Genesis GV70 Review & Prices

The Genesis GV70 has arrived to take on the likes of the BMW X3 and Audi Q5, and it’s packing some impressive pricing and a long list of standard equipment to do so. Basically, it’s like ordering chicken nuggets at McDonald’s and finding a couple of extra nuggets in the packet — more luxury bang for your buck (or pound).

There’s also a fully electric version called Electrified GV70 that’s vying for your attention as an alternative to the Audi Q8 e-tron, BMW iX3 and Mercedes EQC in the electric SUV market.

Both models have styling that picks up cues from Genesis’ other products, notably the GV80 SUV and G80 saloons, but the GV70 looks crisper than either of those, especially with those neat, bisected headlights. The grille is a bit gaudy, but it’s no more in-yer-face than what BMW is doing with some of its models.

If it looks smart outside, then the cabin is even better — you might fool yourself into thinking that the GV70 is a scaled-down Bentley, rather than a poshed-up Hyundai (Hyundai owns the Genesis brand; think of it as the Lexus to Hyundai’s Toyota). There’s acres of high-quality leather, great seats, and plenty of comfort.

There’s also a very good infotainment system with a big 14.5-inch screen on top of the dashboard, which you can operate by touch or with a rotary controller down on the centre console (just like a BMW). Annoyingly, that rotary controller is right next to the rotary gear selector, so you’ll keep grabbing the wrong one.

There’s decent space in the back of the GV70, so it’ll be a practical machine for well-heeled families, although their heels — and the rest of their feet — might find space on the floor a bit tight. At least the back seats recline so those riding behind can have a snooze.

The boot is good — just a few litres shy of what you get in a comparable Mercedes or BMW — but if you want the electric version, you’ll have to sacrifice around 40 litres of boot space.

Aside from the electric version — which boasts 490hp, two motors, four-wheel drive, and a 280-mile range — there is a 2.2-litre diesel with 200hp, or a 2.5-litre turbo petrol with 304hp. Both of those engines come with standard four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

All three versions have brisk performance, but in the petrol and diesel you have to give the automatic ‘box a second or two to think about what it’s doing. And the 2.5 petrol is really, really thirsty.

Thirsty, but refined. Although the petrol engine shouts a bit under full acceleration (which can get you to 60mph in just over 6.0 seconds) it’s exceptionally quiet when you’re cruising along, and there’s hardly any wind noise or tyre noise either.

A clever camera system scans the road ahead and warns the suspension of any upcoming bumps or potholes to smooth them out, but if you put the GV70 into Sport mode, it gets a bit too bouncy for a British back-road. You’re better off just leaving it in Comfort and accepting the extra body roll.

Either way, the GV70 isn’t quite as sharp to drive through corners as a BMW X3 or an Audi Q5, but it’s no slouch and is a very pleasant thing to cruise along in.

Clearly, the Genesis badge doesn’t mean as much to buyers — yet — as Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, or even Lexus, but give the Koreans a chance. Once upon a time, Hyundai didn’t mean much to many, other than ‘Bargain Basement’, and now look at it. The GV70’s sophistication, luxury, comfort, and tech means that even the big German brands can’t ignore it, and you certainly shouldn’t.

If you want to check out the latest Genesis GV70 deals, or browse other Genesis deals, you can do that through carwow. But if you’re in the market for a used car instead, you can check out used GV70s, too.

We can also help in changing your car altogether with our sell my car service, where you upload some photos, enter the car's details and then our trusted dealers will bid on your car. You then pick the deal that's right for you and your old car is then taken away – it's free and simple.

The Genesis GV70 is very aggressively priced, with the most affordable 2.2 diesel model undercutting the price of a new, basic, BMW X3 by several thousand pounds — and the Genesis is better-equipped as standard. It’s also significantly less expensive than the Audi Q5, and — by a very long way — the new Mercedes GLC, although it’s worth remembering that the almost-the-same-size Mercedes GLB is actually a little cheaper.

The Lexus NX is also more or less the same price as the GV70, and comes as standard in hybrid form plus the option of a plug-in hybrid; something that the GV70 doesn’t offer.

