Kia EV6 vs Toyota Land Cruiser

What's the difference?

The Kia EV6 Air offers comfort, a good range of features and beautiful handling for a ‘base model’, but it is a little pricey considering its competition.

Having said that, if you’re looking for an EV that will fit the family and has a stellar safety list – this is one to consider.

My son reckons the EV6 looks 'really cool' and he loves the space in the back seat.

The LandCruiser 300 in Sahara grade is a very impressive seven-seat 4WD wagon. It's nice to drive, it's refined and – bonus – it well and truly retains that renowned legendary LandCruiser off-road capability.

It's very comfortable and – as with previous-generation Cruisers – has heaps of potential as a top-class touring vehicle, but it has a big price-tag to match, there's no denying that.

While there's plenty to like about the Sahara spec, the GXL offers a nice compromise between price and features as long as you don't mind missing out on leather seats, the cooler box, 14-speaker JBL sound system and a few other bits and pieces.

The EV6 is cool and fun-looking, but being the base-model does mean you get plastic rather than body-coloured mouldings around the base of the car, which highlights its grade level.

The exterior hosts 19-inch alloy wheels and a full suite of LED lights but misses out on the upgraded Matrix headlights that the higher grades get.

The exterior's swoopy curves look aerodynamic and the chunkier rear balances out the sharper nose.

The interior looks well-made, and the mix of high-end cloth and synthetic-leather materials complement the futuristic exterior aesthetic.

The dashboard is headlined by a curved panel that houses the dual 12.3-inch tech screens and the floating centre console leans into that future vibe again.

There's a nice mix of touchscreen and physical buttons to satisfy a wide audience. Overall, while it’s not as flashy as its siblings, the cabin of the Air is very pleasant to look at.

The Sahara is 4980mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1980mm wide, and 1950mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2630kg.

The Sahara's exterior has that distinctive LandCruiser appearance, but modernised: it's chunky, tough-looking and ready to be kitted out with accessories, whether they be Toyota genuine accessories or aftermarket gear.

Otherwise, there are chrome exterior mirrors and door handles, and dynamic indicators front/rear that add to its overall quietly classy appearance.

The 'Celestite Grey' premium paint on our test vehicle costs $675. Other paint choices include 'Glacier White', 'Ebony', 'Crystal Pearl', 'Silver Pearl', 'Graphite', 'Merlot Red', 'Eclipse Black', 'Saturn Blue' and 'Dusty Bronze'.

The space in the EV6 rivals much larger SUVs and tall families will rejoice with how much leg- and headroom you get in both rows.

The comfort for passengers is pretty good, with comfortable seats in both rows that feel well-cushioned. The floor in the rear is flat, which accommodates any middle-seaters.

Being the base grade, you don’t get electric front seats, which is a bit rough for its price point but the driver’s side does get powered lumbar support, which I appreciate on longer journeys.

Individual storage is fantastic for the class and the front gets two cupholders, a drink bottle holder in each door and glovebox and middle console. There are multiple storage nooks and a utility tray on the topside of the floating centre console (sized for items like keys, wallet, phone etc).

The large shelf underneath the centre console easily accommodates a handbag and snacks for any kids in the back (or adults, no judgement).

Individual storage in the back is as good as the front, with plenty of spots to tuck away all of the paraphernalia that kids seem to attract. There are also two cupholders in a fold-down armrest, a drink bottle holder in each door and map pockets.

On the whole, my seven-year-old really enjoys being in the back seat because of the amenities and space he has. He finds the EV6 to be an easy car to get out of but we all struggle with the flush door handles! They can be terribly annoying to use as they don’t pop out on approach or when you unlock the doors. If you have your hands full and have little T-Rex hands like me, it can be awkward to open.

What isn't awkward to use is the technology! The 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system is quick to respond and the system itself is easy to navigate once you spend some time with it.

The 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is semi-customisable but not as pretty in its graphics as it could be. It has two styles to choose from - white or black, and the white is a little too sterile for my liking.

The multimedia system features wired Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and built-in satellite navigation with map updates for 10 years.

Charging options are solid with a single USB-A and and two USB-C ports up front, a wireless charging pad and a two 12-volt ports to choose from. The rear enjoy a three-pin standard house port and two USB-C ports as well.

The back seat has a 60/40 split and it's handy that you can lower them from the boot with manual levers. The boot itself is a good size with 490L when all seats are in use but you miss out on a powered tailgate in this model.

The frunk storage also offers an additional 52L, which is perfect to keep any charging cables or the tyre mobility kit stored away.

The LandCruiser is renowned as a great off-road touring vehicle – due to its practicality and functionality – and that reputation is unchanged with the 300 Series.

There's a sense of familiarity in the cabin – it's a functional yet premium space – and it's easy to get comfortable.

