Louisiana, get in here. Maryland, come on in. Massachusetts, here’s your seat.
Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin — you three, too.
The rest of you, keep hoping. Your time will come.
What’s going on in there? They’re buying Genesis electric vehicles.
The luxury branch of Hyundai Motor Group has expanded sales of its electric vehicles (EVs) to six more states. They join Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Utah, and Washington, which could already buy the brand’s three EVs.
Starting Small, Spreading Slowly
When you start something new, it makes sense to start small, warm up, and get the form right before you try the heavy weights. For some automakers, having spent decades (in a few cases, more than a century) building internal-combustion-powered cars, the new thing is electric power.
For Genesis, warming up means selling EVs in just a few states. That gives dealers time to upgrade their facilities to charge and service them. It gives salespeople time to learn the new technology so they can answer questions accurately.
And it keeps the vehicles a rare, interesting sight for a while.
The Three Electric Genesis Vehicles
Genesis makes three. Two wear the incredibly uncreative names Electrified G80 and Electrified GV70. Those are what you think they are; near-twins of the gas-powered G80 sedan and GV70 SUV (our Best Buy pick in the compact luxury segment).
Designers gave them a cool, understated signature — an inverted chainlink grille with shiny solid surfaces where the grilles of their gas-powered twins have open space. Otherwise, they’re much like their gas-powered counterparts with the addition of the urgent surge of power electric car drivers know well.
The third, the GV60, has no gas-powered counterpart, so it doesn’t get the word “electrified” appended to its name. But it’s as electric as the other two. (Seriously, Genesis needs to rethink this naming system). It might be our favorite of the bunch, with a boost function that provides a surge of added power on command and the lowest price of the group.
The 2023 GV60 starts at $59,290 and will eventually be built in the U.S., which could make it the only Genesis to qualify for a $7,500 federal EV tax rebate.
