A fun and sporty family EV packed full of great features
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The brand new 2022 Kia EV6 is a fantastic-looking electric car, with its low, wide shape and big hips it's one very attractive vehicle! But how does it do for family practicality?! Let's find out and put it through our BabyDrive testing…
Firstly, this fully electric five-seater has a 504km range (according to Kia) for the single motor GT-Line tested but the range readout does jump around a bit while driving so I would say confidently it has a 460km range when used for the everyday driving of family life.
It's a great drive, lovely and smooth and quiet, to me it has the look of a fast, noisy and aggressive petrol car but has the refreshing modern sound of silence! I found at junctions and roundabouts the EV6 had the steady acceleration you would expect from a fuel car rather than the instant go I have come to expect from an EV. Then again, this smoother style could be nice for people making their transition to an EV for the first time.
When it comes to family practicality, the Kia EV6 is full of tricks! There are great features throughout the car that are really appreciated by passengers big and small!
There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats and top tether anchorages in the back of all three rear seats that you can easily access through the boot or by bringing the seatbacks forward.
We did find accessing the buckle for the central seat a bit tricky with three child seats across. It is a bit of a squeeze with three across and you do have to pick your child seats carefully to make sure they fit.
If you only need to install two child seats, you will find it is more comfortable and everyone has some much-needed personal space. With two child seats installed I could just fit between them and I'm 162cm. There is also no hump in the rear footwell which makes accessing your seat nice and easy and gives you better kick-room too.
As well as that, legroom is something the Kia EV6 does extremely well! With rear-facing child seats installed in the back we could fit a 186cm driver or passenger in front of them and they had heaps of space to spare.
You can learn more about and purchase the child seats used in this review here.
There is great storage in the EV6 too, especially in the front where there is a large storage tray under the central console bridge. I found this area perfect for my handbag or purse and there are USB, USB-C and 12V sockets down there too.
Two cup holders, a good size central console box and wireless phone charging pad are also in the central console.
The glove box is also cavernous and door bins will hold a refillable water bottle and purse.
In the back, things are a little more what we're used to and still practical, with small map pockets on the back of both front seats and USB-C sockets there too for rear charging.
In the rear footwell, there is a 240V regular house socket, which I found so handy for plugging in my laptop for working in the car while my Bub had her day sleeps!
Door bins in the back are smaller but still hold a refillable water bottle and the handles double as little storage wells too.
A central seat fold-down armrest provides two good size cup holders as well.
Also handy for passengers in the back, the front headrests seem to double as jacket hangers and iPad holders, which my girls took full advantage of while we enjoyed the EV6 as a family.
Rear passenger comfort is well taken care of with rear air vents in the side pillars rather than in the back of the central console box. I prefer these because they are too far away for little rear passengers' feet to mess around with them. They are also easily reached by front passengers.
Storage in the boot of the Kia EV6 is practical for families. From empty it holds 13 shopping bags. This is comparable to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 which holds 15, the Polestar 2 that holds 14 shopping bags, the Volvo XC40 which holds 12 and the Kia Niro Electric which holds 11 shopping bags.
A twin side-by-side pram fits in the boot with five shopping bags around it.
Or a modular double pram fits in the boot with six shopping bags.
Or you could fit your medium size family dog in the boot comfortably!
The Kia EV6 has a driverless parking function, where you can drive the car forwards and backwards, in and out, of a parking space using just the key fob. The EV6 does feel quite wide on the hips so I found this function really helpful when getting the kids in and out of the car in tight car parks. It also prevents the kids from opening the doors into cars parked next to you!
When it comes to driving, the EV6 is a great car and has a fabulous 360-degree camera that you can turn on and off with a button in the central console which makes parking and manoeuvring easier and the turning circle is very good. Unfortunately, visibility is extremely poor out of the back partly due to the shape of the bodywork and windows that are made even worse when you have child seats in the back. You really do rely on those cameras.
The media system in the Kia EV6 is fantastic. It is nice and modern, and easy to use and navigate.
