US-built 2025 Kia EV6 debuts with more battery, NACS port, and a fake gear shift
Kia has debuted its updated EV6 with several updates including a bigger battery, a NACS charging port, and a fake gear shifter for the GT model. Better yet, the model will now be produced in Kia’s plant in Georgia, offering easier access to US tax credits.
This morning at the LA Auto Show, Kia is introducing some big updates to its popular EV6 model.
The EV6 was the first of Kia’s cars released on the E-GMP platform, which it shares with Hyundai. E-GMP cars have been quite popular, with both Kia’s EV6 and Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 selling very well in the US.
In particular, Kia’s EV6 has exceptional fast charging speed, enabling the car to charge from 10-80% of charge in just 18 minutes.
But despite it already being one of the better EVs out there over the last 3 years of its sales in the US, Kia improved it this morning with some mid-cycle updates.
The updated model has some front and rear design changes (making the car 0.6 inches longer), new wheel designs and “enhanced premium interior touches” – like additional sound dampening material – to go along with new features across all trim levels.
Perhaps the biggest headline feature is a larger battery, with 63kWh on the base model and 84kWh on the larger battery – both around 7kWh more than the 2024 model. The 84kWh battery now has an improved 2,700lb towing capacity.
Trim levels have been split into the base 63kWh Light RWD model, three separate 84kWh trim levels each with a choice of RWD or AWD (Light LR, Wind, and GT-Line), and an AWD-only GT trim.
The GT trim gets a 25hp bump to 601hp, though other models stay the same with 167hp for the single-motor smaller-battery models, 225hp for RWD large-battery models, and 320hp for AWD large-battery models.
The EV6 GT model will also get one of the headline features we’ve seen in the popular Ioniq 5 N – a new “Virtual Gear Shift” feature which “enhances driving immersion by simulating gear shifts with visuals, engine sound effects, and a tactile sensation through motor torque adjustment.”
This basically simulates the feeling of driving a manual gas car, rather than an EV – so in exchange for making your car objectively slower, you can get some silly noises and have a more complicated driving experience.
I expected to hate it, and while I still do think it’s silly and unnecessary and most people will leave it off most of the time, I was impressed by how far Hyundai took it (to the point where you can’t even go past 20mph in “first gear” – the car will just whine at you and make you upshift first). We haven’t gotten to try it out in the EV6 yet, but I’m expecting it will be a similar experience. If nothing else, it is a fun party trick.
Going back to the charging point, charging will now be even easier as the 2025 Kia EV6 will have a native NACS port. This is one of the first non-Tesla vehicles to have a native NACS port, alongside Hyundai’s offerings. Most other vehicles plug in through adapters so far, though in the next year or two we expect to see more native ports show up.
A NACS port means the EV6 will have access to Tesla Superchargers without an adapter (though now you’ll need a CCS adapter to use CCS stations… but those are readily available). The charge port has also been relocated to the left rear (on non-GT models), the same place it appears on Tesla vehicles, which should make it easier to fit into Supercharger stalls, especially non-V4 stalls with short cables.
Finally, the EV6 is embracing North America in another way, by moving production of the vehicle to Georgia (except the GT trim level). This is a result of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which incentivized companies to move EV manufacturing to the US.
These laws have led to $210 billion in investment and 240,000 EV manufacturing jobs (and counting) in the US. And producing the EV6 in the US means Americans will have an easier time getting access to the US EV tax credit, saving themselves money on one of the best EVs out there (that said, you could still access it through leasing, but now buyers will have more options).
But there’s a bit of a damper on this move, as just last week, Dumb & Dumber (nevermind, they’re both Dumber) announced that they’re going to try to kill the EV tax credit, making cars more expensive for Americans and disincentivizing these positive moves for US manufacturing. So those jobs building some of the hottest cars on the road today might be back in jeopardy because of an ignorant reality TV host’s inescapable compulsion to cause inflation and kill jobs for Americans. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
To get more specifics on the EV6 and see what’s changed, Electrek will be roaming around the LA Auto Show today, checking out the newest of what Kia has to offer, and we’ll update you if we find out anything new.
If you’d like, you can use our affiliate link to get in touch with your local dealers about the Kia EV6, and try to be one of the first in line to get the newest iteration of one of the better EVs on the road.