The driver is spoilt with a heated and power-adjustable steering wheel and ventilated and heated, power-adjustable seat (with three-position memory). The front passenger also gets a ventilated and heated, power-adjustable seat.

All seats are leather-accented, comfortable and there are soft-touch surfaces throughout the interior.

The Sahara's 12.3-inch colour multimedia touchscreen is a main feature in the cabin and it's easy to use, with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there's a wireless charging pad near the shifter. There are USB-A and USB-C charging points, as well.

There's a cool box in the centre console and its lid can be opened from either side, so driver or passenger can access chilled drinks.

There's also a powered sunroof/moonroof, whatever you want to call it.

Beyond those features, there are the usual storage spaces, cupholders, receptacles in the doors for bigger bottles, and other spaces for your bits and pieces.

The second row seats are in a 40/20/40 split-folding configuration, and the third row is a power-folding arrangement that stows away forwards and flat.

The Sahara's cargo space, when all seven seats are in use, is a listed 175 litres (VDA) behind the third row. That grows to 1004 litres when the second and third row are stowed away.

The rear cargo area has a 220V/100W inverter and four tie-down points.

The seven-seat Sahara has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $133,881 (excluding on-road costs). Surely a chunk of cash by anyone's calculations.

Standard features include a 12.3-inch touchscreen (with sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a wireless phone charger, four-zone climate control, leather-accented trim, a head-up display, a heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated power-adjustable front seats (with three-position driver's seat memory), heated second-row seats (outboard), and power-folding third-row seats.

There is also cooled centre console storage, a 14-speaker JBL premium audio system and a dual-screen rear entertainment system. The list goes on and on...

Suffice to say, you get a lot for your money, but at this price-point, you'd hope so.

The EV6 Air is a single-motor rear-wheel-drive that produces a maximum power output of 168kW and 350Nm of torque.

The Air has the slowest 0-100km/h sprint time in the EV6 range at 7.3 seconds, but that’s honestly enough for my little family. It still feels pretty damn zippy when you put your foot down.

The Sahara has the 300 Series' 3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo diesel, producing 227kW at 4000rpm and 700Nm from 1600 to 2600rpm.

It has a 10-speed automatic transmission, high- and low-range 4WD as well as a centre diff lock.

It does not have some very handy 4WD-focussed driver-assist tech that is included in the two higher grades (Sahara ZX and GR Sport) but more about that in the Driving section, further down this page.

Officially, you get a driving range of up to 528km (WLTP) from the 77.4kWh lithium-ion battery. However, the longest range I ever saw was 480km, which admittedly is still very good.

The EV6 Air has a Type 2 CCS port, which means you can benefit from plugging into a fast charger and the accepted voltage is a whopping 800v.

On a 50kW system, you’ll get from 10-80 per cent charge in 73 minutes and on a 350kW system, which charge time drops to just 18 minutes.

Expect it to take longer on AC charging, though. To get from 10-100 per cent on an 11kW system, it will take approximately seven hours and 20 minutes. On a standard house plug ... expect it to be on charge for around 30 hours.

The Air also has a vehicle to load (V2L) capability – meaning, it has a standard house three-pin plug port available to charge larger appliances while on the go. 

The official combined energy consumption is 16.5kW/100km (WLTP), and my usage came out at 16.02kW after a mix of open-road and urban driving this week.

Official fuel consumption is 8.9L/100km on the combined cycle.

Our fuel consumption on this test, from pump to pump, was 12.8L/100km, which is okay considering we did a lot of low-range four-wheel driving.

The Sahara has an 80-litre main fuel tank and a 30L sub-tank so, going by those fuel figures above, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 860km from a fully fuelled start.

The EV6 Air handles itself really well, it's been hit by torrential rain and didn’t skip a beat.

The Air really grips the road and distributes the power through the rear wheels evenly. Even at higher speeds, there’s no wobble and it feels stable when you accelerate. 

Steering is on the right side of firm and makes the Air feel very zippy when navigating tight city streets.

There are three levels of regenerative braking available, as well as a one-pedal function called iPedal, which is probably the best I’ve sampled and I like how responsive it is in stop-start traffic. However, when using this function on hills, I still hover over the brakes as it can still roll forward a bit. 

The cabin can get really loud from road noise at higher speeds, but it seems to come from underneath the carriage, rather than through the windows. The suspension is well-cushioned but not spongy.

Parking the EV6 isn’t an issue once you get used to the rotary gear selector and the reversing camera is super clear. You get a 360-degree system on higher grades but the Air does come with front and rear parking sensors.

Quiet, comfortable, and easy to spend big days in the driver's seat or as a passenger.