The Electrified GV70 is priced around the mid-to-high-£60,000 mark. For a luxury electric SUV this represents pretty good value, being in a similar ballpark to the BMW iX3 and around £10,000 cheaper than a Mercedes EQC, neither of which are as fancy inside.

A Volvo XC40 Recharge can be had for less but it’s a bit smaller than the Genesis, and while the Audi Q8 e-tron and BMW iX start around the same price, they accelerate quickly towards six figures as you go up the range.

The Genesis GV70 is good to drive and quite rapid, but its gearbox is slow-witted and alternatives from BMW and Audi have sharper steering

In town

The GV70’s raised-up driving position gives you a good view out of the front, and it’s far from the biggest SUV around so getting through narrow gaps isn’t too much of a chore. You can see the corners of the bonnet very easily, which also helps (the low-set dashboard is a real boon in that sense), and the view out of the rear window is OK. The door mirrors aren’t especially huge, but they do give you enough vision, helped by the all-round camera system when you’re manoeuvring at low speeds (although the low-set reversing camera gets too easily covered in grime). For really tight parking spaces, you can actually get out and nudge the GV70 back and forth slightly, using the key fob as a remote control.

The big windscreen pillars do create a bit of a blind spot, although it helps that there are little extra windows down by the mirrors. Better yet, as an option, you can have a 3D surround view (which projects a cartoon version of the GV70 onto a live view from the cameras) as well as a rear blind spot view which projects a view from the door mirror camera onto the instrument panel.

The GV70 has a fairly tight turning circle (11.5 metres) which is a little smaller than most of its main German rivals, but it’s still a bit bulky for quick u-turns, and the fact that the rotary gear selector and the infotainment click-wheel are both in the same place, and both around the same size means that it's possible to get them mixed up when trying to quickly flick between R and D.

At least the automatic gear changes are nice and smooth, although the gearbox itself could respond a bit quicker when you floor it. The 2.5-litre turbo petrol engine is also utterly silent at low speeds but the brakes are slightly noisy, making a low rumbling sound. Opt for the electric model and silence is similarly assured, and you're blessed with perfectly smooth acceleration. It can skip over rough surfaces, though, which can shatter the serenity somewhat.

On the motorway

When you’re accelerating to blend in with motorway traffic, that slow-moving gearbox means you need to give the GV70 a second or two to pick up the right gear, but once you do that it’s pretty rapid in the 40-70mph sprint. At that point you will certainly hear the engine, which gets quite vocal as you rev it, but it does quieten down again when you’re cruising. There’s also very little wind noise nor rumbles coming up from the road so longer journeys are properly relaxing in the GV70.

The Electrified GV70 is just as happy at motorway speeds. Put your foot down and it's quick to get you up to 70mph. Any comfort issues at lower speeds are non-existent when you’re cruising along at the national speed limit, where the suspension makes all but the roughest Tarmac feel like the red carpet has been rolled out.

Also taking the strain out of longer runs are the lane-keeping steering and the radar-assisted cruise control, which keep you between the white lines and a safe distance from the car in front. That said, the lane departure warning does beep at you a lot, which can get annoying and it’s hardly the most efficient car at motorway speeds – unless you’ve gone for the diesel version, which is far more suitable for high-mileage drivers.

On a twisty road

For more enthusiastic driving, the GV70 has both Sport and Sport + modes, which not only make the digital dials flash red, but also — in Sport + mode — winds back on the assistance that the traction and stability control give you. Both modes sharpen everything up, but the suspension does get a bit too bouncy, so to be honest, on a British B-road, you’ll actually make better progress and have more fun doing so if you’re in Comfort mode.

Even with the clever suspension system scanning the road ahead for bumps, you will notice a bit more body lean in corners than you would in, say, an Audi Q5, but it’s not excessive. While the suspension is good at coping with big bumps, it’s not as good at dealing with small, sharp thumps, and you’ll really notice those in the cabin. The steering is accurate, but it’s not quite as sharp in feel as you’d get in a BMW X3. The GV70 also feels like a chunky and hefty SUV, whereas the Audi and BMW blur the lines between SUV and sports estate.