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According to a Tesla Semi customer, the electric truck program is suffering more delays and a price increase that is described as “dramatic.”
Tesla Semi has seen many delays, more than any other vehicle program at Tesla.
It was initially unveiled in 2017, and CEO Elon Musk claimed that it would go into production in 2019.
In late 2022, Tesla held an event where it unveiled the “production version” of the Tesla Semi and delivered the first few units to a “customer-partner”: PepsiCo.
More than 3 years later, the vehicle never went into volume production. Instead, Tesla only ran a very low volume pilot production at a factory in Nevada and only delivered a few dozen trucks to customers as part of test programs.
But Tesla promised that things would finally happen for the Tesla Semi this year.
Tesla has been building a new high-volume production factory specifically for the Tesla Semi program in a new building next to Gigafactory Nevada.
The goal was to start production in 2025, start customer deliveries, and ramp up to 50,000 trucks yearly.
Now, Ryder, a large transportation company and early customer-partner in Tesla’s semi truck program, is talking about further delays. The company also refers to a significant price increase.
California’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) awarded Ryder funding for a project to deploy Tesla Semi trucks and Megachargers at two of its facilities in the state.
Ryder had previously asked for extensions amid the delays in the Tesla Semi program.
In a new letter sent to MSRC last week and obtained by Electrek, Ryder asked the agency for another 28-month delay. The letter references delays in “Tesla product design, vehicle production” and it mentions “dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics”:
This extension is needed due to delays in Tesla product design, vehicle production and dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics. These delays have caused us to reevaluate the current Ryder fleet in the area.
The logistics company now says it plans to “deploy 18 Tesla Semi vehicles by June 2026.”
The reference to “dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics” points to a significant price increase for the Tesla Semi, which further communication with MSRC confirms.
In the agenda of a meeting to discuss the extension and changes to the project yesterday, MSRC confirms that the project went from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks while the project commitment is not changing:
Ryder has indicated that their electric tractor manufacturer partner, Tesla, has experienced continued delays in product design and production. There have also been dramatic changes to the product economics. Ryder requests to reduce the number of vehicles from 42 to 18, stating that this would maintain their $7.5 million private match commitment.
In addition to the electric trucks, the project originally involved installing two integrated power centers and four Tesla Megachargers, split between two locations. Ryder is also looking to now install 3 Megachargers per location for a total of 6 instead of 4.
The project changes also mention that “Ryder states that Tesla now requires 600kW chargers rather than the 750kW units originally engineered.”
Tesla Semi Price
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2023. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
New diesel-powered Class 8 semi trucks in the US today often range between $150,000 and $220,000.
The combination of a reasonable purchase price and low operation costs, thanks to cheaper electric rates than diesel, made the Tesla Semi a potentially revolutionary product to reduce the overall costs of operation in trucking while reducing emissions.
However, Ryder now points to a “dramatic” price increase for the Tesla Semi.
What is the cost of a Tesla Semi electric truck now?
Electrek’s Take
As I have often stated, Tesla Semi is the vehicle program I am most excited about at Tesla right now.
If Tesla can produce class 8 trucks capable of moving cargo of similar weight as diesel trucks over 500 miles on a single charge in high volume at a reasonable price point, they have a revolutionary product on their hands.
But the reasonable price part is now being questioned.
After reading the communications between Ryder and MSRC, while not clear, it looks like the program could be interpreted as MSRC covering the costs of installing the charging stations while Ryder committed $7.5 million to buying the trucks.
The math makes sense for the original funding request since $7.5 million divided by 42 trucks results in around $180,000 per truck — what Tesla first quoted for the 500-mile Tesla Semi truck.
Now, with just 18 trucks, it would point to a price of $415,000 per Tesla Semi truck. It’s possible that some of Ryder’s commitment could also go to an increase in Megacharger prices – either per charger or due to the two additional chargers. MSRC said that they don’t give more money when prices go up after an extension.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the 500-mile Tesla Semi ends up costing $350,000 to $400,000.
If that’s the case, Tesla Semi is impressive, but it won’t be the revolutionary product that will change the trucking industry.
It will need to be closer to $250,000-$300,000 to have a significant impact, which is not impossible with higher-volume production but would be difficult.
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