Need an electrical seven-seat SUV? You’ve got two choices.
One is the Mercedes-Benz EQB, which is a small-ish SUV constructed on bones shared with a petrol-powered automobile. The opposite is the massive, brash Kia EV9 you see right here.
The EV9 is an announcement of intent from Kia. It’s large on the surface, however the design crew hasn’t bothered attempting to masks its sheer bulk – regardless of being dimensionally similar to a Toyota LandCruiser 300, it has far more presence in individual. It’s like an idea automobile delivered to life.
The cabin is equally head-turning, whereas the value little question had a couple of jaws on the ground when it was introduced. Even the bottom mannequin is greater than $100,000 on the street, whereas the Earth AWD on take a look at will set you again greater than $110,000.
At that value, the EV9 must be greater than only a fairly face.
How does the Kia EV9 examine?
View an in depth breakdown of the Kia EV9 in opposition to equally sized autos.
Kia
EV9
How a lot does the Kia EV9 value?
The mid-range EV9 Earth is one among simply two Kia fashions ever to sit down above $100,000 in Australia – the opposite is the EV9 GT-Line topping the vary.
2024 Kia EV9 pricing:
2024 Kia EV9 Air RWD: $97,0002024 Kia EV9 Earth AWD: $106,5002024 Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD: $121,000
All costs exclude on-road prices
To see how the EV9 compares with its rivals, use our comparability device.
What’s the Kia EV9 like on the within?
This can be a massive automobile. The driving force and passenger sit what looks like miles aside, staring out over an enormous expanse of bonnet.
There’s greater than a touch of Vary Rover about the best way it makes you’re feeling from the behind the wheel, though the eco-friendly sprint and seat trims aren’t almost as good as what’s supplied within the (considerably dearer) Rangie.
It’s straightforward for drivers of all sizes and shapes to get snug within the generously padded entrance seats, whereas the chunky wheel feels applicable for a beast as massive because the EV9. The backlit emblem in its central boss is fairly cool, however we’re not bought on the gloss gray plastic end used on the spokes.
The EV9 advantages from a model of the infotainment expertise rolling out throughout Hyundai and Kia’s new automobiles.
The graphics look fashionable, and it’s simpler to navigate than the outgoing setup – with fewer small icons, a shorter attain to the Android-style house/again buttons, and a level of differentiation from the setup in automobiles just like the Picanto.
Wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are nonetheless a no-show, although, which simply isn’t ok in 2024. The tech is lastly making its approach into top-end Hyundai and Kia fashions, however the reality it hasn’t been within the the EV9 since launch is tough to know – it’s meant to be coming with an over-the-air software program replace.
Kia hasn’t fallen into the entice of killing buttons wholesale. There’s a collection of shortcuts beneath the central touchscreen permitting you to hop from perform to perform, and the 4 toggles flanking the hazard gentle swap assist you to fiddle with the local weather management with out taking your eyes off the street.
Sure, some local weather management options are hidden within the little show between the motive force’s display screen and the touchscreen, however you seldom want to make use of them – which is an effective factor, as a result of you end up peering awkwardly across the wheel while you do.
Cupboard space is ample up entrance. The flat ground permits for a purse or backpack-sized house below the central tunnel, and the tunnel is house to cupholders and wi-fi telephone charger. The central bin is tiny although.
It’s additionally price calling out the actual fact all of it feels very stable. The very fact quite a lot of the plastics and finishes are related shades of gray is disappointing, because it makes the cabin really feel extra drab than it in any other case would, however the common sense of high quality is spectacular.
House within the second row is standout. There’s acres of headroom and legroom, even behind tall drivers, and the heavy doorways open vast sufficient to make loading kids into the rear a easy job.
The home windows are large, which can little question make carsickness-prone passengers really feel extra snug.
Roof-mounted air vents with devoted controls for rear passengers, guide solar blinds on the rear home windows, USB ports, and an enormous storage bin beneath the central tunnel spherical out the facilities again there.
As for the third row? It’s extra Hyundai Palisade than Kia Carnival again there, however the sixth and seventh seats actually are usable.
Entry is straightforward sufficient as soon as the second row seats are tilted and slid, and as soon as again there you might have sufficient legroom for youths or youthful youngsters… offered the bench is slid ahead. With it slid again there’s completely no house, as is the case in most massive SUVs with three rows of seating.
Cupholders, roof-mounted air vents, and USB ports are all welcome again there – as is the actual fact the curtain airbags lengthen all the best way to the third row.
It’s a bit disappointing Kia hasn’t managed to extract more room for passengers within the third row, given the flat ground of the E-GMP platform beneath the EV9 theoretically affords the liberty to bundle these seats in methods not doable in a petroleum or diesel automobile.
There’s a claimed 333L of boot house with seven seats in use, increasing to 828L in five-seat configuration and 2318L with the second and third rows folded – all quoted measurements are VDA.
What’s below the bonnet?
The Kia EV9 is on the market in two totally different electrical powertrain setups. On take a look at right here is the dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain.
To see how the EV9 compares with its rivals, use our comparability device.
How does the Kia EV9 drive?
The EV9 may weigh greater than a Ford Ranger, however it accelerates like a Golf GTI.
Put your foot down from the visitors lights and it leaps off the mark like a automobile half its dimension, throwing your head again within the seat like a scorching hatch. Need to make the household giggle? Bury the accelerator, and wait for his or her reactions.
Though the six-second 100km/h dash isn’t spectacular on paper within the age of Ludicrous and Plaid acceleration, there’s a pleasant disconnect between how the EV9 appears and the way it performs.
In fact, it’s greater than a one-trick pony. If you’re not embarrassing GTI drivers away from the visitors lights, the EV9 is a near-silent option to slink across the metropolis in consolation.
