2025 Kia EV6 facelift: New looks, bigger battery and new tech promised

Three years after its global debut, Kia’s EV6 electric crossover will soon undergo a mid-life facelift, with the restyled and refreshed model set to be revealed later this year.

Speaking exclusively to Wheels at the forthcoming EV5’s local reveal, Kia Australia’s product planning boss Roland Rivero said he expects the restyled and updated EV6 to appear “very very late this year” – around six months after a similar refresh is debuted on its Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV cousin.

“It pretty much retains the [existing overall] design, [but there will be] some enhancements to the headlights to incorporate the [latest Kia] design language.

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Above: 2025 Kia EV6 speculative rendering by KKS Studio | Below: the EV6 in its current form

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"The original design was pretty cool but it will incorporate new touches – to give you some idea, maybe look at the new K4, how it has that ‘star map’ DRL [front lighting] that drops down. It has those kinds of elements being applied," Rivero said.

“[Yet] it’s still very distinctively EV6, and still more passenger-car-like in its execution than an SUV.”

Like the MY25 Ioniq 5, the 2025 EV6 will feature refreshed styling with expected updates such as new alloy wheel designs, as well as a larger 84kWh battery in lieu of the existing 77.4kWh unit in the upper-spec EV6 GT-Line RWD and AWD variants.

Given the excellence of the Australian EV6’s suspension tune, there isn’t really a need for improvements in this area

No range claims have been quoted for any Hyundai-Kia EV with this larger battery, but you can expect the MY25 EV6 to improve upon the already-decent WLTP figures of 484km for the GT-Line AWD and 504km for the GT-Line rear-wheel drive with the 77.4kWh battery.

Again like the updated Ioniq 5, the facelifted EV6 will at last be capable of over-the-air (OTA) software updates and is expected to feature similar additional active safety features, enhanced interior finishes and upholstery, revised switchgear, latest-generation multimedia technology and enhanced standard equipment.

Given the excellence of the Australian EV6’s suspension tune, there isn’t really a need for improvements in this area, though the MY25 Ioniq 5 gains a strengthened body structure for improved ride and refinement, so the updated EV6 is likely to follow suit.

There’s also a chance the MY25 EV6 range may gain an additional trim level, given the Air, Earth and GT-Line variants offered in the seven-seat EV9 large SUV and forthcoming five-seat EV5 medium SUV.

This would allow the GT-Line to be moved further upmarket in its luxe interior presentation – further separating it from the EV5 GT-Line – while creating space for an EV6 Earth variant.

A prototype of the updated EV6 has just been photographed cold-weather testing in Sweden – its new vertical LED headlights clearly visible beneath its camouflage – while a prototype of the 2025 EV6 GT has also been spotted in recent weeks.

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An earlier 2025 Kia EV6 speculative rendering by John Halas for CarScoops

Globally, the EV6 has been a resounding success for Kia – particularly in Europe.

In 2023, European EV6 sales totalled 36,087 units while global 2023 sales achieved a new record of 96,092 units – up from 83,411 units in 2022 and 29,512 units in 2021.

In Australia, the EV6 managed 1831 sales in 2023 and 564 sales in 2022. But in the first quarter of 2024, EV6 sales were up 270 percent compared to the same period in ’23, hitting 589 sales.