When Kias are beating Ferraris and Lambos off the line and priced lower than premium sedans, you know something special is happening.
Kia flew us out to the desert landscape outside of Las Vegas to drive the new GT version of the popular EV6. We’ve been anxiously waiting on this one for awhile and finally got to sample the delicious speed and handling of Kia’s new flagship vehicle.
KIA EV6 GT specs:
We like to get the good stuff out of the way first:
576-HP or 430kW (160kW front motor and a 270kW rear motor)
0-to-60 mph in 3.4 seconds, with a top speed of 161 mph
77.4 kWh battery
Larger diameter disc brakes (15-inch front / 14.2-inch rear) w/quad-piston front calipers
800V Charging system: 10-80% in 18 minutes under right conditions
Racing-inspired sport bucket seats and neon green dash accents
And the bad:
206 miles of range (EPA)
Charging and Range
The GT retains the fastest charging in the industry, like other Kia EV6/ E-GMP 800V vehicles, at nearly 300kW. But the range you get with those same kWh on EPA cycle is shockingly almost 50% lower than the most efficient 310 Mile EV6 variants at just 206 miles. That’s due to the heavier motors, bigger tires and its overall optimizations for speed rather than range.
Kia however pointed out that the EPA test required them to spend half the time in its least efficient mode and would be changed next year to yield them a significantly higher number. In real life, if you are on a trip you probably aren’t testing the 0-60 times and top speed (like I was on this trip). I can confirm it is the least efficient E-GMP platform vehicle I’ve driven which is actually impressive since I just reviewed the Genesis GV60 with a paltry 235 miles.
So what that means is that you will probably get about 230 or so miles of real range and a 20 minute stop at an EA 350kW charging station will give you 70% of that back or around 160 miles between stops optimally. That’s not a bad road trip.
(Note: Like with every other EV driving junket, no fast charging demonstrations or opportunities were offered. We’d love if this became part of the experience since it is something consumers want to know about.)
EV6 GT’s Need for Speed
Everything in this car is directed at pumping energy toward those large motors. Kia tells us they put the motor of the RWD 160kW EV6 in the front of the GT and then threw an even bigger 270kW motor in the back. That gives it around 100 more horsepower than either the Tesla Model Y Performance or the Mustang Mach-e GT performance. It also allows it to be the fastest of the three while still coming in at an impressive $8,000 price savings.
But why keep the competition strictly in the EV field? Kia smartly brought out some choice ICE supercars with more pizazz than acceleration a year ago for a drag:
That means that the EV6 GT gets to 60mph faster than the Ferrari Roma and the Lamborghini Huracan EVO Spyder RWD. We got the top speed over 125mph fairly quickly and Kia says the GT tops out at 160mph. Kia made a video vs. some middle of the road supercars from supercar brands:
Kia’s EV6 GT performed well in its own video, only getting beaten slightly by the McLaren 570S which is a feat in itself.
Kia EV6 GT right on track
We know the GT goes from 0-60 fast but how did it perform on the track?
In my limited track experience, it did exceptionally well. My most recent trip to the track before this was the Porsche Taycan GTS (and that was admittedly another level of craziness) but the EV6 GT and its slick 21-inch tires performed admirably, hitting speeds well over 100mph while keeping me firmly in control.
The stiffened suspension, huge brakes and 21-inch tires really shined here. Cornering was fun and the car could take more Gs than my body wanted. It also slowed down alarmingly fast with those huge brakes which were often not needed against the .4 Gs of regen coming from all 4 wheels.
Perhaps most impressive was the lack of sound, inside and outside of the car. As others rounded the track all you could hear were screeching tires and whooshes of wind.
Kia EV6 GT on the road
Most people won’t spend a lot of time with their cars on a drag strip or on a race track and thankfully Kia had a lovely route through the Las Vegas desert planned for us. On the way to a depressingly depleted Lake Meade, we got to learn that the florescent Yellow “GT” button on the wheel was nothing to be messed with. If pressed while accelerating, a quick jolt of energy pushed you forward like getting rear ended. We also got to see some amazing desert in the Valley of Fire region nearby. It was hard not to push the car to its limits, especially since the speed limit for most of the ride was 45 miles per hour. But that gave us enough for some eye candy shots:
Electrek’s take:
I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of the EV6 GT, and not just the straight in line speed. It felt extremely solid on the track at 100mph speeds. It was fairly easy to drift, if that’s your sort of thing. It feels like a race car inside and out. That translates to lots of confidence on the roads, merging onto freeways and passing semis is a breeze. Turns are tight. It behaves like a $100K car.
