The 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 is easily one of the best EV SUVs I have driven in the past year. It’s among my top five press cars, which includes other hard-hitting electric vehicles like the Mercedes-AMG EQS and the BMW i4 M50. During my time with it, the Electrified GV70 impressed me with its swanky interior, luxury amenities, and potent powertrain. However, there’s one issue that I found to be very uncool.

There might be something wrong with the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70’s HVAC system

The 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 comes standard with amenities like tri-zone climate control, allowing the rear-seat occupants to control their airflow. At first, I noticed that it worked well as the climate control system blew cold air when I set it to 62 degrees. But on a few hot days here in Denver, where the outside ambient air rose to 95 degrees, the GV70’s A/C system stopped blowing cold air.

You can imagine my surprise as I drove the $74,000 car down the road while sweating bullets and rolling the windows down to dissipate the heat. Hot air blew in, but it was cooler than the air that was blowing out of the vents.

I checked the digital climate display on the dash, as well as the settings in the system, to ensure that the car wasn’t in some type of energy-saving mode. I even put the car in the Sport and Comfort drive modes to see if that would help but to no avail. Considering my test car only had a few thousand miles on the odometer, I doubt that there was anything wrong with the system.

Especially since the air conditioning did start working at highway speeds and worked flawlessly on some of my drives. To ensure I wasn’t missing anything, I called a couple of local dealerships and asked the technicians if there had been any complaints from current owners, but they said there hadn’t been any reported issues.

Ultimately, I’m mainly bringing to light that although this could be an isolated issue, anyone purchasing an Electrified GV70 could possibly experience a similar situation. However, I don’t think it should be a deal breaker when considering this EV.

Update: After reporting this issue to Genesis, my test car was inspected by a local dealership. The technicians found that a faulty O-ring caused the air conditioning issue, which has since been fixed.

The Genesis GV70 is one of the most comfortable EVs

Aside from the anemic air conditioner, the Genesis Electrified GV70 is a very comfortable SUV in which to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic. In addition to having soft Nappa leather seats, the GV70 has an Ergo Motion Driver seat, which massages (or vibrates) the driver’s backside and entire back. It’s mainly made to keep the driver alert on long drives as opposed to replacing an actual relaxation massage.

Additionally, the car’s Lexicon sound system is one of the best I’ve tested. The sound is crisp and clear with plenty of bass, without sounding overbearing. There are ventilated seats, too, but like the air conditioning, they were a little weak on hot days.

The 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 is a good EV contender

Although I can’t recommend the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 for its climate control, I can say that it’s a great contender in the EV segment. It has plenty of power and is comfortable enough for the daily drive, provided you’re not driving around in 95-degree heat.