It was one of those nights. I had been in LA all day for a Volkswagen event, gotten dinner in town and still had a two-to-three hour drive back to San Diego ahead of me. And the damn battery wasn't full. I'd have to stop at a charger on my way out of town. Exhausted and dreading another long stop, I plugged into a 350-kW station at a Target. I went in, grabbed a snack and peed. I came out expecting to sit around and twiddle my thumbs. But because I was driving a Genesis Electrified G80, in 15 minutes I had gone from around 30% to 80%.
Talk about luxury. It was a clear payoff from Genesis' commitment to using high-voltage architectures, which enable blazing-fast charge times and solid efficiency figures. In every way, it felt like the EV experience of the future. Well, almost every way.
Cursed Regen
One thing I love about driving a Tesla or my Blazer EV is the well-calibrated, persistent one-pedal driving mode. If you haven't experienced it yet, it's a setting that allows you to drive using only the accelerator most of the time. Lift off completely and the regenerative braking system kicks in with enough force to slowly stop the car. Drive using it and you can get smooth, efficient driving with less foot fatigue. It's hardly a new concept; It's existed for over a decade in the EV space. But Hyundai Motor Group still hasn't fully figured it out.
And its premium brand, Genesis, is the worst offender.
In a Hyundai, the system works reasonably well. In the Ioniq 6 I tested this year I was able to comfortably drive with one foot, and I got used to it quickly. But the car would kick me out of one-pedal mode—"i-Pedal" in HMG-speak—every time I started it up. There was no way to set it as the default mode, which meant I quickly resorted to using the more conventional drive mode. One-pedal is nice, but having to click the regen paddle twice every time I turned the car on was annoying enough that I wouldn't bother if I owned it.
The G80 Electrified has the same issue. But once I was in one-pedal mode, I didn't like what I felt. In what I assume was an effort to smooth out the experience, Genesis tries to smooth out inputs on the accelerator. That's nice when you're accelerating—a dab of throttle won't snap your neck—but it ruins one-pedal driving. When I would remove my foot from the pedal completely, there was a near second-long delay before the car started slowing down. Slower movements tended to feel like the car reacted more linearly, but it remained unpredictable.
I couldn't figure out how to drive smoothly in one-pedal mode. I'd try to anticipate when the car would start slowing down or reach its maximum deceleration rate, and I was always wrong. It made it impossible to know when the acceleration changes were coming, which meant I always felt as if someone else was driving.
I thought that it could have been a problem specific to the Electrified G80. It shares its platform with an internal-combustion version of the G80, and perhaps that lead to some compromises or shortcuts in the tuning process. Not so. Not only is the Electrified G80 as fleshed-out in software and overall tuning as the E-GMP, electric-only GV60, the GV60 exhibits the same behavior. During my testing, I spent 90% of the time driving with regen in a less-aggressive setting. No paddle-clicks necessary on startup, and no head toss when the delayed regen kicked in.
Not A Dealbreaker
Driven like a normal car, with a lower regen setting, both the Electrified G80 and GV60 were delightful. Both had plush, beautiful interiors with decent software and fantastic stereos. Both looked great, though you can tell the G80 was designed to have a grill. The GV60 was quick, comfortable and quiet, too. But while I loved the G80 as a highway cruiser, its low-speed ride was compromised by the extra weight of the battery pack. Genesis and BMW have proven that EVs sharing platforms with internal-combustion vehicles can work, but the GV60 is a reminder that a clean-sheet EV design is usually a more compelling product.
The best argument against the Electrified G80 is, in fact, other Genesis models. The GV60 is a cooler, more fun, more future-forward EV. The Electrified GV70 is a more affordable and practical EV on a shared platform. And if you want a G80 based on its exceptional design, interior and dynamics, the gas-powered G80 is significantly cheaper, rides better and handles exceptionally. If I could have my pick of the lineup, though, I'd definitely take the GV60. It's one of the most futuristic-feeling, interesting-looking, quick-charging and stylish EVs on sale. I just wouldn't use the one-pedal mode.
Contact the author: Mack.hogan@insideevs.com.
