2026 Genesis GV60 Advanced review: Australian first drive

Lights, bumpers and a new steering wheel. That's the new Genesis GV60 Advanced facelift. Can we can now go and do something more interesting instead?

Only joshing. That's what most manufacturers would call a facelift. You know the procedure: facelift at three years, replacement at seven. But the influx of Chinese manufacturers means that none of this even comes close to cutting it in 2026.

The other thing that isn't going to wash is paying $103,000 for an electric SUV with a 77kWh battery. Even if it did feel pretty plush inside. With that in mind, Genesis quietly pulled the GV60 from sale almost a year ago and has been hard at work dragging it into the here and now.

The 'new' GV60 features two very different variants. The halo version is the GV60 Magma, all 478kW and $130,000 plus on-road costs of it. Genesis is keeping its fingers crossed that Aussie buyers will respond to the $88,300 plus on-road costs Advanced model.

So how has Genesis managed to give this car a $15,000 haircut and still make money on it? Two reasons really. Batteries are now cheaper and it's a fundamentally simpler proposition.

Whereas that old GV60 was a 234kW dual-motor offering that delivered all-wheel drive, this one features a motor on the rear axle only, so your peak power output is 168kW.

That's not the only economy Genesis has made either. You'll look in vain for features such as a head-up display, steering wheel heating, a sunroof, nappa leather seat upholstery and massaging for the seats. The gimmicky camera-based side mirrors of the old car have also gone, replaced by, well, side mirrors.

Now this clearly presents a bit of a problem. Exactly at the time when Chinese manufacturers are absolutely loading their cars to the gunwales with kit you didn't know you needed, Genesis is paring back the GV60. Is it in danger of looking a bit sparse?

First impressions suggest otherwise. The most obvious change – and one you can hardly miss – is that Genesis has replaced the old setup of two 12.3-inch LCD displays under a single glass panel with one glorious 27-inch sweep of OLED loveliness. In other words, you're probably not going to miss the head-up display.

The infotainment architecture is slick and glitzy. I particularly love the way that the mapping imagery can stretch full width, becoming a subtle ghost image behind the main dial pack. Genesis has executed it beautifully.

I won't miss the glass roof either, not being a fan of such items. They add weight exactly where a car least needs it and often rob a few inches of head room in the process, which is an issue if you're on the tall side.

The omission of the dual-motor setup is another kettle of fish, though, and fundamentally changes the feel of this electric GV60. Instead of being the sort of thing where you relish catching a red light because it offers you the opportunity for a searing launch, the GV60 Advanced feels a far more laid-back thing.

As you walk towards it, you'll notice the revised bumpers, valances, headlights and wheels, but then you might well register what those intricate but handsome five-spoke alloys are shod with. The tyres are 235/55 R19 Michelin Primacy 4 items. 55 profile! Blimps. Dirigibles. And fitting them is one of the best decisions in this new GV60 Advanced.

Because it rides on a passive damper, it doesn't have the sort of firm/soft/other tricks that a fully adaptive damper, for all its expense, can muster. That means Genesis needs to work its compromises smartly, and it has clearly decided that this is going to be a supple, comfortable GT-style cruiser. Hence the chubby tyre sidewall.

Settle behind the wheel and it's easy to find a good driving position. The steering wheel gets a decent range of rake and reach, and the 10-way adjustable driver's seat offers you plenty of options.

There's a sensible mix of physical controls for the air conditioning, plus buttons to take you to the native satellite navigation, media controls, a drive mode button hanging from one of the steering wheel spokes, and also a custom button to take you to a screen function of your choice.

The white leather used for the seats and the steering wheel would be a non-starter for somebody who eats as many Doritos as me, but other less orange savoury comestibles are also available. As indeed are other interior colourways. This optional two-tone Glacier White/Ash Grey looks the business, but I suspect it'd be deeply impractical. I'd be opting for the Obsidian Black leather instead and flog the seat coolers for all they're worth.

The new three-spoke steering wheel looks better than the slightly odd two-spoke item in the GV60's prior incarnation and the wheel-mounted controls are clearer too. Otherwise, the cabin architecture isn't that different.

Jump into the back and you'll find plenty of leg room, even behind a tall driver, although you can't slide your toes under the front seat when it's lowered to its minimum height. The absence of a sunroof also improves head room.