It has some great Kia family features like the voice memo which I love for recording funny conversations with my kids in the car or notes for work and quiet mode which brings the sound from the rear speakers to the front speakers, which is really useful when your kids fall asleep in the back!
You can control the climate from the front media screen and select ‘Driver Only' to save battery when you're the only one in the car.
The EV screen allows you to see your battery range and control your charging etc.
The EV6 has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too which is great news for safely accessing your phone's navigation, listening and communication apps while driving.
The reversing cameras are really crisp and clear and you can turn the parking sensors off with a button in the central console.
The Kia EV6 is packed full of features that make it a great family car, like its good media system and cameras, storage and connectivity throughout the car. Legroom is exceptionally good with rear-facing child seats and even with that low wide rear, the boot space is still practical too.
Some great stand-out features include the iPad holding headrests…
…rear air vents in the side pillars and the central console bridge.
All these really take the EV6 to the next level in passenger comfort for the parents as well as the little people on board.
The Kia EV6 scored a 5 star ANCAP crash test rating and has seven airbags as standard including a central airbag that inflates between the front passengers in side impact crashes.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the 2022 Kia EV6?
The boot of the Kia EV6 is more practical for families than it looks from the shape of the car. When it's empty it holds 13 shopping bags, which is comparable to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 which holds 15, the Polestar 2 which holds 14 shopping bags, the Volvo XC40 which holds 12 and the Kia Niro Electric which holds 11 shopping bags.
A twin side-by-side pram fits in the boot with five shopping bags around it…
…or a modular double pram fits in the boot on the Kia EV6 with six shopping bags.
A single pram fits in the boot with six bags around it.
A compact stroller fits in the boot of the EV6 with nine shopping bags.
Or you could fit your small or medium size family dog in the boot comfortably!
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Bub’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The boot floor is flat and carpeted, making it perfect for an emergency nappy change!
There is a 12V socket on the left-hand side behind the wheel arch.
How good is storage inside the 2022 Kia EV6?
Storage is excellent in the cabin of the Kia EV6. There are two cup holders in a floating central console; they will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and there is a small storage well behind them too, good for popping the key into. Beside them is a phone charging pad and behind that is a generous size central console box.
Underneath this bridge is a fantastic storage area, which I just loved for popping my handbag or purse and there are lots of USB/USB-C charging sockets down here too.
The front cabin is really nice for storage, with this floating central console and the big screen that sweeps the front dash making it a very pleasant environment.
The glove box is cavernous in the Kia EV6 and can easily hold an iPad and purse with the manual.
The door bins in the front will hold a refillable water bottle and my purse fits in them too and the handles double as storage wells.
There is no glasses case in the ceiling and there are mirrors in both lit front visors.
In the back, the door bins are smaller but will still hold a refillable water bottle and the handles double as little storage wells.
There are hard map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad and there are USB-C sockets in the side of both front seats for charging rear passengers' devices.
In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two cup holders. They will hold a disposable or reusable coffee cup.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2022 Kia EV6? What is the battery range in the Kia EV6?
The 2022 Kia EV6 looks to me like it should be a throaty petrol car with some serious exhaust sounds but instead it is a modernly silent EV, making it a lovely BabyDrive. It starts silently and you have all the beautiful benefits of driving your child to sleep and then sitting while they are sleeping without churning through fuel! There is also a plug socket in the rear footwell which I found really handy for plugging my laptop in so I could work in the car while Bub was sleeping!
This single-motor GT-Line model EV6 has a 504kms battery range according to Kia but I found during my week with it that the range read-out jumps around a bit. I’m pretty confident you’d get at least 460km range when using it for regular family journeys.
Charging is great and with a family servo stop at a place with a  350kW charger, it quickly topped up from 6 per cent to 80 per cent in about 20 minutes. That makes it one of the fastest charging EVs you can get! I also found convenient chargers at the shopping centre and topped it up at home as well using free, clean power from my solar panels. Most of the public charging companies also say they use green energy as well – the one in the picture above has a roof made entirely from solar panels!
The EV screen in the media system clearly shows you your battery range and has some practical features like your distance with and without aircon, which can make a big difference when fast chargers are few and far between.