Journey high quality on the usual 19-inch alloy wheels errs on the firmer aspect, with the occasional pothole or growth joint actually slapping into the cabin, however it’s usually good at steamrolling pockmarked metropolis streets into submission. With wonderful noise suppression, the EV9 is a stunning place to spend time in visitors or at low speeds.
It’s straightforward to get precisely the correct quantity of efficiency from the long-travel accelerator pedal, and with the EV9 set to its most aggressive ‘i-Pedal’ regenerative braking mode it’s doable to drive round with out touching the brake.
It’s a disgrace Kia nonetheless forces you to choose into one-pedal driving each time you begin the automobile, given one-pedal driving is among the perks related to driving an EV.
Measuring up at 5010mm lengthy with a whopping 3100mm wheelbase, the EV9 isn’t what you’d name a pure metropolis automobile. You’re at all times conscious of that bulk, however when you’re dialled into the place the corners are it’s surprisingly straightforward to pilot in tight areas due to the sunshine steering and high-resolution cameras.
Most individuals don’t affiliate electrical automobiles with lengthy journeys on the freeway, however that’s the place the EV9 arguably feels most at house.
It’s whisper quiet at 110km/h, with barely any street roar from the tyres or wind whistle from the mirrors, and the journey settles down properly when you’re up and shifting. The sharpness that’s noticeable at low speeds fades away on the transfer, and Kia has carried out a powerful job conserving the appreciable 2500kg mass in examine.
There’s no awkward bouncing over massive crests or dips, which is greater than might be stated for a number of the automobile’s siblings within the Hyundai and Kia world.
As at all times, we have to discuss in regards to the energetic driver assists right here.
On the plus aspect, the adaptive cruise management easily maintains a niche to the automobile in entrance, and the lane-keeping help intervenes neatly if you happen to drift in direction of the white traces.
The freeway driving help system can be able to dealing with lane adjustments for the motive force. Point out, and the automobile checks its blind-spot after which confidently strikes right into a neighbouring lane – offered the motive force has their palms on the wheel, after all.
However the energetic lane-centring is simply too palms on, and the pace restrict help that spends all day beeping at you is among the most annoying options in any new automobile on sale in Australia in the present day.
What’s extra, you’ll be able to’t simply flip it off eternally; it mechanically prompts everytime you flip the automobile on. Thanks for that, Euro NCAP.
What do you get?
EV9 Air highlights:
Exterior
19-inch alloy wheelsLED headlightsLED daytime operating lightsLED tail lightsRoof rails, silverAcoustic windscreenAcoustic window glassPower folding mirrors
Inside
Leatherette seatsLeatherette steering wheel2-way energy lumbar (entrance seats)Distant folding 2nd row seatsLED inside lightingV2L inside outletLED ‘Frunk’ gentle
Comfort
Built-in Panoramic Display12.3-inch driver cluster12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment5.0-inch local weather management panelSatellite navigationKia Join incl. OTA updates8-speaker sound systemFingerprint authenticationWireless smartphone chargerUSB-C chargers (in all 3 rows)Rain sensor (auto wipers)Electrochromatic rear-view mirrorHeated, ventilated entrance seatsHeated steering wheelSmart tailgateRemote engine begin
EV9 Earth provides:
Gloss Black wheel mouldings, aspect sillsAmbient temper lightingSteering wheel emblem illuminationLeatherette upholstery inc. striped stitching
Is the Kia EV9 secure?
The Kia EV9 has a five-star ANCAP security score, primarily based on testing carried out by Euro NCAP in 2023.
It scored 84 per cent for grownup occupant safety, 87 per cent for youngster occupant safety, 76 per cent for susceptible street consumer safety, and 85 per cent for security help.
Customary security options embody:
9 airbagsAutonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)Pedestrian, Bike owner detectionJunction Crossing AssistLane Oncoming AssistLane Change Facet AssistBlind-spot monitoring, assistHighway Drive Help 2.0 (HDA 2.0)Adaptive cruise management with cease/goLane centringIntelligent Pace Restrict AssistLane Comply with Help (centring)Lane maintain assistParking sensors entrance, rearPower youngster lockRear cross-traffic alert, assistReversing cameraTyre mobility equipment
EV9 Earth provides:
Blind Spot View MonitorParking Collision Avoidance – ReverseSurround cameras
How a lot does the Kia EV9 value to run?
Just like the broader Kia vary, the EV9 is backed by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee. The lithium-ion battery and motor are backed for seven years or 150,000 kilometres.
The EV9 requires upkeep each 12 months or 15,000 kilometres, with a number of pre-paid packages obtainable.
Kia affords three-, five- and seven-year packages which record for $706, $1351 and $1997 respectively.
CarExpert’s Tackle the Kia EV9
The EV9 is an announcement automobile, however it’s able to backing up its vital swagger.
With acres of house for 5, or sufficient room to haul seven folks round when required, it doesn’t actually have any direct rivals in Australia.
The EQB is far smaller, and it’s onerous to see the form of one that needs an EV9 being joyful to accept a dorky electrical van as a substitute.
The Earth AWD is a brilliant choose, with loads of luxurious tools and the longest driving vary within the lineup.
It’s not good. Refinement continues to be required on the energetic driver assists, the minimalist inside is a bit too gentle on for visible pleasure, and the third row isn’t meaningfully higher than what’s on provide in a Hyundai Palisade regardless of the all-electric platform beneath the EV9.
There’s additionally a broader query to be requested about whether or not our sustainable future appears just like the EV9, a 2500kg electrical SUV with a 100kWh lithium-ion battery below the ground, or whether or not a smaller, much less useful resource intensive method makes extra sense.
However we’d wager house owners aren’t going to care. Kia has swung for the fences with the EV9, and has delivered a house run.
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