Recent bad weather proves to be a storm in teacup for our long-term GV70. Or should that be a teacup in a storm?

Long-term review: Genesis Electrified GV70 month 4

January 31, 2025 Matt Allan

Recent bad weather proves to be a storm in teacup for our long-term GV70. Or should that be a teacup in a storm?

I should have finished this month’s write-up last week but Storm Eowyn came along and knocked out the power, the internet and all the mobile signals round our way.

So I sacked it off, put away the laptop and decided to have a brew. No power for the kettle? No problem. Among the unusual features of the Genesis Electrified GV70 is its vehicle-to-load function, which includes a three-pin plug socket in the boot and which allows you to power any number of household appliances off the car’s drive battery.

More and more EVs appear to be adopting this technology and while it’s a fairly niche requirement, it does bring an extra level of functionality to the car and allows you to support a lot more devices than the sad old 12V socket in an ICE car.

What’s more, it paves the way for the potentially more useful vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid technology. This is still in its infancy as far as chargers are concerned, but in theory it means that your car’s battery can act as a power station for your home and possibly save or even make you money. The idea is that your car will charge at times of low demand then feed back to your home or the main grid to support supply during peak periods.

How well it works, how willing drivers will be and whether it affects battery health all remain to be seen, but it opens up the door for the car to earn its keep even whilst sitting idle on the driveway.

Which is what my GV70 has been doing a lot thanks to a combination of holidays, bad weather and January’s usual dearth of new model launches.

When I have driven it, I’ve finally given up on Eco mode, accepting that efficiency isn’t the GV70’s thing. I never felt that Eco was throttling the car – it still had perfectly adequate performance for most of the driving I do – but the simple shift to mid-level Comfort surprised me with how much more pep the car suddenly has.

Even driving sensibly in the recent miserable weather, the extra power and willingness is abundantly clear and it makes the GV70 more pleasing to drive. And, realistically, the damage to the range is less than 20 miles per ‘tank’ which isn’t an issue most of the time.

I have also been leaning into the sport side of this Sport trim a bit more (when the weather has allowed). And again, the change is more substantial than you might think. It doesn’t suddenly become some Ioniq 5 N-style ‘corner rascal’ but it does become a tauter, quicker and more focused machine. And it gives you a wee cuddle courtesy of the pneumatic seat bolsters that expand to hold you more firmly in place through the twisties.

In those twisties it still wallows a fair bit but it grips pretty keenly most of the time and the immediacy of the throttle and propensity to squirm around under heavy acceleration reminds you that there’s more than 450bhp at your disposal.

It’ll tackle cross-country routes with pace and reasonable composure but still feels happier when you dial things back and take it easier.

When you do that you really appreciate the effort that’s been made to create a soothing executive barge. From the all-round acoustic glazing and road-scanning suspension to the ergo-motion seats that automatically give you a massage after a couple of hours’ driving, it’s a car that offers comfort and refinement that’s more than a match for any of Genesis’ more-established rivals.