Kia EV9: Price, release date and features

The Kia EV9 is an electric seven-seat SUV that represents a move to the big time for Kia, in more ways than one. Firstly it’s actually massive, but also it’s priced from £66,000 and rising to £79,000 for a top-spec model. That will raise eyebrows, but the EV9 has a huge battery good for 300-plus miles of range, a beautiful interior, and a promise it will be “exceptionally smooth yet still dynamic”. In other words an electric car that’s ‘very comfy but still fun to drive’. It is without question the fanciest and most advanced car that Kia has ever made.

● The EV9 is Kia’s halo model – its biggest, best-equipped and most luxuriously appointed car. It’s the first Kia that truly has a go at cracking the ‘premium electric SUV’ market, occupied by Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Volvo.
● Three trim levels – Air, GT Line and GT Line S – all with seven seats as standard. Air cars get a triple panoramic display set-up, wireless phone charging, front and rear heated and ventilated seats, and a powered tailgate. It’s stuffed with kit, basically. ● All models get the same 99.8kWh battery, with the official WLTP single charge range depending on power, from 308 to 336 miles. ● Two power options: 201 horsepower with a single motor driving the rear wheels, or a twin motor, four-wheel-drive set-up bumping power to 378 horsepower. ● Order books are open now (July 2023) but first deliveries aren’t expected until January 2024. ● Prices start at £64,995 for a single motor EV9 Air, topping out at £78,745 for a GT Line S with four-wheel drive.

Design and Models Available

Kia has taken a very different approach with the EV9 compared to the EV6, creating a much boxier, more imposing and arguably much more ‘premium’ look. It deviates surprisingly little from the 2021 EV9 Concept, albeit that thing had rear-hinged ‘suicide’ back doors, like a Rolls-Royce. Because base Air cars are so well-equipped, you do wonder what’s left to give, but aside from sportier looks of the GT Line and GT Line S cars (bigger wheels etc), they also get a few luxuries. A GT Line driver gets a massaging seat, for instance, and GT Line S cars come with 21-inch wheels and a 14-speaker Meridian sound system.

Interior and Tech

Every EV9 from the base model gets a triple digital display with a panel for the air-con controls nestled in the middle. The interior is awash with sustainable and recycled materials – fishing nets, bottles, sugar cane and sawdust, even – and yet the cabin quality will feel better, plusher, than anything Kia has done before. A 2/3/2 seating configuration is standard, although GT Line S models are available as a six-seater, where the middle row gets two swivelling ‘captain’s chairs’. There’s a huge amount of safety stuff as standard too, including self-steering lane keeping assist, self-parking and surround view monitors.

Batteries/Range

The EV9 needs a big battery because it’s enormous, but at 99.8kWh it’s one of the biggest you’ll find in any production car. Paired with a 201 horsepower (150kW) single motor driving the rear wheels, the official battery range is 336 miles. Add the second motor for four-wheel drive and 378 horsepower (283kW) and that drops to 308 miles. The amount of torque doubles too, to 700Nm – a Porsche Taycan 4S has 640Nm, for reference – which means it’ll feel positively rapid. The battery can be charged at speeds up to 350kW, which means you can charge from 10 to 80 percent in 25 minutes, in theory. You’ll just need to use public electric car charging stations that offer rapid forms of charging.

Price and Release

The range starts at £64,995 for an EV9 Air, rising to £72,495 for a GT Line – at which point the four-wheel-drive, higher-powered drivetrain is standard. A GT Line S variant is pegged at £75,995. You can order an EV9 now, but it won’t arrive until January 2024 at the earliest.

What other cars from Kia are due this year?

Kia is busy at the moment. Before the end of 2023, we’ll see an update of the Picanto city car – details of that have just been released – as well as a brand-new Sorento SUV. The Sorento will be another move upmarket for Kia, with the car taking a lot of its styling and interior design cues from the EV9. We might even see another electric SUV in the shape of the EV5; again, in the style of the EV9 but more akin to a Nissan Qashqai in size – and, hopefully, price.

What other upcoming cars will the EV9 compete with?

While the EV9’s list price might look expensive at first, its closest rivals in space and equipment terms are the Volvo EX90 and the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which both start around the £100,000 mark. Those looking at other electric SUVs in a similar price bracket – the BMW iX, Audi Q8 e-tron or Mercedes EQC – might be lured-in by the EV9’s additional space and equipment, too.

Our verdict on the Kia EV9

So yes, it looks expensive… but it also LOOKS expensive. This feels like a proper high-end EV that will genuinely be a great alternative to the German stuff. Prestige can be an abstract concept, of course, but you won’t get this much equipment and space for this money anywhere else. If if really does offer the pure comfort that, say, the Volvo EX90 undoubtedly will, while also being relatively good fun to drive, it could be a huge success.
Find out more about the latest upcoming cars with our previews of the Volvo EX90, Fiat 600e and Polestar 4