2022 Kia EV6: How does it fare against the slightly pricier BMW i4?

The Kia EV6 has just landed in India as a halo product from the Korean carmaker, and with prices ranging between Rs 59.95-64.95 lakh, it now ranks as the most expensive product from Kia in India. With such premium pricing, the Kia EV6 is here to serve as a brand-building product for Kia in the sphere of electric mobility.

The Kia EV6’s premium positioning in the Indian car market puts it in the territory of the swanky and highly desirable BMW i4 four-door electric coupe, which also arrived in India a few days back for Rs 69.90 lakh. Both the cars are very different in their approaches, but the fact that both these purely electric vehicles are priced in almost similar territory calls for a direct comparison. 

Price

Kia has launched the EV6 in two different configurations – rear-wheel-drive (RWD) and all-wheel-drive (AWD), while the BMW i4 is available solely with a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) configuration in India. Compared to the BMW i4, which is priced at Rs 69.90 lakh, the Kia EV6 is priced at Rs 59.95 lakh for the RWD variants and Rs 64.95 lakh for the AWD variant, making it a more affordable option.

(All prices mentioned above are ex-showroom, pan India) 

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Engine and Performance

For both variants, the Kia EV is available with different powertrain configurations. In the base-spec RWD variant, the EV6 gets a rear-axle-mounted single electric motor setup, which produces 229 bhp of power and 350 Nm of torque. The more powerful EV6 AWD uses a two-motor setup, with one electric motor on both front and rear axles. The combined power and torque outputs of both these electric motors are rated at 325 bhp of power and 605 Nm of torque. These figures make it significantly more powerful than the Indian version of the BMW i4, which has a rear-wheel-drive setup with a single electric motor setup producing 340 bhp of power and 430 Nm of torque.

However, the i4 wins the battle of battery hands down with its bigger 83.9 kWh lithium-ion battery, compared to the 77.4 kWh battery available in both variants of the Kia EV6. While the EV6 offers a maximum driving range of 528 km, the BMW i4 puts up 590 km, which is currently the highest among all battery electric vehicles in India.

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Exterior and Dimension

The Kia EV is a significantly wider and taller car than the BMW i4, and while the i4 is longer than the EV6 by 88 mm, its wheelbase is 44 mm shorter than that of the EV6. The 490 litres of boot space in the Kia Ev6 is marginally more than the 470 litres of boot compartment in the BMW i4, with both the cars having a small front storage compartment under the hood for keeping the chargers. Both the cars have low ground clearances, though the 125mm ground clearance of the BMW i4 means that it requires special attention over speed breakers.

Design

Both the Kia EV6 and BMW i4 follow two dramatically different approaches when it comes to design. While the BMW i4 follows a comparatively conventional theme of a four-door coupe, the Kia EV6 has a radical appeal of a shooting brake designed vehicle, with a hint of crossover and SUV in it.

The Kia EV6 looks sleek with sharp-looking angular all-LED headlamps with a thin strip of closed grille between them and a well-curved bonnet above with nicely flowing contours over it. The front bumper here gets a wide air intake to channel air for cooling the battery. The slightly tapering down the roof, low ground clearance, humped wheel arches and rounded wheel arches do give the EV a squatted stance, while the 19-inch machined alloy wheels and flush-type door handles add a style statement to it.

At the back, the Kia EV6 looks extremely dramatic with a swooping, slim LED tail lamp and another stretched panel below it comprising dynamic LED turn indicators on the corners. Both these elements are spread across the width of the boot, giving the rest of the boot lid a clean but striking design. Even the sharply raked windscreen and roof-mounted spoiler add a lot to the visual drama.

In comparison, the BMW i4 looks lesser dramatic, but is surely an eye-catching design, thanks to its four-door coupe layout and a host of blue highlights around the exterior profile. The overall design of the i4 is inspired by that of the BMW 4-Series Coupe, which is evident in the vertical double kidney grille and slim eyebrow-shaped LED headlamps at the front.

As a measure to enhance aerodynamics, there are several touches over its ICE counterpart, like a closed grille with active 10-stage air flap and bumper intakes on the corners, 17-inch aerodynamically-optimized alloy wheels, flush-type door handles and revised design for the front and rear bumpers. As said above, the i4 gets blue highlights in places like the lower part of the grille and length of door panels, headlamp inserts and rear bumper corners. The tail lamps on the BMW i4 also look sleek, and while they do not look as dramatic as those in the EV6, they do have the required fanciness with LED inserts in them. 

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Interior and Features

When it comes to the interior, the story takes a role reversal. Compared to the Kia EV6, it is the BMW i4 which looks more dramatic and premium on the inside.

That doesn’t mean that the Kia EV6 is a boring place to be in. The cabin of the EV6 has an all-black layout, with the star highlights being the two-spoke multi-functional steering wheel, vegan leather upholstery, floating centre console and a dual-screen layout comprising of two 12.3-inch full-TFT screens, one each for the instrument console and a touchscreen infotainment system. The cabin also gets other interesting features like an augmented reality head-up display, sunroof, 10-way powered and ventilated front seats, 14-speaker Meridian sound system. Other features like eight airbags, a full suite of autonomous level-2 ADAS safety features and Kia Connect with 60+ connected car tech features are also on offer.

The BMW i4 seeks inspiration from the new-generation premium offerings from BMW, which are known for their more dramatic approach to cabin layout and fit and finish levels. The cabin here looks very similar to the new 4-Series Coupe, which means it gets the curved twin-screen layout which includes a 12.3-inch full-TFT instrument console and a 14.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system. This full-TFT cockpit runs on BMW’s i8 user interface, which offers a crisper display and better touch and voice response than the EV6’s unit. The i4 also gets a host of other features like reverse park assist, three-zone automatic climate control, LED ambient lighting, 17-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and a sunroof. 

Verdict

Both the Kia EV6 and BMW i4 have pushed the envelope in the premium end of the EV car market, with their comparatively affordable pricing, loads of features and visual appeal and potent powertrains.

While both the cars here have a strong road presence, the Kia EV6 takes the cake for being more dramatic and attention-grabbing in its design. It also has a much more powerful all-wheel-drive variant, which is almost Rs 5 lakh more affordable than the rear-wheel-drive BMW i4, thus making it a perfect choice for those who value styling and outright straight-line performance.

However, that’s where the advantages of the Kia EV6 end. The BMW i4 offers better space management, more features, better fit and finish levels, better driving dynamics, a bigger battery with a higher range and that fantastic snob value of the BMW badge, which makes it a more desirable product over the Kia EV6.

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