Genesis finally delivered the much sought after GV60 to our home for a week test drive, and immediately I had questions: Wy all of this amazing speed, interesting tech and luxury, but no wireless CarPlay?
There’s a ton to love about the GV60 Performance and probably the best thing is that performance which pushes the AWD from 0-60 in a AWD chirping just over three seconds.
The GV60 also drives like a dream with a soft suspension and almost no road noise. The low center of gravity and big wheels make taking harrowing turns almost fun; this is a drivers car camouflaged as a crossover.
But, as we’ll see in a theme here, there’s a caveat to this performance. The highest level of acceleration must be activated from the “Boost” button on the steering wheel. When you do this the car accelerates for about 10 seconds, the screen turns red, and you get a hyperdrive graphic.
That feels cool, like a Knight Rider trick to show your friends (and I did), but in reality when you really need the boost, like on an on-ramp or during passing, you don’t want to be reaching all over the steering wheel to find a button. It would be much simpler to just have that power delivered through the accelerator. I understand that the “Boost” button is only good for a few boosts within a given time period, and that’s fine – just give me all it can safely deliver through the accelerator without the parlor tricks.
Like I said, that’s a theme here – lots of neat tricks that don’t necessarily enhance the driving experience. Probably the best example of this is the glass orb that turns into the gear shifter. It is quite cool and a conversation piece… for a few days… then it becomes a plain old delay. As in it takes about five seconds from starting the car for it to complete its transition. That’s not a lot of time, but when you want to get in and go, that’s an annoying delay. I wish Genesis had provided a “gear shifter only” mode so I can have those few seconds back.
While that’s happening, I’ve learned to do other things. One neat trick is that the GV60 has a fingerprint reader (sadly not on the steering wheel but in the back of the center console). You can start the car with only your finger, no fob or smartphone app required. But it is also where driver profiles are stored, so you’ll want to finger login while the orb is changing into a gear shifter.
Another thing you are required to do before driving is plug in your phone because there is no wireless CarPlay or Android Auto. Yes, this car that is packed with every available gadget and gizmo doesn’t have the one thing that every car in 2020 should have: wireless CarPlay.
I realize most people want to charge their phone on long drives, and I’m one of these people. But for short drives, I’d rather leave my phone in my pocket or just drop it on the wireless charger (which the GV60 has – for some reason). I hate to say it, but this is going to be a dealbreaker for some.
One thing that’s not a gimmick is the heads-up display which is bright and full-featured and includes your speed, the speed limit, and road variables. I find that a good heads-up display such as this one makes driving a lot safer and easier.
The traffic aware cruise control isn’t anything to write home about. It freaks out when entering a highway without turn signals, for instance. I know you are supposed to use your turn signal to do this, but it is seldom done in real life because it is the only option. I guess the upside is that it teaches the driver to use a turn signal during merging, lest they get basted with alarms.
Forward collision-avoidance assist is also mediocre or perhaps overly sensitive with a few false positives in my experience. I know this is a hard problem to solve, but Genesis didn’t solve it.
The GV60 is a great looking car
I hate to be superficial, but I love the look of the GV60, and I think it is the best looking out of a handsome class of E-GMP platform (Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, 6) vehicles. It looks like something that slices through the wind and at the same time carries the whole family – including the dog. Size-wise, it feels like a good mid-sized CUV crossover with plenty of room in the back. Compared to Tesla Model Y/3 and Chevy Bolt:
Frovebox?
The frunk, just like on other E_GMP vehicles, is a glorified glovebox but still a good place to stuff a small charger cord or other smaller things you want to hide and mostly forget about. It looks like an afterthought, and I’d expect future models to either have more space or no frunk at all, depending which way customers prefer to go.
I’ve noticed that if a frunk is easy to open and roomy, it gets used a lot. This one is neither, so Genesis market research may come back saying, “No one is using it, scrap it!”
Rear wiper? Not needed!
Another weird omission is lack of rear wiper. I’m assuming the idea, like on other rear wiper-less vehicles, is that the wind pushing over the window removes most water. I didn’t have an issue seeing out the back in a slight drizzle, but driving slow in heavier rain wouldn’t be great, I imagine. Also I should note that view-ability out the back window is already very limited. That’s not a dealbreaker for me, but others might not agree.
The GV60 features 24 cubic feet of storage with the rear seat in place and a total of 54.7 cubic feet of cargo space when they’re folded. It has a rear retracting cover that will likely live in the corner of your garage after being removed on the first day of driving.
The back storage area is moderately roomy and well lit – plenty of room for groceries or even a small tuba. There’s not much storage underneath the floor, however. I think there would be plenty of room back there for a medium-sized dog, and I’d feel OK traveling with our 50 pound Husky, for instance.
