The Genesis GV90, the luxury brand’s flagship electric SUV expected to debut toward the end of this year, will be its most luxurious production model ever, borrowing quite a lot from the spectacular Neolun Concept unveiled in March 2024.
Previous GV90 prototype sightings have shown that the large battery-electric SUV will feature Rolls-Royce-style coach doors, or at least the range-topping version will. However, reports from earlier this year suggested that the rear-hinged coach doors may not make it to production as Genesis is looking to simplify the design and streamline costs.
Well, these fresh spy photos and a video of the Genesis GV90 prove the contrary, as the prototype spotted in a parking garage by South Korea’s ShortsCar appears to feature the coach doors.
This particular vehicle is a P1 (Production 1) prototype, which means that it was built with production tooling using the same materials that will be featured on the production model. According to The Korean Car Blog, this GV90 P1 prototype is about 95% production-ready, meaning that it’s the real deal.
The GV90’s Coach Doors Are Here To Stay
While the vehicle is fully camouflaged with a black cover, one can observe two cutouts in the cover on the rear doors–one in the traditional position where most people would expect the door handle to be, and the other adjacent to the front door handle. A closer look reveals that the former cutout is just a decoy, with the door handle actually bordering the front door.
This proves that the GV90 does indeed feature coach doors for rear passengers, a feature typically found on the most high-end vehicles like the Bentley State Limousine royal car, Rolls-Royce Phantom and Cullinan, or limited-edition models like the 2019-2020 Lincoln Continental Coach Door Edition. You can now add the Genesis GV90 to this exclusive list.
The high-polish chrome retractable door handles appear to be motorized and united with those from the front doors for a flush appearance. If the Neolun study is anything to go by, the GV90 should have no B-pillars, so when the doors open, passengers would get easy access to the “open lounge” interior, which should be a sight to behold.
Engineering pillarless coach doors is not easy, as the doors have no B-pillar to latch onto, which means that the latching mechanism has to be integrated directly into the floor and roof. There’s also the safety aspect to take into account, namely meeting structural integrity and side-impact safety requirements. We would be very impressed if the GV90 featured the pillarless solution, as not even Rolls-Royce managed to pull that off with the Phantom.
The Most Sophisticated Genesis Production Vehicle Yet
Besides the coach doors, another striking aspect of this GV90 prototype is the design of the 24-inch alloy wheels, the largest ever fitted to a Korean production car. These dish style wheels are in production specification and look absolutely stunning with their five-pointed star design, dual-tone scheme and hidden lug nuts.
The GV90 full-size luxury SUV will be the most technologically advanced production car ever made by Genesis. Built on the next-generation eM platform, the GV90 prototype spotted in Korea features an 800-volt electrical architecture enabling ultra-fast charging that can go from 10% to 80% in under 20 minutes, rear-wheel steering, and a lavish interior featuring “Ondol” radiant heating in the floorboards and three-row seats that can rotate for various interior configurations.
The GV90 is expected to offer 300-350 miles of EPA-estimated range and a dual-motor AWD powertrain with over 500 hp. Pricing is expected to start around $100,000 for the base normal version, while the coach-door model could cost twice as much.
