Kia EV9: new electric SUV stays true to study model

In November 2019, Kia and Hyundai pulled the curtain on two conceptual SUVs simultaneously. Hyundai’s electric preview was called Seven, that of Kia Concept EV9. The Kia EV9 will be the second electric model that Kia will link to its EV label after the EV6. The fact that the design departments of the two Korean brands are overflowing with self-confidence is apparent from the brutally designed cars that we are presented with in recent years. The Kia Concept EV9 made a bold appearance with its chunky body and sharp angles, and judging from this set of spy photos, the final production version of the electric SUV doesn’t seem timid either.

Kia Concept EV9 (2021)

Obviously, Kia had to adjust the design of the Concept EV9 slightly for the final production model, but in general the design of the body is still intact. The EV9 has a flatter windscreen, the roofline has been slightly adjusted and we detect a few door handles that were still missing on the concept car. The packed test sample clearly shows that the striking folds in the front and rear screens are preserved, albeit in a slightly toned-down form. The Concept EV9’s digital side mirrors give way to conventional ones, but there’s no question that the EV9 stays true to its conceptual predecessor on the outside. This is also apparent from the way in which Kia fills in the lighting at the front and rear. On the front of the test model photographed in Germany, we see a series of LED dots, just like on the show car from 2021. The lighting at the back seems to consist of three lines, just like the harbinger, that run both next to and under the reverse and down into the flap.

Kia EV9 (spy shots)

We aim for the Kia EV9 to be about 4.9 to 4.95 meters long and have a wheelbase of at least 3 meters. That makes the electric SUV about 10 centimeters larger than the largest SUV that Kia so far sells in Europe: the Sorento. In the United States, however, Kia has a larger SUV on offer, the more than 5 meters long Telluride. You can count on the Kia EV9, just like the Telluride, to be an SUV with three rows of seats and space for at least seven occupants.

Like the Kia EV6 and other models of the brand developed purely as an electric car, the EV9 rests on the E-GMP platform. Kia gave a range of 483 kilometers for the Concept EV9 and that gives a nice indication of what we can expect in terms of driving range.

Kia aims to have a total of 14 electric cars in its portfolio by 2027. From 2023, the brand says it will launch at least two new electric models every year. Like sister brand Hyundai, Kia also sticks to models that are available with both combustion engines and electric power sources, such as the Kona. However, they are not attached to the EV label, which is exclusively reserved for models that are by definition an EV. We expect the Kia EV9 on the market in 2023.