Charging speed is amazing, but range isn’t
We already know that E-GMP platform 77.4-kWh battery pack vehicles charge at some of the fastest rates we’ve seen on a kilowatt basis with only GMC’s 200+kWh Hummer seeing higher speeds. I didn’t get to check out the high speed charging speed first hand because the local chargers top out at 150kW, but many others have seen 270+kW, so I’ll trust their experience. The GV60 is able to go from 10% to 80% of charge or 165 miles in just 18 minutes.
The problem here is that with the high performance 430 horsepower motors and huge wheels, the GV60 Performance only sees about a 235 mile range, and my testing confirmed this. The 314 horsepower “advanced AWD” version sees a slightly better 248 mile range.
That means that while charging stops will be quick, they will be more often on longer trips, especially compared to a 300+ mile range of its EV6 or Ioniq 5 siblings. Again this isn’t a dealbreaker, and 235 miles is plenty for the occasional road trip, but something to add to the buyer’s math.
Electrek’s Take
Reading over this review, it feels like I had a lot of complaints, but really I enjoyed the GV60 quite a bit. It is about as fast as you’d ever want a CUV to go at just over three seconds 0-60. It handles the street incredibly well with almost no wind noise and great balance. It charges quickly and has a lot of admirable tech like the heads-up display, and it is packaged with a luxury interior. It also looks dope.
Yes, I had quibbles, in order of importance: the lack of wireless CarPlay, 235 miles of range, rear visibility, and quirky gadgetry. But for most people, none of those are dealbreakers and, if you can find (an extremely limited supplies) one, I think most EV buyers will love this car.
Senate Republicans are threatening to hike taxes on clean energy projects and abruptly phase out credits that have supported the industry’s expansion in the latest version of President Donald Trump‘s big spending bill.
The measures, if enacted, would jeopardize hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, hurt the electric grid, and potentially raise electricity prices for consumers, trade groups warn.
The Senate GOP released a draft of the massive domestic spending bill over the weekend that imposes a new tax on renewable energy projects if they source components from foreign entities of concern, which basically means China. The bill also phases out the two most important tax credits for wind and solar power projects that enter service after 2027.
Republicans are racing to pass Trump’s domestic spending legislation by a self-imposed Friday deadline. The Senate is voting Monday on amendments to the latest version of the bill.
The tax on wind and solar projects surprised the renewable energy industry and feels punitive, said John Hensley, senior vice president for market analysis at the American Clean Power Association. It would increase the industry’s burden by an estimated $4 billion to $7 billion, he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s a new tax in a package that is designed to reduce the tax burden of companies across the American economy,” Hensley said. The tax hits any wind and solar project that enters service after 2027 and exceeds certain thresholds for how many components are sourced from China.
This combined with the abrupt elimination of the investment tax credit and electricity production tax credit after 2027 threatens to eliminate 300 gigawatts of wind and solar projects over the next 10 years, which is equivalent to about $450 billion worth of infrastructure investment, Hensley said.
“It is going to take a huge chunk of the development pipeline and either eliminate it completely or certainly push it down the road,” Hensley said. This will increase electricity prices for consumers and potentially strain the electric grid, he said.
The construction industry has warned that nearly 2 million jobs in the building trades are at risk if the energy tax credits are terminated and other measures in budget bill are implemented. Those credits have supported a boom in clean power installations and clean technology manufacturing.
“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country,” said Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, in a statement. “Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects.”
The Senate legislation is moving toward a “worst case outcome for solar and wind,” Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco told clients in a Sunday note.
Trump’s former advisor Elon Musk slammed the Senate legislation over the weekend.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” The Tesla CEO posted on X. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”
Is Nissan raising the red flag? Nissan is cutting about 15% of its workforce and is now asking suppliers for more time to make payments.
Nissan starts job cuts, asks supplier to delay payments
As part of its recovery plan, Nissan announced in May that it plans to cut 20,000 jobs, or around 15% of its global workforce. It’s also closing several factories to free up cash and reduce costs.
Nissan said it will begin talks with employees at its Sunderland plant in the UK this week about voluntary retirement opportunities. The company is aiming to lay off around 250 workers.
The Sunderland plant is the largest employer in the city with around 6,000 workers and is critical piece to Nissan’s comeback. Nissan will build its next-gen electric vehicles at the facility, including the new LEAF, Juke, and Qashqai.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
According to several emails and company documents (via Reuters), Nissan is also working with its suppliers to for more time to make payments.
The new Nissan LEAF (Source: Nissan)
“They could choose to be paid immediately or opt for a later payment,” Nissan said. The company explained in a statement to Reuters that it had incentivized some of its suppliers in Europe and the UK to accept more flexible payment terms, at no extra cost.
The emails show that the move would free up cash for the first quarter (April to June), similar to its request before the end of the financial year.
Nissan N7 electric sedan (Source: Dongfeng Nissan)
One employee said in an email to co-workers that Nissan was asking suppliers “again” to delay payments. The emails, viewed by Reuters, were exchanged between Nissan workers in Europe and the United Kingdom.
