Genesis is Actually Building the Essentia Concept
Genesis says it is actually going to build the stunning Essentia concept it showed at the 2018 New York International Auto Show.
The Essentia is a low-slung, electric coupe with butterfly doors, a glass canopy roof and a retro-inspired yet contemporary cabin. Genesis is rather proud of it, as they should be, and told Motor Trend in a recent interview that they intend to put it into production.
“We are very committed to the Essentia,” said Genesis North America director Erwin Raphael. “We love the car. We think the car will do very well.”
While Genesis can’t quite justify the same high price tags as German and Japanese luxury brands, the Essentia won’t be cheap. It will also be very limited, with Genesis intending to make only a small number of the coupes. The Korean brand says it could have it in production by 2021 or 2022, although it seems this is just a rough estimate for now.
The Essentia show car utilizes an experimental electric powertrain that is feasible for production. The powertrain is likely not quite ready for public consumption yet, though – after all, Genesis still doesn’t have a production EV. Genesis claims the Essentia would be able accelerate from 0-60 mph in three seconds, though, so we’re banking on the production car to be similarly as quick.
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Some parts of the concept won’t make it to the production stage. The butterfly doors won’t see the light of day, unsurprisingly. We imagine more radical aspects, like the web-design interior pattern and see-through glass hood, won’t make it to production either, but perhaps Genesis will surprise us.
In the immediate future, Genesis will be focused on bringing its GV70 and GV80 crossovers to market. Consumers are currently crossover crazy, leaving its sedan-laden portfolio looking a bit behind the times. Its first crossover is still quite a long way out, though, with Genesis not predicting an arrival until 2020.
[Source: Motor Trend]
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Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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