said in a separate statement. “The EV6 GT demonstrates Kia’s continuous ability to shatter boundaries and expectations.”

The standard EV6 is already proving a success for Kia in a market that as recently as one year ago was still timid about EVs. The EV6 went on sale at the beginning of this year. Kia Canada has sold 441 through three quarters. It uses Hyundai Motor Group's E-GMP architecture and shares a platform with Hyundai's Ioniq 5.

While the base version of the EV6 uses a single motor, rear-drive layout with a 58-kilowatt-hour battery, the GT will use a larger 77.4 kWh battery and come in a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup.

That battery also appears on the two higher-end trims of the standard EV6. But the EV6 GT relies on a more powerful 160-kilowatt front motor and 270-kW rear motor.

The extra muscle siphons off some of the EV6's battery range, not surprisingly. While the awd version of the EV6 gets 444 kilometres to a full charge, the EV6 GT drops to 331 kilometres. With the 77.4 kWh battery, vehicle can add, approx. 349 kilometers in 18 minutes w/800v DC fast charging.

The GT also has other performance-oriented changes, including a stiffer chassis, a sport suspension with electronically controlled dampers, and electronic limited-slip differential for traction and stability into turns.

It also gets larger ventilated front and rear disc brakes with monoblock four-piston calipers and Goodyear Eagle F1 tires with 21-inch wheels.

Greg Layson of Automotive News Canada contributed to this report.