Despite the Electrified GV70’s same focus on comfort, there’s a conspicuous ‘Boost’ button on the steering wheel. This gives you full power (490hp) for 10 seconds and, coupled with the ‘Sport’ mode making the car respond more eagerly to your inputs, turns the Electrified GV70 into a super-SUV that can pin you back in your seat.

Great fun, for sure, but more of a slip road party trick than evidence of a proper sports SUV. Point it at a twisty road and it doesn’t suddenly rip off its dinner suit to reveal an Adidas tracksuit. There’s still fun to be had in corners, but it’s best to keep your enthusiasm reserved for the straight bits.

There’s lots of space in the GV70’s cabin — not to mention tremendous comfort — but just be aware that rear foot space is a little tight

The driving position of the GV70 is great, thanks to having plenty of adjustment in the front seats, as well as electric adjustment for the steering column. There’s handy storage space under the armrest, which like the door pockets (which are just slightly narrow) is felt-lined so that nothing rattles.

You get two decent-sized cupholders up front, and a very handy storage space for your mobile phone, which not only has its own leather-upholstered lid, but which also has two USB sockets inside, and which is big enough to take even bulky, big-screen phones. The only problem is that the big, jutting centre console on which you’ll find the gear selector and the rotary controller for the infotainment system really does eat into potential storage space.

Space in the back seats

The GV70 has good knee-room and headroom in the back seats, and those seats can be reclined so that your rear passengers can get super-comfy. Those seatbacks do recline quite a long way, so having a proper snooze in the back is a definite possibility. Foot space is a little on the tight side though, and the big transmission tunnel means that carrying a third rear passenger is a bit too much of a squeeze. It's a bit better in the electric model, but not much.

Rear passengers get two USB sockets, as well as heating and ventilation controls, and the quality of the rear cabin is every bit as luxurious as what you’ll find up front — not always a given. The door bins in the back are big, and so are the side windows (which annoyingly don’t wind all the way down) so your view out is good, in spite of the GV70’s sporty styling.

There is a rear armrest, with cupholders, but those cupholders don’t have a cover on them so you’ll end up dipping your wrist into them. There are also two control buttons on the side of the front passenger seat, which allows the person sat behind to move the whole seat forwards, and tilt the backrest, to open up as much lounging space in the back as possible. Whatever you do, do not tell your children about these buttons.

Boot space

You open the GV70’s electrically assisted boot lid by, rather neatly, pressing a discreet button on the rear wiper arm. There’s no load lip, so heavy or bulky items just slide right in and out, and there’s a useful slot under the boot floor where you can stash the retracting luggage cover when you’re not using it — we wish all car makers would include one of those.

There are tie-down points, a 12-volt socket, and side storage nets and handles in the boot which tumble the rear seats forward. They’re spring-loaded so there’s no need to lean in and tip them forward yourself, and they do fold almost entirely flat, with only a slight slope upwards. The boot is a good size too, with 542 litres available (up to the luggage cover) which compares well with the BMW X3, Audi Q5, and Mercedes GLC, all of which have 550-litre boots.

That capacity drops to 503 litres if you go for the Electrified GV70 though, because of the need to fit the battery in — although it does compensate a little with a front-boot of 20 litres.

How exactly does it compare with its electric competitors? Well, the Audi Q8 e-tron is the clear winner with its 569 litres of space, but otherwise the Genesis compares pretty well. Its 503 litres is on par with the 510 litres in the BMW iX3 and 500 litres in the Mercedes EQC.

It’s worth pointing out that the GV70’s back seats only split-fold in 60:40 formation, and there’s no load-through for narrow items, unlike the 40:20:40 arrangement of most of the competing German cars.

The GV70’s cabin could almost be compared to a Bentley — it’s genuinely that good and that luxurious. Some of the controls are too fiddly, though

No word of a lie, the GV70’s cabin looks and feels so luxurious that you might actually think you’re sat in a Bentley. That’s not just because Genesis has a winged badge (like Bentley) and comes with quilted, leather seats (also like Bentley), it’s because the cabin is exceptionally luxurious and beautifully made, in a manner that puts it ahead of cars like the BMW X3 or Mercedes GLC.

The dashboard has a lovely layered design, with curved, elliptical elements everywhere, and a nice mixture of leather, fake suede for the headlining, and turned aluminium (another thing that’s very Bentley-esque).