The 680-litre boot features some underfloor storage for the mobility kit (there's no spare), and there's just about enough room under the bonnet for the shallow 'frunk' to house a set of charging cables.

Genesis has also improved the safety package by tweaking the blind-spot monitoring, remote parking and forward collision avoidance systems. The adaptive cruise is now better too, with better lane-centring and an operating speed that now encompasses 1km/h to 180km/h. There's even a hands-on detection centre that uses capacitive sensors to detect your hands on the wheel.

Prod the starter button and the car comes to life with the usual whooshing fanfare. It passes the crucial 50-metre test, with the steering feeling slick and ride quality decidedly polished. Couple that with the upmarket feel of the cabin, and the GV60 initially impresses you. It even features a new low-friction U-joint in the steering to boost that glossy, expensive feel.

On a typical Aussie B-road, the GV60 does a great job of filtering out the sort of bumps and thumps that would shock the passenger cell in a car like a Zeekr 7X or a Tesla Model Y. The relaxed damper tune and chunky tyre sidewalls deliver here.

It's quiet too. Genesis has increased the amount of noise insulation in this version. It also features revised hydraulic bushings on the rear suspension, more aerodynamic wipers and better sealing around the doors that all combine to reduce cabin noise.

What it's not is particularly quick. Its 168kW and 350Nm ensure it keeps pace with traffic, but at a hefty 2075kg, it won't deliver the kind of neck-snapping EV acceleration that leaves you with acid reflux for the rest of the day. If that's what you're after, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Zero to 100km/h will detain you for 7.8 seconds, but what it lacks in straight-line speed it makes up for at the charger. The GV60 Advanced will charge at a peak rate of 265kW on a DC fast charger, which means that a 10–80 per cent zap will detain you for just 18 minutes.

Its bigger battery (up from 77kWh to 84kWh) helps eke the range out to a WLTP-mandated 561km, and better conditioning software also means that it'll charge more effectively.

That's just as well, because the claimed energy consumption for this car is an unspectacular 16.7 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres. On test, I expected to easily better that number but returned 17.8kWh/100km.

By contrast, the Zeekr 7X Performance, all 475kW of it, returned an energy consumption figure of 16.5kWh/100km on an previous Drive extended test. These maths are troubling.

Because what they say is that the Genesis GV60 Advanced is perhaps not as advanced as we're expected to believe. Whereas performance figures used to be the yardstick that manufacturers would use to express their technical excellence, the game has changed. Efficiency now rules, and if that is the case, then Genesis isn't excelling here.

We should add a caveat here: we recorded this fuel-efficiency figure on a decidedly hilly 54km test route around Canberra. We'll reserve final judgment until we get the vehicle through the Drive offices for a full, detailed review.

As it stands, the Genesis GV60 Advanced offers plenty to like, from the quality of its finish to the way it drives. It looks good and it's comfortable and civilised. That's a great start.

But there are significant impediments between this car and sales success. The small dealer footprint (just 10 outlets in Australia at the time of writing) is the first hurdle to overcome. Genesis is rolling out more showrooms, but that's not the work of a moment. Bringing dedicated Genesis servicing centres online (of which there are just four) takes even longer.

Then there's the competition, which isn't exactly sitting on its hands. To sign a dotted line for a GV60 Advanced, you need to ignore a Tesla Model Y Performance and a Zeekr 7X Performance, two top-drawer offerings with more kit, more power and more demand when the time comes to sell.

You also need to stop saving for a BMW iX3; a vehicle that fundamentally moves the goalposts in this sector in terms of electric range and overall polish.

That's a big ask. The Genesis GV60 Advanced really needed to bring a radical advantage if it wanted a radical change in its sales prospects. The unvarnished truth is that it doesn't have that 'killer app' that will punt it to the front of mind for those looking for a premium electric SUV.

If you want something that feels beautifully made and delivers the sort of relaxed ride quality that you thought was a thing of the past, the GV60 Advanced makes an articulate case for itself.

The problem is, we're now narrowing the sweet spot in this particular Venn diagram down ever further. I'm not sure that this charming but somewhat flawed car will have quite the cut-through that Genesis hopes.

In a perfect world, there would be space for a vehicle with these benign and gentle qualities. But this sector of the market has become a bit Darwinian and the GV60 Advanced doesn't have the air of an apex predator about it.