Steering is light and responsive and, with a 11.8m turning circle, this 4WD wagon still feels highly manoeuvrable.

The V6 offers up so much power and torque – and it's all managed so smoothly through the 10-speed auto – that the Cruiser is able to go from standing start to punching along the road at a decent clip, or transition from open-road cruising to safe overtaking without any lag of note.

Ride and handling are well sorted but this is a Cruiser after all so ultimately it tends towards being soft and comfortable, rather than dynamic.

Its suspension – double wishbone, independent at the front and live axle and multi-links at the rear with coils all-around – manages to soak up most imperfections in the road surface.

The 300 Series' brakes – ventilated discs all-around – brought the big Cruiser to a controlled stop during two of my patented 'Watch out for that bloody roo!' set-pieces.

In terms of on-road ride, handling and performance, the 300 Series impresses. But how does it perform off-road?

First things first: the Sahara-spec LandCruiser does miss out on some of the handy 4WD gear that the two higher grades (Sahara ZX and GR Sport) get, namely Toyota's swaybar-disconnect equivalent electronic-'Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System' (included onboard the GR Sport), front and rear differential locks (GR Sport), adaptive variable suspension (Sahara ZX and GR Sport) and a rear torque-sensing limited-slip differential (ZX).

But in the grand scheme of things that shouldn't impede you too much, if at all, unless you're really going all-out to break your Cruiser while 4WDing.

We managed all obstacles at our testing ground without any strife.

A few years back when Toyota announced it would replace the V8 with the V6 there was quite a lot of concern voiced over the change. Let's be frank here: there was a hell of a lot of whinging.

But people needn't have worried because though the V8 was a bloody good engine the V6 produces more power and more torque than it does (up 27kW and 50Nm).

And that power and torque is consistently delivered across a nice spread of revs.

In combination with the 10-speed auto it's a smooth-as pairing. That auto is very clever – smarter than you and me – because it's never hunting through ratios to try and find the sweet spot, it's always bang-on.

High- and low-range gearing are solid in the 300 Series, and the Cruiser has a 50:50 centre diff lock.

And, on top of all that, you also have access to a comprehensive suite of driver assist tech aimed at making your driving life off-road easier and safer.

The traction control system has been really well calibrated – fine tuned, very precise and seamless in its application.

The 300's multi-terrain select system gives you the option of cycling through driving modes such as 'Sand', 'Mud' and 'Rock' to suit the terrain you're on.

In action, those modes adjust vehicle systems, throttle, engine output, etc to give you the best chance possible of getting through every obstacle safely and in a controlled fashion.

Off-road measurements and angles are decent: ground clearance is 235mm, wading depth is 700mm, and approach, ramp-over and departure angles are 32, 21, and 25 degrees, respectively.

So, all in all, in terms of measurements that are suited to hardcore low-range four wheel driving, the LandCruiser 300 Series ticks all the boxes.

And while there's no denying the 300 Series is a big unit, it feels pretty nimble in the bush, even on tight tracks or pinched approaches to hills or creek crossings.

As well as a dialled-in off-road traction control system and all of those driving modes, it has handy tech such as crawl control, which works like a low-speed cruise control.

So, the only flaw in the 300 Series off-road set-up is its tyres, as its standard Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains (265/65 R18) are better suited to dry-track 4WDing in good weather than taking on any difficult stuff.

In terms of towing capacity, the 300 Series can legally tow a 750kg unbraked trailer, and 3500kg braked.

All of the 300 Series line-up, except the GR Sport, have the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in January 2022.

Safety gear includes 10 airbags, two ISOFIX anchor points, as well as AEB with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, active cruise control (all-speed), 'Lane Departure Alert' (with brake to steer), 'Road Sign Assist' (speed signs only), 'Trailer Sway Control' and more.

Off-road driver-assist tech includes crawl control, downhill assist, hill-start assist, multi-terrain select, multi-terrain monitor with panoramic view, and active traction control (A-TRC).

The EV6 comes with a leading seven-year/unlimited-km warranty. The battery covered by a separate seven-year/150,000km term, but this is a smidge shorter than some of its rivals.

You can pre-purchase either a three-, five-, or seven-year servicing program, priced at $721, $1382 and $2045, respectively. All of which are reasonable for the class.

The seven-year program runs up to a max 105,000km.

Servicing intervals are more in line with a fuel-based car at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The LandCruiser 300 Sahara is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty which is par for the course in the mainstream market.

Capped-price servicing applies to the first 10 services at a cost of $375 each (correct at time of writing), which is pretty competitive.

Service intervals are scheduled for every six months or 10,000km, whichever comes first. Which is shorter than the more usual 12 months/15,000km.

That said, owners may extend the engine and driveline warranty to seven years by adhering to service schedules.