How far and fast can you drive an EV? Genesis GV60 enters Targa Tasmania to test the limits of electric performance

Hyundai is pushing its electric vehicles to the limit by taking on Australia’s most famous road rally - Targa Tasmania. A Genesis GV60 has been entered in this year’s five-day event that takes in roads all around the state, many of them closed rally-style ‘special stages’ that will allow for the car to be driven quickly.

That’s why Genesis has enlisted Brendan Reeves, one of Australia’s best rally drivers and a multiple Targa Tasmania finisher, to drive the GV60. It’s understood the Genesis is entered in the non-competitive Targa Tour category, which follows the same route as the competitive cars but has a speed limit of 130km/h in the special stages.

This will push the GV60 to its limits, both in terms of the distances it will be required to cover each day and the speed with which Reeves can drive the stages. However, this isn’t been done for publicity, with the GV60 spotted with all of its Genesis branding covered up.

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When contacted by CarsGuide, a spokesman for Genesis Australia said the entry is a “data gathering exercise” with engineers from Hyundai’s South Korean headquarters, supported by some Hyundai Australia personnel.

This real-world performance and range testing is likely to be part of Hyundai Group’s development of its e-GMP modular electric vehicle platform that underpins several models already, including the GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. 

Hyundai has long teased the possibility of a high-performance N-tuned version of Ioniq 5 and this Targa Tasmania test could be part of the development, given the shared platform between the Genesis and Hyundai models.

Former Hyundai R&D boss and the man credited with creating the N division, Albert Biermann, all-but-confirmed the arrival of an Ioniq 5 N saying in early 2021: “I think with e-GMP we have a very substantial platform to bring sustainable driving fun to our enthusiasts on the road and on the track.

“I think after some N-specific treatments, it would be tonnes of fun to drive around the Nordschleife with an N vehicle based on e-GMP. I can see many, many corners where our combustion cars might have some trouble to follow our e-GMP car.”

While Hyundai and Genesis are playing down the significance of the Targa Tasmania entry, it could play a major role in shaping the performance and range of future EVs.