What has over 300 miles of range, is luxuriously quiet, seats seven, and is all electric? If you guessed the new Kia EV9, you’d be right. It’s a well-designed three-row sport utility that is also electric.
The EV9 is not an electrified Telluride, which is what most of us expected when it was announced. Instead, it’s a completely new vehicle that is actually slightly larger than the Telluride and roomier on the inside. Thanks to the way an electric vehicle allows for more flexibility in drivetrain placement. What this means for shoppers is that the third row is comparatively roomier and easier to access. And the quiet electric drivetrain means no engine or transmission noise to enter the cabin and smoother acceleration.
The 2024 Kia EV9 currently has competition only from luxury makes like Rivian and Mercedes-Benz. Thus it stands alone in the non-luxury market as a three-row EV. It’s soon to see some competitors, though, but they’ll have a tough time with the benchmark set by Kia here. The EV9 is a premium-level vehicle and it’s filled with standard features. This has to be done, of course, as electric vehicles are still pricier than their non-electric counterparts. Most automakers add extra content and pizzazz to make up the price difference. With the EV9, that seems to work well.
In our week with the 2024 EV9 GT-Line, we found it to be comparable to the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV we drove last year.
There are five trim levels for the 2024 EV9, starting with the base level Light. This comes with rear-wheel drive only and the standard 76.1 kilo-Watt hour (kWh) battery pack. This means about 230 miles of range (per the EPA) and 215 horsepower of propulsion. A 12.3-inch touchscreen for infotainment and a digital instrument cluster are also standard. As are a whole bunch of other safety, convenience, and driver assist systems.
Upping to other trims adds more stuff like bigger batteries, all-wheel drive, bigger wheels, and so on. The Light Long Range upgrades the Light to the 99.8 kWh battery pack for 304 miles of EPA-estimated range. Seating drops to six with second-row captain’s chairs to accommodate the added battery packs.
The Wind model adds another electric motor, making the EV9 all-wheel drive (AWD) with 280 miles of (EPA) range. It also improves heating by adding a heat pump to replace a less efficient heater and roof rails for more storage.
Then there’s the Land and the GT-Line models. The Land just adds more equipment to the Wind, most notably a 14-speaker Meridian premium audio system and a V2L port so the EV9 can charge other vehicles or run camping gear. The GT-Line takes the dual motors and sports them up for more output, reducing range to about 270 miles per charge. But those 21-inch wheels and the self-leveling rear suspension are pretty dang awesome.
Pricing for the 2024 Kia EV9 starts at about $56,000 plus delivery. Our GT-Line test model, with options, was about $78,000 all told. For a three-row, that’s about what the top-line models will run. For comparison, the 2024 Telluride is priced at about $20,000 below those numbers in comparable trim points. But the starting Telluride isn’t as loaded as is the starting EV9 and there are more items and options on the top-end GT-Line than on the comparable SX Prestige X-Pro. So the price difference is more about what one is willing to pay and whether or not a luxurious three-row is really needed.
Compared to its luxury counterparts, the Kia EV9 is a great value in terms of what is paid for what is delivered. It’s soft, quiet, and beautifully balanced on the road. A hallmark of luxury rides. It also sports extremely well-done build quality with upscale materials found throughout. Not to mention Kia’s 10 year/100,000-mile warranty. Which includes the battery. And the free 1,000 kWhs of free charging from Electrify America Kia adds to the deal.
Our overall assessment is that the 2024 Kia EV9 is expensive, but well worth it if an EV or a near-luxury vehicle are your desires in a three-row SUV. The EV9 is beautifully made and extremely comfortable to drive.
This review originally appeared on DriveModeShow.com.