But really this car is a brand exercise and I don’t think Kia is going to make a ton of these. Kia made several points of noting that it no longer saw itself as a value brand and noted its customers kept getting wealthier and wealthier over the past 30 years.
The EV6 GT replaces the Stinger as Kia’s halo car and indicates that Kia plans to run with premium vehicles like the Model Y’s and Mustang Mach-Es in the new world of high end and high speed electric vehicles.
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Tesla’s brand damage is eroding the value of used Tesla vehicles at a rapid rate, as owners rush to sell theirs.
It is breaking the used Tesla market as prices are plunging just as the broader used car market is recovering.
After a few tough years for the used car market following the pandemic, it is finally starting to recover over the last month.
Economic uncertainty and a fear of higher inflation due to Trump’s tariffs are prompting some buyers to shift from the new car market to the used car market.
According to Car Guru‘s used car index, used car prices have risen an impressive 2.17% in the last 30 days alone.
However, there’s an exception: Tesla.
The price of used Tesla vehicles has been falling, like the rest of the used car market, since the pandemic; however, it is not benefiting from the reversal in the current macroeconomic situation.
While average used car prices rose more than 2% in the last 30 days, Tesla’s used car prices decreased by 1.34% in the US.
That’s due to oversupply, as many Tesla owners are selling their vehicles to distance themselves from the Tesla brand, which is associated with CEO Elon Musk and his increasingly divisive political views.
The demand to sell used Tesla vehicles is so high that many used car dealers, who had been fighting to acquire inventory just a year prior, are starting to be reticent about buying Tesla vehicles as the value decreases so rapidly.
In Quebec, Le Journal de Montréal spoke with local used car dealers and attended a car auction where many Tesla vehicles were up for sale, with some selling for half the price they were selling for just over a year ago.
Éric Piuze, owner of a used car dealership on Montreal’s South Shore, said (translated from French):
“People don’t want them anymore. The Elon Musk effect is very real in Quebec.”
The used car dealers at the auction noted that they are not confident they can sell the used Tesla quickly enough to avoid further value decreases.
Furthermore, they note that potential buyers are lowballing on Tesla vehicles because they are aware that inventory is high, creating a buyer’s market.
Dealers are also seeing higher defaults on Tesla car payments, as buyers who took on debt to purchase them just a few years ago struggle to make payments.
Piuze added (translated from French):
People paid a lot of money for Teslas. During the pandemic, we saw many people remortgaging their homes to buy a Tesla. Those days are over.
At its peak, the average used Tesla price was over $60,000 in 2022. Now, the same vehicles are worth a fraction, but their car payments are still high.
Electrek’s Take
Even with the used car market finally getting a breather from crashing prices, Tesla vehicles are not benefiting at all. This highlights a significant issue in the used Tesla market. It’s broken.
The market can’t absorb the surge in people selling their Tesla vehicles.
I wouldn’t want to be a company holding a fleet of Tesla vehicles right now. The value erosion is impressive.
I thought that maybe the Cybertruck was dragging the entire Tesla market down, with a 6.64% decrease in used value over the last 30 days. However, the Model Y alone saw a 1.67% decrease during the same period.
The good news is that the vast majority of people selling their used Tesla vehicles are purchasing other electric vehicles, thereby boosting the EV market. It’s also giving people the chance to get into Tesla vehicles for cheaper, although they should expect the value of those vehicles to decrease rapidly.
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The new flagship Q-Range electric drive cone plant from the quarry experts at Sandvik is engineered to be safe, quiet, and tough enough to operate in the most hostile environments the mining and quarrying industries can put it in.
Cone crushers enhance quarrying efficiency by enabling operators to crush rock, stone, and ore down to a precise size. In ELI5 terms, big rocks go into the top of the plant. Inside, a cone-shaped mantle moves inside a larger cone in an eccentric circle that grinds up the stone and ore between the mantle and the cone’s sides, breaking them up into smaller pieces. Once the pieces are ground to a given size determined by the position of the mantle within the larger cone, they fall out into a cone-shaped pile (but that’s just a coincidence).