Nissan is taking immediate action as part of its recovery plan, aiming to turn things around, the company said in a statement.
The new Nissan Micra EV (Source: Nissan)
“While we are taking these actions, we aim for sufficient liquidity to weather the costs of the turnaround actions and redeem bond maturities,” the company said.
Nissan didn’t comment on the internal discussions, but the emails did reveal it gave suppliers two options. They could either delay payments at a higher interest rate, or HSBC would make the payment, and Nissan would repay the bank with interest.
Nissan’s upcoming lineup for the US, including the new LEAF EV and “Adventure Focused” SUV (Source: Nissan)
The company had 2.2 trillion yen ($15.2 billion) in cash and equivalents at the end of March, but it has around 700 billion yen ($4.9 billion) in debt that’s due later this year.
As part of Re:Nissan, the Japanese automaker’s recovery plan, Nissan looks to cut costs by 250 billion yen. By fiscal year 2026, it plans to return to profitability.
Electrek’s Take
With an aging vehicle lineup and a wave of new low-cost rivals from China, like BYD, Nissan is quickly falling behind.
Nissan is launching several new electric and hybrid vehicles over the next few years, including the next-gen LEAF, which is expected to help boost sales.
In China, the world’s largest EV market, Nissan’s first dedicated electric sedan, the N7, is off to a hot start with over 20,000 orders in 50 days.
The N7 will play a role in Nissan’s recovery efforts as it plans to export it to overseas markets. It will be one of nine new energy vehicles, including EVs and PHEVs, that Nissan plans to launch in China.
Can Nissan turn things around? Or will it continue falling behind the pack? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Elon Musk said just a few weeks ago that betting on Tesla delivering its promised Robotaxi in June is a “money-making opportunity,” and yet, those who listened to him just lost big.
A fan of Musk lost $50,000 betting on Tesla Robotaxi.
With the rise in prediction markets, you can bet on virtually everything these days.
Sites like Polymarket have about a dozen prediction markets related to Tesla, where anyone can bet on events such as Tesla delivering its robotaxi service.
Less than two weeks ago, the market gave Tesla only a 14% chance of launching the service, and Musk called it a “money-making opportunity.”
At the time, less than $500,000 was traded on this market, but Musk made it way more popular.
Now, over $7 million has been traded on this market, and while Tesla claims to have launched its Robotaxi service on June 22nd, the market currently gives Tesla less than 1% chance today, with less than a day left in June.
Each prediction market has clear “resolution” rules and Musk evidently didn’t read them before suggesting there was money to be made betting “yes”:
This market will resolve to “Yes” if Tesla publicly launches a fully driverless taxi service by June 30, 11:59 PM ET. Otherwise, it will resolve to “No.”
Any service that allows a member of the general public to summon and ride in a Tesla vehicle operating without any human—onboard or remote—actively controlling the vehicle will count. A human may be present in the vehicle or monitoring remotely for emergency intervention, but they must not be physically positioned to take control (for example, no safety driver in the driver’s seat) and must not actively steer, brake, accelerate, or otherwise drive the car under normal operation.
A program that is restricted to Tesla employees, invite-only testers, closed-beta participants, factory self-delivery features, or the mere release of Full Self-Driving software for private owner-drivers will not qualify. Regulatory permits or approvals, press demonstrations, and prototype unveilings without live public ridership likewise will not count toward resolution.
This market’s resolution source will be a consensus of credible reporting.
There are a few things in the resolution that disqualify what Tesla launched on June 22nd. First off, there’s a human inside the vehicle ready to take control with their finger on a kill switch. We have already seen interventions from the in-car Tesla supervisor, who are still very much necessary.
Secondly, the resolution requires a launch that is not restricted to an invite-only basis, which is currently the case.
The level of remote operations could also prove challenging to confirm, and it is part of the resolution.
Electrek found someone who lost $50,000 following Musk’s “money-making opportunity”:
Someone else has lost $28,000 and is now betting another $27,000 that Tesla will achieve this by the end of July.
Currently, Polymarket‘s odds only put a 21% chance of Tesla delivering on the service based on the previously mentioned resolution before August:
With Polymarket, users are not really “betting” on an outcome, but they are trying to beat the current odds by buying shares in “yes” or “no”, which they can sell to other users before the end of the timeline.
Electrek’s Take
It’s quite amusing that Musk was so confident people would believe in his Robotaxi that he didn’t bother to investigate what other people think an actual robotaxi service would entail, like in the Polymarket resolution.
Historically speaking, you are way better off betting against whatever timeline Musk claims about self-driving. He has been consistently wrong about it for a decade now.
Polymarket even has a market about Tesla launching unsupervised self-driving in California this year. I threw some money in that one because California has much stricter regulations when it comes to self-driving, and it requires a lot of testing before being deployed, as described in the resolution.
I doubt Tesla can go through that this year, but it’s not impossible.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.