Genesis is no longer making only quiet luxury cars – the brand released a detailed look into its latest creation, the Genesis GV60 Magma. This car is a big change for the company. It moves away from just being comfortable and steps into the world of high-performance electric cars. By mixing its classic elegant look with serious speed, Genesis wants to show that EVs can be as exciting as gas-powered sports cars.

Genesis GV60 Magma performance figures – source: Genesis

The people in charge at Hyundai Motor Group, which owns Genesis, are very proud of this project. Manfred Harrer, who leads their research and development, explained that his team worked hard to build something special. He says the car is not only fast in a straight line – it is designed to make the driver feel a real emotional connection. The goal was to create a machine that builds confidence, even when it is moving at very high speeds.

To make the Genesis GV60 Magma perform this way, the engineers had to rebuild the powertrain from the ground up. They upgraded the electric motors and changed many internal parts. These changes allow the car to reach 62 mph in only 3.4 seconds. If you keep your foot down, it will hit 124 mph in 10.9 seconds. These numbers make it the fastest vehicle Genesis has ever put on the road.

Genesis GV60 Magma performance figures – source: Genesis

The power coming from the front and rear motors is quite impressive for any modern car. The motors can spin up to 20,920 rpm, delivering 583 lb-ft of torque and a peak output of 641 horsepower. The Genesis GV60 Magma can reach a top speed of 164 mph. For a brand known for smooth rides and soft leather, these racing-style specs are quite a departure.

Genesis also wrote new software to manage all that power. Most EVs start to lose their punch once they are already moving fast. To fix this, the GV60 Magma uses a special two-stage motor control system. This helps the car keep pulling hard even when it is already at high speeds. There is also a “Boost Mode” button that gives the driver 15 seconds of maximum power for quick passing or track driving.

Genesis GV60 Magma interior – source: Genesis

Driving a car with this much power can be tricky, so Genesis added five different drive modes. Each of them changes how the GV60 Magma feels. Range Mode is all about saving energy, and Comfort Mode is for the daily commute, balancing power with a smooth ride. Sport Mode makes the car feel a bit more responsive and fun for back roads. Then there are two special modes: Sprint and GT. Sprint is for the race track, making the car very sensitive to every input. GT Mode is for long highway trips where you want a mix of luxury and speed.

One interesting detail is the accelerator pedal. Usually, pedals in electric cars feel very light, but the engineers at Genesis decided to make the pedal harder to push. Taejun Kang, a senior engineer on the test team, said they did this to give the driver more control. When you are driving slowly through town, the pedal is easy to move. But when you want to go fast, it pushes back more. This helps prevent the car from jerking forward and makes the driver feel more connected to the road.

Genesis GV60 Magma – source: Genesis

This focus on the “feel” is what Genesis hopes will set it apart from other EVs. Genesis is not chasing top speed records; it wants to make a high-performance car that is still easy to live with every day. The GV60 Magma is quite a different beast from its twin Hyundai Ioniq 5 N – it shows that the company is ready to compete with the fastest luxury brands in the world.

Source

How much does the United States like pickup trucks? You don’t need me to answer that question. Just look out the window and you’ll see all the reasons a manufacturer might need to build their own. Now, a company like Hyundai or its luxury arm Genesis can’t simply decide to sell a body-on-frame pickup and have the same success as Detroit’s Big Three. But at least one—if not both—of those automakers seems set to release a truck of their own in the near future. Hyundai says it’ll bring such a vehicle to market by 2030, and Genesis has even gone so far as designing one already.

The chunky rig was featured in a recent issue of Auto&Design, an Italian publication. There’s no mistaking it for anything else, as the grille and parallel headlight elements are distinctly Genesis. Said LEDs wrap all the way around the front fenders and pick back up on the rearmost part of the bedsides. In that way, it’s a lot like the X Gran Equator Concept that Genesis unveiled last spring. This truck actually shares a lot with that wild SUV once you look at them side-by-side.

It doesn’t have some secretive internal designation, according to the Auto&Design article; it’s simply referred to as “the pickup.” Luc Donckerwolke, chief creative officer and chief brand officer for Genesis, is quoted as saying, “An electric pickup truck? Why not? Then we discarded it because we had to focus on different projects. Maybe in the future, who knows.”

I’m not saying reverse psychology is at play here, but I’ve certainly heard similar talk from auto execs before, only for that very thing to become a reality in the near future.

My guess is that Genesis did the prep work in case Hyundai has success with its body-on-frame truck and the market seems ready for a more premium version. Aside from it being an unfamiliar name in the pickup segment, I think its biggest blocker would be the electric powertrain. I’m not saying it can’t work, but we’ve seen the EV forecast shift drastically in the past 12 months, and even a company like Rivian only sells a handful of battery-powered pickups compared to its SUVs.

I won’t hold my breath waiting for this to reach production, at least in the next four or five years. Whether or not this ever gets built likely depends on how well the public receives Hyundai’s version. That’ll be interesting to observe on its own, as I’m curious if it’ll have more success than the Santa Cruz. I bet it’ll be good, but whether or not it’ll be enough to capture a piece of the pie from other established players in the space seems a lot less certain.

Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com