88 - 100
201 - 379
1 speed, Automatic
Electric
All Wheel Drive, Rear Wheel Drive
If you're blinded by the supposed brilliance of Elon Musk and believe legacy automakers are in their death throes, chances are you're not paying much attention to what's happening over at the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG). The company's brands – Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia – are designing some dazzling electric vehicles, and the 2024 Kia EV9 is the latest in a continuing onslaught of EV excellence.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
A midsize three-row crossover SUV, the 2024 EV9 is a no-compromise electric vehicle for families with places to go and things to do. It seats up to seven people in a comfortable high-tech interior, carries up to 81.7 cubic feet of cargo, and tows as much as 5,000 pounds. Depending on the configuration, the driving range is more than 300 miles, and thanks to 350-kilowatt (kW) DC fast charger compatibility, you can recharge the EV9 to 80 percent in 24 minutes.
Prices start where Kia's gas-powered Telluride leaves off. The EV9 Light with rear-wheel drive (RWD) costs $54,900 plus a $1,495 destination charge. At the other end of the lineup, which includes Light Long Range, Wind, and Land trim levels, the GT-Line all-wheel-drive (AWD) is priced at $73,900, plus destination.
So, the EV9 is not cheap. And until Kia moves production and battery sourcing to the U.S. in the next year or two, it is ineligible for the $7,500 federal income tax credit when purchasing the SUV (Kia can apply it to a lease). But having spent a week shuttling my family in the new EV9, I'm convinced this Kia is worth the money without the big discount.
In the sections that follow, our independent expert analyzes a 2024 Kia EV9 GT-Line equipped with the following options:
The test vehicle's price was $78,430, including the $1,495 destination charge to ship the SUV from the Gwangmyeong, Korea, assembly plant to your local dealership.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Open any of the EV9 GT-Line's doors and prepare to be wowed. From the Mercedes-quality digital instrumentation and infotainment display panel to the Volvo-style minimalism and lovely ambient lighting, it demonstrates how electric vehicles are blurring the lines between mass-market and premium brands.
Better yet, Kia succeeds without eliminating, rethinking, or burying into the center display so many of the traditional controls that you become frustrated or confused by the cabin.
There are a few missteps. The transmission selector stalk, mounted low and to the right of the steering column, can be hard to see, but operating it becomes second nature.
Also, the thumbwheel controlling the stereo volume is hard to turn if you suffer from dry skin in the winter. In addition, it is too easy to accidentally push it and mute the stereo when you're trying to turn the volume up to hear better what you're listening to. Still not better than a knob, Kia.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Kia wraps the GT-Line's comfortable front seats in SynTex artificial leather that passes for the real thing. They include heating and ventilation, and the driver benefits from an Ergo Motion function that provides a short massage at pre-set intervals during your travels. A power-adjustable leg rest deploys for napping while waiting at the charging station.
Between the seats, you'll find a freestanding center console equipped with cupholders hidden under a tambour-style door for a clean look. If you like, you can open or close the cupholder clasps and use this as a storage bin, but the design is a compromise. The clasps fail to hold some drinks still and in place, and they seem cheap and plasticky.
The storage bin under the center armrest is shallow and small, but there is a tray located on the floor forward of the console. I always forgot about it and never used it for anything. Kia also provides deep storage embedded into the door armrests, average-size lower door panel bins, and a deep, shelved glove compartment.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
My test vehicle had comfortable, power-adjustable, heated, and ventilated second-row captain's chairs. When positioned all the way back, they offer plenty of legroom and foot space, and you can recline the seat and deploy a leg rest for maximum comfort under the panoramic glass sunroof. I found it a great place to nap or work while waiting for the battery to charge.
The front seatbacks include embedded USB charging ports, and a storage tray and bin slides toward passengers from the back portion of the front console. It has a rubber-surfaced tray top and deep storage underneath. In addition, the second row features an overhead climate control panel, ceiling-mounted air vents, and side window shades covering nearly the entire glass.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Anyone can effortlessly access the third-row seat through the space between the captain's chairs, but the pass-through between the second-row seats and the roof pillar is narrow.
As long as you position the second-row seats closer to the middle of their range of travel, adults can ride in the third-row seat. Comfort is on par with Kia's similarly sized Telluride, and occupants receive cupholders, storage, and USB charging ports. In addition, the rearmost riders enjoy a clear view out, so it's not claustrophobic.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The 2024 Kia EV9's 12.3-inch digital instrumentation, 5-inch touchscreen climate system, and 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment displays are nothing short of excellent. They're beautifully rendered, blessedly ditching Kia's previous unusual font and purple accent lighting, and the intuitive user experience makes it easy to find what you seek and use it.
