Electrified Genesis G80 luxury bargain as sporty alternative to G90. Photo by John Gilbert.

None of the superlatives used to describe the Genesis G90 flagship of the South Korean automaker Hyundai is an exaggeration. It is over-the-top luxurious, powerful, roomy, and filled with features aimed at pampering its owner and passengers while blatantly challenging the supremacy of the top luxury sedans from Mercedes, BMW, Audi or Lexus.

It was named Car of the Year for 2023 by Motor Trend magazine, and it was well-deserved. But in my opinion, when it comes to Genesis sedans, less can be more.

The G80 is slightly downsized, but no less luxurious, which means for each pound and each inch of less length and heft, the G80 gains in agility and sporty handling. The G90 is surprisingly sporty for a large luxury sedan, but the G80 comes from the other direction, and is surprisingly luxurious for a quick and sporty sedan.

The other two major differences between the G90 previously tested here and the G80 is in price, where the G80 lists for $81,495, which is an absolute bargain compared to the more than $100,000 that boosts the G90 up to the E-Class or 7-Series category.

The second major difference is in drivetrain, where, instead of the G90’s explosively swift twin-turbo V6, the G80 is pure electric. Its matching 136-kilowatt front and rear electric motors and 87.2-kilowatt battery give you all-wheel-drive power and come together to give you enough juice to cover nearly 300 miles of range — and to shock you (you should pardon the expression) with its instant acceleration.  

At the Midwest Auto Media Association Spring Rally, all of us assembled auto journalists were asked to vote for the luxury car of the year. I’m not sure what won, but my vote went for the Genesis G80. My basic philosophy is that if all things are equal, or close to equal, then the more compact version is sportier and better-handling as well as being more maneuverable in traffic.

I more recently had the chance to spend a week with a G80, painted a deep and rich Halation Green, with perfectly coordinated and equally rich Nappa leather seats and interior trim. All it did was verify all of my earlier opinions, and was totally impressive for being smooth and powerful as well as luxurious.

My wife, Joan, was able to pry it away from me to help add her opinion, and said it might be the most perfect vehicle we have ever driven. She wasn’t even bothered with the console shifter and operating control knobs, which were my only major gripe about the G80.

The shifter is a rotating knob, which you turn to the left for reverse, and to the right for neutral and drive, with a push-button to engage park. But only three inches away is another, almost identical rotating knob, which you can quickly get accustomed to turning to let you alter the audio or the climate controls. Problem is, if you happen to be backing out of a perpendicular or angles parking space, you have all the warning gizmos to warn you if there is cross-traffic, but you still operate with a bit of haste to shift from reverse to drive. So you grab the knob and twist it to the right — and you increase the fan instead of shifting! I find that an unnecessary complexity and a flat dangerous possibility that is out of character for such a fantastic vehicle. Change the shape of one of the controls, and move it to the extreme right edge, where you can’t hit it by accident. And besides, your wife can take care of the audio and climate controls while you’re busy driving.

Another example of more typical Genesis operation is the 14.5-inch information screen, which can be programmed to give you a map, the audio array, and the back-up camera, plus an overhead camera view that was most useful for backing into parking spaces. There is room on that screen for three segments all at once.

Living with the G80 for a week convinced us that it would be possible to have an EV (electric vehicle) as your only car. At least, as long as it was a Genesis EV. While zipping up the hills and downshifting with the shift paddles while coming back down, there was nothing inconvenient about full-time electric car operation.

For the fast-diminishing number of EV doubters, every gadget was in place and worked perfectly, and the drivetrain warranty covers 5-years and 60,000 miles — plus a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty on the powertrain and electric motors and batteries.

As for charging? I plugged in overnight in our household 240 outlet, but twice I drove down to the Canal Park charging stations in downtown Duluth to replenish the G80 batteries. They had a lot of Level 2 (240-watt) chargers, and one Level 3 high-energy rapid chargers, which is the one all the wise EV drivers visiting and living in Duluth seek. Some line up and wait, others ask how long you’ll be and come back.

The G80 charge outlet is in the grille, and it is designed so well that I had to probe several times before I found exactly where the pop-open door was on the edge of the grille. I brought the morning Minneapolis Star Tribune and a mug of coffee with me and plugged in, spending a pleasant hour running the charge up to 100 percent.

A fellow drove up and plugged his Nissan Leaf into one of the Level 2 chargers, and he came over and asked me about the Genesis. I told him this was the first time I had charged it, and it was a vehicle I was test-driving for a review I would be writing. He told me he used the Leaf for driving around town, and they had recently purchased a new Chevrolet Bolt for his wife to drive and for them to use for trips. He said it didn’t take long to get acclimated to recharging.

After returning to his Leaf, he came back and asked, “Are you John Gilbert?” I was surprised, and told him I was. He said his father once played football at Denfeld High School, and told him that he once was coached by Wally Gilbert, who was helping out the late Walt Hunting, the football coach. He said that was the highlight of his football playing in high school. It was particularly touching to me, because this man, a stranger, knew about me and knew that my father, the late Wally Gilbert, was about to be honored by Denfeld High School’s Heritage celebration. Small world, and it proves again how the rich history from our past can blend right in with a discussion about the most futuristic of advanced technology.