The steering wheel looks and feels good too, and you have a choice between two-spoke or sporty three-spoke designs. The digital instruments are nice and clear, and you can cycle through different panels of information between the two main dials, and the layout and colours change when you’re switching between Sport and Comfort driving modes. There’s also a nice 3D effect for the instruments.

All GV70 models get a massive 14.5-inch touchscreen on top of the dashboard, which you can control either with your fingers, or as we’ve mentioned above, with a rotary controller on the centre console, which is too easy to mistake for the gear selector. You will want to use the rotary controller though, as the screen is slightly too far away to make touch operation especially comfortable. Thankfully, Genesis hasn’t put the climate controls on the big screen — they get their own separate control panel, which has a mixture of physical buttons and a small dedicated touchscreen.

Annoyingly, although you do get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, they’re not wireless connections, which does feel a step behind the rest in tech terms. What you do get is a ‘Sounds Of Nature’ function, which can pipe the sounds of gentle rainfall, or soft waves on a beach, or even someone crunching through snow (which actually just sounds like someone eating a giant apple) through the car. It sounds daft, but actually it can be useful especially if you’re trying to keep a restless baby asleep in the back. Or you’re just trying to bring down your own blood pressure in a traffic jam.

The GV70’s lineup kicks off with a 304hp 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, and for those who still have to do lots of long motorway miles, there’s also a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel with 210hp. Both come with four-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

You can divorce yourself from fuel stations entirely if you go for the Electrified GV70, which comes with two electric motors, 490hp, four-wheel drive, and a range of up to 283 miles, which compares very well with the BMW iX3, although it’s not as range-y as the Audi Q4 e-tron.

Despite this, we averaged 2.6mi/kWh during our time with the car, which would put it around 200 miles of range. Not terrible, but some way short of the claimed figures. For context, that is similar efficiency to the (slightly more expensive but similarly luxurious) BMW iX, but that’s a big, heavy slab of a car.

Official fuel economy for the 2.5-litre petrol is 29mpg, but we were mostly getting around 23mpg on our test, which is not what you’d call economical. The diesel is rated to return up to 39mpg so would potentially be a better bet for serious long-haul drivers. The diesel’s 190g/km CO2 emissions are lower than the petrol’s 216g/km, but there’s no road tax advantage — you’ll pay the same painful £1,420 in year one, as well as paying the £355 surcharge for cars with a list price of above £40,000 from year two onwards. Obviously, going for the electric version will sidestep both of those costs, as well as giving you low-rate benefit in kind (BIK) tax if you’re a company car user.

Genesis takes safety so seriously that it actually publishes the ‘Safety Sheet’ for its cars on its website, so that local emergency services can gets genned-up on the car’s safety capabilities, and even where the high-strength steel in the structure is located if — god forbid — anyone needs to be cut out of a GV70. In more conventional safety terms, the GV70 comes with forward collision avoidance, which helps to prevent you driving into another car, a pedestrian, or a cyclist and which can use both the brakes to do an emergency stop, and the steering to swerve you away from danger.

It also works when turning across a junction, and it can prevent you from pulling out into a car lurking in your blind spot when changing lanes on the motorway. There’s also a rear crossing traffic alert for when you’re backing out, and the emergency braking works in reverse too, stopping the car if a pedestrian dashes behind you. The GV70 gets a full five-star rating from the crash test experts at Euro NCAP, with an 89 per cent score for adult occupant protection, and 87 per cent for child occupant protection. Those individual scores are a touch low — have a look at a Volvo XC60 if you want something nudging up to 100 per cent protection scores.

The GV70 hasn’t been on sale for very long, and while it shares a lot of components under the skin with the G70 and G80, both of those models are pretty new too. The good news is that a lot of that under-the-skin stuff is also shared across the Hyundai and Kia ranges, so most of it is pretty well-proven, and while Genesis itself is a young brand, Hyundai and Kia both have enviable reputations for reliability and customer service.

Genesis doesn’t offer a warranty for the GV70 — oh, no — it offers a five-year ‘care plan’ which includes unlimited mileage, collection and return for servicing (with a courtesy car), the servicing is included in the price, along with five years roadside assistance too.