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This isn’t just about the GV70’s fuel efficiency, but also about its overall environmental character as well.
Genesis started out as the more luxurious sedan offering from the Hyundai brand. Years later, Genesis became a stand-alone brand with a dedicated customer base. It was inevitable that the premium brand would start offering products popular to target customers, such as luxury SUVs
Somehow, it took Genesis around five years before it brought out an SUV to the market – the GV80. The luxury brand quickly followed it up with the Genesis GV70, which it launched in September 2021. With the auto industry entering a phase of electric revolution, Genesis also introduced a BEV, green version of the GV70 – an electric compact SUV known as Electrified GV70.
As a luxury performance SUV, the Genesis GV70 offers a dynamic performance, whether it comes with the standard 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine or the more powerful twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 mill. Despite its athletic performance, the GV70 isn’t an efficient or green SUV.
It turns out that Genesis’ first foray into the high-demand luxury compact SUV segment isn’t as green as it may look, according to Green NCAP. This isn’t just about the GV70’s fuel efficiency, but also about its overall environmental character as well.
Green NCAP is an independent initiative promoting the development of clean and green cars. Its tests award cars not only with lower fossil fuel consumption, but also with reduced pollutants and greenhouse gases. Green NCAP employs a broad range of range to determine the environmental score of cars under real-world conditions.
The initiative recently tested a 2022 Genesis GV70 with a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine under its hood. Offering 300 hp of max output and 311 lb-ft of peak torque, this tries to make up for its polluting nature with gasoline particulate filter (GPF).
Under WLTP, the GV70 is consuming 9.7 liters of gasoline per 100 km, which is roughly equivalent to 24 miles per gallon. In Green NCAP’s test, the figure reached 9.9 liters in cold tests and 11.3 liters on highway tests – numbers that the initiative notes already reflect poor fuel economy. On the average, the GV70 consumes 10.1 liters of fuel per 100 km, which is good for a range of around 408 miles.
Green NCAP gave the GV70 a score of 0.7/10 for energy efficiency, reflecting the car’s dismal fuel efficiency, especially on the highway. In EPA’s estimated numbers, the GV70 returns 24 mph combined city/highway. While this is borderline good mileage, this doesn’t mean the SUV is efficient. Of course, the GV70 is achieving such efficiency figure sans the help of an electrified powertrain.
RELATED: Why The Genesis GV70 Is A Better Buy Than The More Expensive GV80
In terms of the clean air index, Green NCAP gave the Genesis GV70 a score of just 3.4 out of 10. This low score reflects the compact SUV’s difficulties in cold engine starts with Ammonia (NH3) control in the WLTC+ (Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycles) test with.
The low score also reflects the GV70’s poor control of Nitrogen Oxide emissions and its poor particle control. Under engine load, the NOx control of the compact SUV is on the acceptable level. Green NCAP noted that the particulate figure for the GV70 was just enough to comply with Euro 6d standards, even though the SUV comes equipped with GPF.
In highway tests, the Genesis GV70 also showed poor carbon dioxide emission control, with the compact SUV getting a zero score due to gross excess over the allowed output. Pollutant emissions showed good results for carbon dioxide emissions only under low engine load.
According to Green NCAP and improvement in Ammonia and carbon dioxide would increase the GV70’s score in its Clean Air Index.
In the greenhouse gas index, Green NCAP gave the Genesis GV70 a very disappointing score of zero. The initiative attributed this high gasoline consumption and the additional upstream greenhouse gas emissions for the production and supply of fuel,
While the GV70 emits only small amounts of laughing gas (N20) and methane (NH2) during cold tests, it emits around 277 grams of CO2-equivalent per km. Green NCAP measured 217 g/km CO2 from the tailpipe and 58 g/km CO2-equivalent from upsteam processes. The initiative revealed that while luxury compact SUV from Genesis scored zero in greenhouse gas index from cold, warm and highways tests.
RELATED: The Genesis GV70 Offers More Style And High-End Luxury Than Any Other SUV In Its Segment
Character-wise, the Genesis GV70 isn’t really a green vehicle, with its very poor scores. But the opposite is true about its pricing, equipment and safety. Compared to other luxury compact SUVs such as the Porsche Macan, Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW X3, Volvo XC60 and Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, the GV70 is relatively more affordable. Some considers it as the budget Bentley Bentayga.
Since even its base version already offers a nearly complete set of premium features and elements, the GV70 seems to offer the greatest value for a customer’s money. The South Korean luxury compact SUV also delivers excellently, getting 5 stars in Euro NCAP's safety assessment with strong scores in the areas of adult occupant, vulnerable road users and safety assist. The IIHSA also designated the GV70 as a Top Safety Pick+ for 2021.
But in Green NCAP's environmental assessment, the Genesis GV70 didn’t do so well. In fact, the compact SUV only got one out of the five possible stars. This means one thing – the GV70 isn’t a green SUV.
Source: Green NCAP, Euro NCAP, Genesis
Julybien Atadero writes from the island of Cebu covering various automotive topics including new sports cars, classic muscles, pickup trucks and SUVs. While I like peace and quiet, I love playing with my kid. When I have nothing else to do, I watch documentaries and animations.