Standard feature highlights include:
Kia Connect includes five free years of 911 Connect service. If the EV9 is involved in a collision, this feature can notify emergency responders and send them to the SUV's location.
Additional highlights of the paid subscription-based in-vehicle services include:
Voice Assist worked well but could not direct me to a SiriusXM radio station that plays reggae music. Also, using an urgent tone of voice, I told the assistant I needed to go to a hospital. A yoga studio was the top result on the list, with a veterinary office close behind. In addition, after saying "I'm cold" or "I'm hot," the assistant responded with significant swings in cabin temperature rather than gradual ones.
Kia EV9 owners will likely find the infotainment system’s Electric Vehicle data panel particularly helpful. It offers a remarkable amount of information and functionality, including:
An eight-speaker stereo is standard, with a 14-speaker Meridian premium sound system available by choosing Land or GT-Line trim. A comprehensive 12-inch head-up display is standard on the EV9 GT-Line, and is one of the best implementations of this technology I've experienced. The data it shows on the windshield is comprehensive, logically organized, and easy to reference. In addition, it shows you when a vehicle is in your blind spot.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
People on a budget who have a Level 2 home charging station will find the Kia EV9 Light appealing. It has a rear-mounted electric motor good for 201 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque and a 76.1-kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery providing 230 miles of range. It accelerates to 60 mph in a respectable 7.7 seconds, and you can easily recharge it overnight.
For maximum driving range, you'll want the Kia EV9 Light Long Range with an estimated 304 miles of travel. This model uses the same single rear-mounted electric motor. However, it pairs with a larger and heavier 99.8-kWh battery, so it takes 8.8 seconds to accelerate to 60 mph. This version of the EV9 is like the turtle in the tale of the tortoise and the hare: slow but steady.
The EV9 Wind and Land have the larger battery and front and rear electric motors, creating a standard AWD system. They produce 379 hp and up to 443 lb-ft of torque and can accelerate the EV9 from a standstill to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. The range measures 280 miles.
My GT-Line test vehicle had the dual-motor AWD setup but with a bump in torque to 516 lb-ft. It gets to 60 mph in 5 seconds but loses 10 miles of driving range thanks to the added power and its larger 21-inch wheels.
Those sizable wheels and their 285/45 tires produce a firm ride in town, but that doesn't translate to the EV9's behavior on undulating pavement. On the mountain roads near Malibu, California, the SUV suffered significant unwanted body motion, producing plenty of head toss for its occupants. On one repaired section of the road, the body’s bouncing and weaving caused the stability control system to engage. The EV9 needs an adaptive damping suspension, immediately.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Otherwise, driving the EV9 GT-Line is delightful. It is quick, with an adjustable engine note that provides a futuristic sound when accelerating. When driving in Normal mode, the steering is agreeably responsive and properly weighted, and despite the regenerative braking system, the pedal feels natural under your foot.
I tried driving the EV9 in Sport mode but disliked how the adjustable seat bolsters squeezed tighter. And since it doesn't resolve the woozy suspension motions, I didn't find it helpful.
Outward visibility is excellent. Looking forward, thin windshield pillars and a squared-off hood make it easy to whip the EV9 into parking spaces. The side mirrors are large, and, in addition to the blind-spot warning system and associated alerts on the head-up display, the GT-Line has a camera-based Blind Spot View Monitor. A rear camera mirror enhances visibility to the rear when carrying a full load of cargo or passengers.
Overall, the EV9 is excellent for driving in the city and on the highway. But you might want to keep some motion sickness medicine handy for travel in more remote areas where the pavement tends to hoot and holler.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Kia equips the 2024 EV9 with a long list of standard safety features. It includes everything you expect to find on a modern family-sized SUV, and then some.
These are among the more unusual standard items:
In addition, the EV9 includes Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA2) as standard equipment. It pairs the adaptive cruise control with lane-centering assistance and an automatic lane-change function to create a hands-on semi-autonomous driving assistance system.
I extensively tested HDA2 on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), rural farm roads, a four-lane freeway, and a multi-lane Los Angeles expressway, and the technology is impressive. Aside from demonstrating some difficulty navigating a mid-corner intersection on PCH, it performed accurately. Also, the automatic lane-change function works well. Simply signal your intent, and HDA2 will check to see if it's safe and guide the EV9 into the adjacent lane.
However, HDA2 seemed more erratic and less transparent than the system has proven in the past. That was particularly true on PCH on a day with unusually heavy traffic. It is unclear whether the added traffic or the system's application in the EV9 caused this impression.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Kia equips the EV9 with a power hands-free liftgate (you can turn off the hands-free function if you wish). When it rises, you'll find 20.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third-row seat, including a shallow storage area under the cargo floor.
Folding the third-row seats with one hand is easy, though it is a manual process. When they're flopped down, the EV9 supplies 43.5 cu-ft of cargo volume. Power the second-row seats flat, and the SUV can handle up to 81.7 cu-ft of cargo. In addition, there is a small front trunk (frunk). In RWD models, it measures 3.2 cu-ft. With AWD, it shrinks to 1.8 cu-ft.
The test vehicle's 240-volt charging cord came in a zippered case with Velcro to hold it in place behind the third-row seat. Also, the EV9's utility-style roof rack makes it easy to tie things down.
The EV9's driving range is 230 to 304 miles, depending on the model. Both of those numbers are with RWD. Get AWD, and in addition to more traction, power, and acceleration, you'll travel 270 to 280 miles on a charge.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), my GT-Line AWD test vehicle earns an efficiency rating of 42 kWh per 100 miles traveled. The EV9 showed an average of 2.6 mi/kWh on the evaluation loop, which translates to 38.5 kWh/100 mi. So, it was more efficient than expected.
Kia says you can recharge the EV9 using a 120-volt household power outlet, but to take the battery from 10 percent to 100 percent will require 3.5 days. So, if you'll charge at home, get a 240-volt, 11-kW charging station. With that, you can recharge the EV in less than nine hours.
Alternatively, you can visit a public DC fast charging station. A 50-kW station requires nearly 1.5 hours to bring the battery from 10 to 80 percent. Find a 350-kW charger, and it goes much faster, requiring an estimated 24 minutes.
I visited a 350-kW DC fast charger to give it a try. Unfortunately, this Electrify America station, new and opened just a few months ago, fed the Kia electricity at a slower rate of 180 kW. However, after 18 minutes, the battery charge rose from 20% to 65%, increasing my range from 40 miles to 175 miles. It cost me $24 at a rate of 48 cents per kWh.
The EV9 charged fast, and there were no hiccups during the process. It was one of the quickest and most effortless charging experiences of any EV I've driven. For the record, most of my positive charging station experiences have involved Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia EVs.
Unfortunately, as of this writing, neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has performed crash tests on the new Kia EV9. Therefore, I can't tell you if this Kia is safe without official safety ratings.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
It's worth noting that while driving my daughter to school on a sunny morning, overnight dew obscured the camera that powers the ADAS, rendering all systems inoperable. If you're convinced that self-driving cars are right around the corner, you should be aware that a relatively common problem like this one still isn't resolved.
When you shop for a Kia EV9, you'll find a price range from $56,395 to $75,395, including the $1,495 destination charge. That seems expensive, but that's nearly the same spread as a Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid.
The 2024 Kia EV9 is ineligible for a $7,500 federal income tax credit when you buy one, but Kia can apply it to a lease. The automaker plans to move production and battery sourcing to the U.S. soon, making it fully eligible.
In the JD Power 2023 Initial Quality Study (IQS), the Toyota 4Runner ranks highest in the Upper Midsize SUV segment. The Buick Enclave and the GMC Acadia are the next highest-ranked models. In the 2023 APEAL Study, the Kia Telluride ranks highest in the segment. The Hyundai Palisade and the Honda Pilot are the next highest-ranked models.
Those alternatives are gas-powered. In the electric three-row SUV space, there are no direct rivals to the 2024 EV9, though if you're considering a loaded GT-Line, you might also want to look at a base Rivian R1S. Soon, the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 9 will compete with the Kia and the Volkswagen ID. Buzz may attract some buyers in the class even though it isn't an SUV.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The 2024 Kia EV9 is endlessly impressive. The more time you spend with the SUV, the more surprise-and-delight features you discover. It is one of the most thoughtfully considered vehicles to debut in recent history, especially regarding technology.
All it needs is an adaptive damping suspension to better control body motions on uneven pavement. Well, that and a stereo volume knob.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran automotive journalist with nearly 30 years of experience in test-driving vehicles. In addition to JDPower.com, his work has appeared in numerous new and used-car buying guides, newspapers, and automotive industry trade journals.
