The Korean manufacturer has completely declassified its next novelty, this time including technical details.
The Kia brand is developing its “green” line, its first-born was the EV6 cross-hatchback, which was introduced in the spring of 2021. Now it's joined by the flagship EV9 crossover. Recall that the show car of the same name acted as a harbinger of this novelty, its Korean manufacturer showed it in November of the same year. Later, in August 2022, official pictures of the camouflaged prototype appeared, the first teasers were published at the beginning of 2023, and in the middle of this month, the company showed the appearance and interior of a serial large SUV. Now, the Kia EV9 has been completely declassified, the “live” premiere will take place very soon as part of the Seoul Motor Show, and in early April the model will arrive at the exhibition in New York.
In the photo: Kia EV9 GT-Line
The flagship Kia crossover is based on the E-GMP platform, created specifically for electric cars of the Korean concern (Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 are based on the same “cart”). The serial SUV turned out to be longer, but already lower compared to the concern: its length is 5010 mm (80 mm more), width — 1980 mm (75 mm less), height — 1755 mm (35 mm less). In terms of these dimensions, it is close to the Kia Telluride crossover with an internal combustion engine, but its wheelbase (the same indicator as that of the harbinger), equal to 3100 mm, is still noticeably larger than that of the gasoline «relative» (2900 mm).
The drag coefficient Cd of a large SUV is a relatively modest 0.28. The developers managed to achieve this due to the almost smooth bottom, adjustable flaps located in the front bumper, as well as special wheels (their diameter varies from 19 to 21 inches). In some other countries, the car will be offered with side cameras instead of traditional exterior mirrors.
The base version of the Kia EV9 has a single 218-horsepower electric motor located on the rear axle, its maximum torque is 350 Nm. Such a crossover is equipped with a traction battery with a capacity of 76.1 kWh (the power reserve of the “junior” version has not yet been made public by the company). This option takes 8.2 seconds to accelerate from standstill to “hundreds”. The next modification has a 204-horsepower electric motor (350 Nm) and a more capacious battery — 99.8 kWh. It is known that it has a maximum range on a single charge of 541 km (according to the WLTP cycle). To 100 km/h, such an electric crossover takes 9.4 seconds.
The top version of the Kia EV9 is equipped with a twin-engine power plant (one on each axle), its total output is 385 hp. and 600 Nm. The battery capacity is 99.8 kWh, the power reserve has not yet been named. The all-wheel drive SUV takes 6 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h. In addition, this EV9 is optionally offered with the function of enabling the Boost mode (can be activated remotely): it allows you to briefly increase the torque to 700 Nm, as a result, the acceleration time to “hundreds” is reduced to 5.3 seconds.
Pictured: Kia EV9
As Kolesa.ru reported earlier, in the design of the exterior of the flagship Kia crossover, a lot was borrowed from the concept: for example, the product version has a similar plug, vertical headlight blocks and broken diode lines of running lights, almost similar taillights. It is worth noting that as part of a full-fledged presentation, the Korean manufacturer showed another version of the Kia EV9 GT-Line. This SUV differs due to a different design of the bumpers, additional light elements on the front, as well as larger roof rails, which give an increase of 25 mm to the height.
The Kia EV9 has three rows of seats — the interior is designed for either six or seven riders: the second row can be either a sofa for three or a pair of separate chairs. In the second case, the seats in the center can rotate 180 degrees so that passengers on them can interact with those who are located on the back two-seat sofa. On the front panel is a horizontal display that combines a virtual “tidy” with a diagonal of 12.3 inches and the same size touchscreen infotainment system. Between them there is a 5-inch screen that serves to control the climate control. EV9 will be adjusted at a factory in South Korea, orders for the home market will begin in the second quarter of this year, «live» sales of the flagship will start in the second half of the year. The model will reach other markets, including the US, later this year. It is known that the model will also have a “charged” version with the addition of GT to the name (it should have not only a different design, but also, probably, more powerful equipment). This option is currently under development and is scheduled to appear in 2025.