When I review cars, I keep a little file in my notes app called “Nice Touch.” This helps me remember the little things that set vehicles apart. Drivers can and should get hung up on the big-ticket items like performance, handling and exterior design, but it’s the details that stick in our memories. The 2026 Genesis GV60, a sleek electric crossover that unfortunately left my car a couple of days ago as I write this, had a lot of those nice touches, but three stood out:
First, the green suede above the door handles. It may not sound like much, but there was something about the little parallelogram cutouts, beautifully stitched and neatly placed, that made the entire interior of the car very cozy. There’s always talk in car design about “soft-touch” materials, but these were some of the softest materials I’ve ever touched. It was literally nice to touch.
Next, the little circular camera windows that pop up that appear when you turn on the flashers. When you blink, there is a circle on the opposite side of the tachometer. It’s amazing how much manufacturers have advanced in car camera technology in recent years, and this was one of the coolest features I’ve seen in a while. Not only is it great safety technology, but it’s also perfectly placed on the dashboard, very visible and unobtrusive.
Finally, the mysterious orb. What is in the world Which on? When you press the start button, the orb rotates outward, and the transmission appears. When you turn off the car, the orb comes back on. It has no functional benefit. I can only imagine what a nightmare it is to repair, especially when the warranty expires. It’s kind of ridiculous. But judged purely as a conversation piece, I’ve never seen anything better in a car.
However, I enjoyed sitting in this car more than driving it. Not that it was a drag to drive, but it doesn’t compare to other electric cars in its class, like the Porsche Macan Electric, which costs more than $10,000, or even the Cadillac Optic. There’s a 2027 GV60 performance model called the Magma floating around the world, but I haven’t had time to drive with it yet.
What you have instead is an 84-kilowatt-hour battery pack that generates 483 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque, which a decade ago would have been akin to a moonshot, but now you’d hardly consider it a “high-performance” car. It gets from zero to 60 in 3.6 seconds, which is more than enough for me, or any casual driver, but may not be enough for an enthusiast. You get the same basic performance from the Hyundai Ioniq. The GV60 is simply a luxury badge from the same company.
But it’s a very luxurious badge, with nappa leather, surround lumbar support, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, sunshades, a massive Bang & Olufsen sound system and an impressive array of safety features and driver-assistance technologies. It’s all electric, so fuel economy is basically perfect, even though its maximum range is 252 miles. This doesn’t seem enough. Unfortunately, the glorious electric future they once promised us seems to be fading away.
The GV60 felt very fresh when Genesis debuted it as its first electric car for 2021. In its current updated form, it’s not really a car for what the Brits call “car enthusiasts.” But if you like Nice Touches, it’s the best on the market. The version I tested came in at just over $74,000, and that includes the rotating orb.
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