Our long-term 2022 Kia EV6 doesn’t have a glass roof, and I sure do love it for that. Instead of hopping on the glass roof trend like many EVs have — no doubt in response to Tesla — the EV6 GT-Line makes use of a lovely and large moonroof.
I’ve always been a big advocate for including a moonroof in cars. Letting the sky be a part of your drive is just plain fun, and I love being able to both see out and feel the breeze come in through the roof. However, the trend with new EVs has been to offer a fixed glass roof as the only option. This sucks.
I’ll likely explore this even more in a longer-form opinion piece on the proliferation of glass roofs, but every time I’ve been in a car with one, it hasn’t been fun. The sun is brutal and unforgiving, and even with glass that is meant to protect you from that blazing ball of fire, it can be unpleasant. Depending on the car and the particular glass roof, you can still feel the heat of the sun through it. Rear seat passengers end up at weird angles to the sun that places it squarely in their line of sight with no visor to block it out. It’s only terrible, though, if there is no shade that can be extended to shade you from the sun, which is the case for a number of vehicles. Lastly, I simply detest the fact that you have this big piece of glass overhead, but can’t actually open it up to the outside world. Give me the moonroof!
And that’s exactly what the EV6 provides. It’s a nice, wide sheet of glass that covers the front passenger area, and it opens up to let the fresh air in. When you want to shut the sun out or simply darken the interior, there’s a lovely sunshade that can give you total roof coverage. This is exactly how it should be. And sure, I dig a good panoramic moonroof, too, but those are all more expensive and heavy on the roof of the car than a traditional moonroof is. The EV6’s setup is the sweet spot for me, and it’s made summer driving all the more enjoyable.
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