The Kia EV6 has a beautiful wrap-around media screen and driver display.
The media system in the Kia EV6 is modern and very simple to use.
All models have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can access Spotify or ABC Kids Listen App for example, or whatever you and your children listen to on journeys in the car. It is also great for accessing your phone's navigation and messaging apps (via voice control) on the move.
You can control the climate through the media screen and switch it to driver only which really saves battery when you are on your own in the car.
The EV6 has lots of Kia's media functions that we like using with our family like Quiet Mode, which brings the sound from the rear speakers into the front. I love this when I'm driving along and the kids fall asleep in the back I can quickly press it and move the sound to the front. Or if they are happy on devices in the back.
There is also Voice Memo which we love for recording the priceless conversations we have with our kids in the car!
The cameras are very good in the Kia EV6 and they really help with visibility as it is extremely difficult out of the back…
…especially with child seats installed.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
There are buttons in the driver's door control panel that lock the doors and a child lock button to lock both the rear doors and windows. I found both the doors and windows are really nice and quiet and would not disturb small sleeping passengers when opening and closing them.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
The driver display gives you a clear battery reading and visual if anyone removes their seatbelt.
Now it is a bit cosy with three child seats across and you do need to select your seats carefully so that they will fit. We found it difficult to access the buckle for the central seatbelt with three child seats across too.
Two child seats is a much more comfortable ride that gives everyone a bit of breathing space. I could just fit between the two child seats and I'm 162cm.
There are top tether anchorages in the back of all three seatbacks that are easily accessible through the boot and ISOFix points are in both the outer rear seats.
Legroom is fantastic in the EV6 and with rear-facing child seats in the back, we could fit a 186cm passenger or driver in the front, both having heap of room to spare. Kia says that because the EV6 doesn't need space for an engine it can put the front and rear wheels much further apart, which gives freedom for more space between the front and rear seats as well, hence all that legroom!
There is no hump in the rear footwell (because the battery under the floor is also flat) which makes accessing seats much easier for kids in the back and gives more legroom in the footwell too.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the 2022 Kia EV6? And How good is the 2022 Kia EV6 to drive?
In the front of the 2022 Kia EV6, the seats are very comfortable. They are grey suede with contrast white trims in the GT-Line model I tested. They were also heated and cooled which was very welcome in the Queensland winter that can go from really cold early in the morning to quite hot during the day!
For a mum travelling in the back with Bub, the rear seats are comfortable too and the lack of hump in the rear footwell gives really good leg and kick-room.
For the first year of my baby’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Bub so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
Cruise controls are on the left of the steering wheel and are nice and simple to use and are accurate for motorway driving as well as slower more undulating roads.
There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones underneath the media screen and one at either end of the dashboard.
There are also air vents in the rear side pillars for rear passengers as well, these give a really nice flow and little ones can't reach them with their feet.
You can control the aircon and climate through the media screen.
As well as with a touch panel on the dash below the media screen.
There are handles above both the rear doors to hang a child's toy from.
Visibility in the Kia EV6 is pretty difficult especially out of the back. The EV6's wide low hips make it a tricky car to see out of the back of anyway but once you add child seats it's almost impossible.
Luckily the EV6 has some very good 360-degree cameras which help so much with parking and manoeuvring!
The Kia EV6 also has remote parking, which you can do using just the key fob to drive it in and out of a parking space.
I found this VERY useful during our week with the EV6. I'd drive it out of the parking space using the key fob and then load the kids and their belongings in and the same to park it, get everyone and everything out and then use the remote park to back it into the space. Saving any potential door bumps and giving everyone more space!
The Kia EV6 is FULL of features and functions that are really useful and enjoyable for everyone including families with kids of all ages.
In the frontal offset test, protection of the 6 year and 10 year dummies was GOOD for all critical body areas.
In the side impact test, protection of the head of the 10 year dummy was MARGINAL, while that of other body areas of both the 6 year and 10 year dummies was GOOD.
The Kia EV6 is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, though one of the selected booster seats could not be correctly installed in the centre rear seating position.
Seven airbags come as standard, including dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags and a centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard on all models.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!
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