Kia EV6 RWD Almost As Fast As EV6 AWD In Bjørn's 1,000 Km Challenge

But wait... shouldn't it be the other way around?

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Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Mar 9, 2022 at 8:32am ET

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The recent long-distance test of the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) version of the Kia EV6 (with a 77.4 kWh battery) brings an interesting result.

According to Bjørn Nyland's 1,000 km (621 miles) challenge, the car completed the distance, at an average temperature of 3°C, in 10 hours and 10 minutes (after some time deductions).

During the challenge, the car was charged a total of five times along the way. The average speed (including charging stops) was 98.4 km/h (61 mph).

It's a very good result, however slightly slower (by 15 minutes) than the previously tested Kia EV6 AWD.

The difference is relatively small and might be associated with many factors, as the challenge test is quite complex. However, it is a bit surprising. We would expect - especially after the range test - that the RWD version would be more efficient and a bit faster than the AWD version. After all, it's lighter.

Maybe the answer is the temperature. It was colder in the case of the RWD test (by a few degrees) and the E-GMP cars note lower fast-charging power when the battery is cold (the battery pre-heating feature has not been implemented yet).

Bjørn Nyland notes that the E-GMP platform is designed to minimize the eventual losses of efficiency and range related to the addition of the front-drive unit for all-wheel drive.

What do you think?

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Test conditions (according to Bjørn Nyland):

Start: 100% State of Charge (SOC)
Temperatures: -1 - +5°C (3°C on average)
Total time: 10 hours and 10 minutes
Average speed (total): 98.4 km/h (61 mph)
Average energy consumption: 268 Wh/km (431 Wh/mile)
Number of stops for charging: 5
Average distance between charging stops:
Total: 167 km (104 miles)
Excluding the initial segment: 149 km (92 miles)
Date / Notes: 05.03.2022

Charging stops: