Less than two weeks ago, the EV9 curtain went off at Kia, and that was not just any curtain. The Koreans will have had to do a lot of sewing, because in terms of size, the SUV leaves behind almost everything that Kia has ever offered. This EV9 must become the standard bearer in their electric offensive, and the numbers are accordingly.
Range Rover sized Kia
To get straight to the point: the Kia EV9 is at least as big as it looks. With a length of 5.1 meters, it is only 20 centimeters longer than a Sorento, and almost as long as a Range Rover. And speaking of the Range Rover: with a width of 1.98 and a height of 1.76 meters, the EV9 is hardly inferior, while the wheelbase with its 3.1 meters is even 10 centimeters larger than that of the world’s most famous luxury SUV. Kia is only keeping the weight to itself for the time being, but if we can continue to think in the same order of magnitude, we are guessing that this SUV will not be a feather.
To move all that mass, the EV9 will have access to a number of different powertrains. We kick off with the RWD versions, which, as the ‘Rear Wheel Drive’ name suggests, keep to a single electric motor on the rear axle. The power of that electric motor differs slightly depending on the chosen battery, with the standard RWD 218 hp and 350 Nm strong and the RWD Long Range holding it at 204 hp with the same torque.
Over-the-air power
The provisional topper is the AWD that has two electric motors, and thus spreads 385 hp and 600 Nm over those four wheels. With that, Kia promises a 0-to-100 time of 6 seconds, anything but wrong for such a behemoth. It remains silent about a possible GT version for the time being, but according to Kia speed demons can optionally update their AWD variant over-the-air to 700 Nm of torque. Then he accelerates to 100 km / h in an already reasonable 5.3 seconds.
In addition to the power, the available battery packs also differ slightly. For example, the furthest-driving variant, the RWD Long Range, has a 99.8 kWh battery with which it should reach a nice 541 kilometers according to the WLTP estimate. This would bring the theoretical consumption below 20 kWh/100 km, which the nevertheless enormous EV9 owes to its surprisingly low drag coefficient of 0.28. Furthermore, the AWD version gets the same battery, although it probably kicks a little less far. Finally, the RWD Standard gets the smallest battery in the range with its 76.1 kWh, and Kia does not give up the driving range for that either.
Loading or unloading
If you do need to top up on the road, you can count on more than market-compliant fast charging capacity. For example, the EV9, just like its brother EV6, has an 800-volt on-board network, with which you should be able to top up another 239 kilometers of driving range in just fifteen minutes. In the other direction, along the V2L function — electro lingo for ‘Vehicle-to-Load’ — you can power or charge devices with up to 3.68 kW of power. Furthermore, the EV9 is also equipped with ‘Vehicle-to-Grid’, with which you could put power from the battery back into the grid. Then you have to upgrade again via the Kia Connect Store, and of course pay extra.
Speaking of payment: Kia is currently not releasing prices for the new EV9. The car could still be ordered in the second quarter of this year in the Korean home market, and we can expect it at the dealers in the second half of 2023. It will later be joined by an EV5, an also electric SUV that has a similar design. combines with slightly more modest dimensions.
