Kia has traditionally been the automotive equivalent of Aldi: a brand that majors on no-nonsense value for money. The new EV9, however, is the size of a Range Rover and costs from £65,985. It pushes Kia into conflict with upmarket SUVs from Solihull and Stuttgart – not to mention Hyundai-Kia’s own premium marque, Genesis. Can this luxurious EV win over the Waitrose crowd?Â
It gets off to a strong start. Firstly, the EV9 was voted World Car of the Year 2024 by a selection of jurors, including Motoring Research’s very own Richard Aucock. Secondly, it’s one of the only full-size EVs with seven seats. If you have more than three children – or perhaps a five-a-side team to ferry around – there aren’t many other options.
The EV9 is powered by a whopping 99.8kWh battery sandwiched into its floor. I sampled the entry-level Air version, which uses a single 204hp electric motor to drive the rear wheels. The plusher GT-Line and GT-Line S derivatives serve up 383hp via twin motors and four-wheel drive. The range tops out at £77,985.
Robot in disguise
The EV9’s design exudes the same futuristic robo-taxi vibe as its smaller Kia EV3 and EV5 siblings. You wouldn’t call it pretty, but its angular aesthetic certainly makes a statement – particularly amidst all the same-again SUVs from new Chinese brands. My son thought it looked like a Transformer.
Although it has the blocky body of an SUV, the EV9 is really more of a beefed-up people carrier. Its slab sides and EV powertrain help to squeeze the maximum amount of space into an (admittedly large) footprint. Unlike some alternatives such as the Mercedes-Benz EQB and Peugeot e-5008, the third-row seats are genuinely roomy enough to accommodate adults. You can also specify six seats, with two swivelling chairs in the middle for face-to-face meetings on the go.
With all the pews in place, luggage space is a respectable 300 litres – slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf. Press and hold a button inside the boot to electrically fold the rearmost row and you liberate a cavernous 828 litres. If all the back seats are stowed, capacity swells to nearly 2,400 litres. You’ll also discover a small ‘frunk’ beneath the bonnet, which holds 90 litres in the Air or 52 litres in GT Line models (due to their additional front motor).
Paying a price to go EV
To state the obvious, the EV9 is electric (the clue is in the name), so it won’t suit everyone. If you don’t have a means of charging a car at home, frankly you’d be better off considering a plug-in hybrid or diesel SUV instead. Kia’s own seven-seat Sorento starts at £42,675 – a substantial saving, even when you factor in the EV9’s potentially lower running costs.
Assuming you’re keen to go electric, the headline numbers for the EV9 Air are 0-62mph in 9.4 seconds and a range of 349 miles. GT-Line versions can reach 62mph in just 5.3 seconds, but sacrifice around 35 miles of range. A full charge using a home wallbox takes nine hours, or the battery can receive up to 210kW via a public rapid charger. In optimum conditions, that means a 10-80 percent fill in 24 minutes.
Kia offers few options beyond paint colour, but you won’t need them: the EV9 comes loaded with standard equipment. Air spec includes LED headlights, dual-zone air conditioning, heated and cooled front seats, heated outermost middle seats, window blinds, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, wireless phone charging and plenty of power sockets.
Moving up to GT Line gets you 20-inch alloys, a massaging driver’s seat and remote-control parking via the key. The range-topping GT-Line S adds 21-inch rims, a panoramic sunroof and 14-speaker audio system.
Inside the Kia EV9
It’s a shame Kia didn’t apply the same design flair to the EV9’s cabin as its exterior. It’s all a bit ‘50 shades of grey’ in there, which is far less exciting than it sounds.
Build quality is impressive, although the tactility of materials isn’t up there with a BMW or Volvo. Then again, neither are the EV9’s prices. One thing this car offers in abundance is space; you and up to six people can relax in comfort. All except the middle passenger in the second row get their own cupholder and USB-C charging port, too.
Drive and reverse are selected via a twist control on the steering column, just like in a Volkswagen ID. 4 or Ford Capri. The 12.9-inch central touchscreen works well, even if the haptic shortcut buttons beneath it require a firm prod. I found smartphone connectivity via Apple CarPlay to be seamless, too.
Kia makes much of all the recycled materials inside the EV9, including carpets fashioned from old fishing nets, cushioned headrests made of plant fibres and seat stitching that started life as a plastic bottle. Whether you can square those eco-credentials with driving a 2.5-tonne SUV is another question, though.
Steady as she goes
The EV9 lineup does seem slightly schizophrenic. At one end, the 204hp Air offers leisurely performance by 2025 standards. At the other, the 383hp GT Line models probably go faster than you’d need or want to, particularly in a hefty seven-seater with no sporting pretensions.
I spent just over a week with the EV9 Air, including a holiday to Norfolk with it fully loaded with kids and cargo, and found it ably up to the task. Like all electric cars, it is straightforward to drive, but the light steering and comfort-oriented suspension encourage you to take it steady rather than press on. Ride quality is good, if unspectacular, on the 19-inch alloys fitted here. No doubt larger GT-Line wheels would make it feel a bit busier.
You can adjust the level of regenerative braking via paddles behind the steering wheel, from low-fiction coasting to one-pedal driving. The latter is well calibrated and soon became my default setting, helping me to achieve around 300 miles on a full fill-up of electrons. Inevitably, the Kia also has a plethora of electronic ‘driver aids’, including an attention monitor that squawks at you for averting your eyes from the road. Thankfully, it’s easy to turn most of them off.
Verdict: Kia EV9
On the narrow Norfolk lanes, my only gripe with the EV9 was its sheer size. I suspect Kia’s flagship was designed primarily for North America and it feels awkwardly large over here, filling a typical parking space with millimetres to spare. It’s no worse in this regard than many large SUVs, of course, but unless you really need seven seats, the more wieldy EV5 looks a better bet.
Size matters aside, this is a cleverly designed and hugely practical family holdall. Easy to drive and live with, with a decent range and adequate/ample performance (delete according to the model chosen) it stays true to Kia’s core values while elevating it into a more premium sphere. Prices from £66,000 only seem steep until you look at the competition.
So, put your badge snobbery to one side and add the EV9 to your seven-seat SUV shortlist. You can use all the money you save to shop at Waitrose.
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