2023 Kia EV6 vs Tesla Model Y

What's the difference?

Kia’s EV6, launched in 2021, was an early signal from Kia that its talk of rearranging car-buyers’ perceptions was more than an idle boast.

Sure, the South Korean brand had gone from budget also-ran a couple of decades ago to a brand that represents reliability and quality in a very short space of time.

But a brand that was technically innovative and EV-savvy? Or capable of family cars with supercar performance? Let’s wait and see, we all said.

And now the latest member of the all-electric EV6 family has arrived, and with it Kia’s big chance to prove its point, as well as convince us that its flagship products are worthy of a six-figure price-tag.

With shattering straight-line performance and all the hallmarks of a thoroughly modern take on the electric vehicle concept (including all-wheel-drive and electronic control of everything from the suspension to the rear differential) the EV6 GT makes the technical statement it needs to.

But does it have the quality, the specification and the overall appeal to justify a price-tag that was unimaginable in a South Korean car until very, very recently?

The fact is that technical merit is not enough – never has been – when it comes to making a macro price-point shift in the minds of consumers.

Any model seeking to reset the value proposition of an entire brand needs to be more than the sum of its parts. But does the EV6 GT achieve that rare distinction? That’s what we’re here to find out.

This version of Tesla’s Model Y is the new frontier for enthusiasts. How do you make an electric performance car?

It should be easy, right? Just up the power of the motors - no need to fit a larger, more complex engine, and make sure you’ve got a battery with the appropriate outputs.

There’s far more than meets the eye. The big question is, is it worth the significant additional spend over the base Model Y?

We grabbed one of the earliest examples of the Performance to hit Australian shores to find out.