Basic mechanisms of cone crusher
The “how it works” version.
The cone crusher is part of a broader “train” of machines on a quarry that work together to turn a massive rock face into a fine sand and/or anything in between. With the launch of the QH443E electric cone plant, Sandvik now offers mine operators a fully electric driven train – one that includes the UJ443E fully electric jaw crusher launched in 2023, the QE342e hybrid scalper, and the QA452e hybrid triple-deck Doublescreen launched in 2022 (if you want to know more about how those work, let us know in the comments).
The new QH443E features a new heavy-duty feeder design equipped with electrically driven components, which can be powered by batteries, or a connection to grid power. An on-board diesel generator capable of running on 100% HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil), providing a number of more sustainable fuel choices and effectively reducing the mine’s operating costs.
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Sandvik claims the electric delivers a 25% fuel savings on generator (and, obviously, 100% on grid or battery power), as well as a 78% reduction in oil usage compared to previous generations.
The new crusher bridges the gap between tracked mobile, wheeled portable, and stationary cone plants by combining electric drives and track mobility on a single platform. The QH443E uses Optik intuitive automation system and My Fleet remote monitoring software hooked to a suite of sensors that provide 24/7 telematics, geo-fencing, and remote-operator support that’s designed to ensure continuous crushing and optimal performance.
Those sensors also help drive innovations in safety, as well. “Safety is paramount in the design of the QH443E,” said Sandvik, in a statement. “The unit includes remote camera viewing of the crushing chamber, 270 degree access around the crusher for easy maintenance and mandatory audible and visual warnings for safe operation. Our extensive global distributor and sales support network ensures that you receive the best support for your operations.”
The QH443E is available in the EU now through Sandvik Mobile’s global dealer network, and will be available everywhere by Q4 of 2025.
Electrek’s Take
Sandvik QH443E portable cone plant rounds out the company’s electric train offering; via Sandvik.
While there are a lot of people outside the drilling and mining space who may scoff at environmental concerns, the quest for improved efficiency and cost reduction among commercial fleet managers knows no political ideology. Simply put: If it’s better or cheaper, they’ll buy it. If it’s better and cheaper, they’ll buy two — and battery power is proving to be consistently better, in a broader scope of use cases, than diesel.
The current EV era is ripe with revered classic car designs and nameplates that are being reborn as battery-powered rides – and the success of cars the Renault 5 proves it can be a winning formula. Today, I’m suggesting another classic that deserves a modern electric update: the OG Ford Taurus.
It might seem old and dated now, but when the original Ford Taurus made its debut in 1985, it was so fresh, so different, so futuristic that it was included, almost unchanged, in Robocop’s sci-fi vision of a dystopian Detroit. Really.
I’d buy that for a dollar
From the movie poster for Robocop; MGM Studios.
The aerodynamic design of the Ford Taurus wasn’t just futuristic, it was successful – and, from 1992 through 1996, the OG Taurus was not just Ford’s best-selling car, but the best selling car in North America.
The sedan market is very different forty years on – so different, in fact, that Ford doesn’t actually sell any sedans in North America. With the exception of the 2-door ICE Mustang, the Blue Oval brand doesn’t even sell any cars, and operates almost entirely as a truck and SUV brand.
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Now, imagine Ford decides to get back into the sedan game. It’s 2025 now, and the Tesla Model 3 has proven that there’s enough demand for at least one successful electric sedan in the US. And, crucially, it seems like most of those buyers won’t be trading their Tesla back in for another one.
If there was ever a time to do it, that time is now – and Ford is perfectly positioned to fast-track a new-age Taurus.
The VW connection
Chinese-market Volkswagen ID.7 Vizzion; via VW.
Yes, I know that’s a Volkswagen – but hear me out. Ford and VW have a strong, existing relationship when it comes to EVs, having co-developed the MEB electric skateboard platform that underpins both the high-riding Ford Capri (itself a modern take on a classic Ford) and the Volkswagen ID.7 shown, above.
The ID.7 is an interesting piece, because it was always Volkswagen’s original intention to bring the car to the US, but slowing sedan demand and a dealer body that would rather sell Scout-branded SUVs and pickups than near/entry-luxe sedans killed the car’s chances before before the first one made it over. Now, it’s not coming to the US at all.