“There’s the rubble there,” “My goodness, that’s a colossus” or “That’s a decent tub” – yes, the Kia EV9 is an impressive appearance. No wonder, because the car is 5.01 meters long, 1.98 meters wide and 1.78 meters high. The weight is 2.6 tonnes and the permissible total mass is 3190 kilograms according to the certificate. And yet: Im startest, the Kia EV9 proved to be a light-footed electric car with surprisingly easy handling and enough power to get off the ground quickly enough. The EV9 was also a lot of fun off-road – more on that later.
At first glance, the design of the Kia EV9 is functional and quite angular. A real “closet”. But small subtleties skilfully interrupt the facade so that the car doesn’t just look like a huge lump of metal. The lights play a particularly important role – because LED lighting is a real benefit not only for the driver’s vision, but also for the overall appearance. The decorative elements, air inlets, wheel arches and the darkened windows make the electric SUV look dynamic. Only the rear is a bit boxy due to its almost flat shape and there are certainly nicer rims for it on the market vehicle, which comes from the factory with huge 21-inch alloy wheels with wheel trims. Tires measuring 285/45R21 are mounted, which are available from your local dealer for around 200 euros each.
Many extras ex works, three equipment lines
The test vehicle is a Kia EV9 in the GT-Line with all-wheel drive in “Ocean Blue Metallic” with the “Swivel” seat package. The GT-Line is the second most expensive equipment variant and is characterized by extras such as the aforementioned 21-inch alloy wheels, the adaptive dual LED headlights, an active blind spot assistant with monitor display, digital interior rearview mirrors, electrically adjustable driver and front passenger seats, a Driver’s seat with massage function, a head-up display, the remote parking assistant, an all-round view camera and much more. For example, a panoramic roof or digital exterior mirrors can be added in the configurator. The price of the vehicle, as it can be seen in the pictures: 83,370 euros. The Kia EV9 is available as a 6- or 7-seater.
All-wheel drive and two electric motors are standard in the GT-Line. The battery in all vehicles measures 99.8 kilowatt hours. The output of the all-wheel drive variant is 283 kilowatts, i.e. 385 hp. In the test, this proved to be completely sufficient for the heavy vehicle. In sport mode, the Kia EV9 sprints away from most cars. Even off-road on the car beach on the Danish Wadden Sea island of Rømø, the car cut a good figure next to “real off-road vehicles”; driving through ankle-deep creeks was no problem. This is also thanks to the different driving and terrain modes. Depending on your performance requirements, you can choose between Eco, Normal and Sport mode. The Kia EV9 also has off-road options for snow, mud and sand, which adjust drive control, torque distribution and the chassis. If you want to go faster, you can go up to around 200 km/h – then that’s it.
But: Consumption is very high when driving sportily; it is very easy to reach over 30 kilowatts. Of course, this is poison for the range. In general, off-road tours, sprints or fast journeys are not the star disciplines of the family carriage. The space miracle is best moved around in a relaxed manner in Eco mode. The chassis is ideally designed for this, because the Kia EV9 irons out potholes or even paving stones with ease. There is no creak in the beams and you glide along almost as smoothly as butter.
However, you have to be able to handle the Kia EV9 on narrow streets. The car does not have rear wheel steering and therefore has a slightly larger turning circle. Old parking garages or very narrow entrances could pose a challenge, even if the EV9 does its best to help with maneuvering thanks to its numerous external sensors and cameras.
Quite high consumption for an electric car in cold weather
In the test, which consisted of long motorway drives and inner-city traffic, the car achieved consumption values of between 26 and 29 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers. It should be said that due to the weather, the Kia EV9 was only driven in rain and temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius, so it had to heat up a lot, which had a very negative effect on consumption. The range with a full battery was around 380 kilometers. It was not possible to determine what this would look like with a trailer due to the lack of a trailer hitch on the test car. According to the vehicle registration document, the Kia EV9 with all-wheel drive can tow 2.5 tonnes with brakes and 750 kilograms without brakes.
The measured mileage is from the official one The WLTP range, which is between 505 and 512 kilometers, is quite far away, but is explained by the bad weather conditions and a lot of heating. What was extremely positive in the test was the performance at the charging station. You can forget about the vehicle on an AC column due to its limitation of 10.9 kilowatts, but charging it with DC cables is even more fun. The Kia EV9 also has its charging architecture to thank for this. Thanks to the 800-volt technology, the vehicle works well with fast wires and, according to the app, drew up to 193 kilowatts through the line in the test. And that in a very generous charging window – the car only throttled down to 49 kilowatts from 80 percent onwards and filled the cells a little more leisurely. In concrete terms, this means that from 9 to 100 percent the Kia EV9 spent just 55 minutes on an EnBW Hypercharger with the corresponding power. Anyone who takes a break from a fast charger every now and then never has to wait long to be able to continue their journey. A coffee is usually enough.
It’s beeping!
The car constantly tells you that you should take a short break anyway. The Kia EV9’s assistance systems are extremely intrusive – and not all of them can be switched off. And if so, then only for the respective trip. On the one hand there is the driver attention warning. When active, it looks in the direction of the driver and beeps after just a few seconds of conversation with the passenger if you look at them. Or checking the speed. Anyone driving 52 km/h in urban areas will be beeped. Both systems can be switched off via the vehicle’s menu – but when the journey is over, they reactivate and wait for the next tour with their tinkling sound.
The vehicle’s drowsiness detection system is really annoying and not really good. Sometimes it beeps after five minutes of driving, but then after four hours of rolling on the highway it remains silent, although sometimes it yawns very clearly three times. But when she answers, it’s with a wild noise that sometimes lasts more than 20 seconds. A quick hint would have been enough – especially since you can’t switch it off, so you’ll definitely be annoyed out of the supposed twilight state. It may be that many of these systems are a legal requirement, but the implementation may be a little more in the driver’s interest. If you leave all the assistants running, you can definitely expect a cacophony of horror.
The car’s speakers can reproduce so much more beautiful things, such as music, with great volume and sound. Or act as an intercom system for the rear bench seats, for example if you want to forcefully put quarreling children in their place. A lot of things about the Kia EV9 are very well thought out and definitely make the car suitable for long journeys.
A comfortable cruiser
The seats are part of it: In the GT-Line, all of the armchairs (that would be a more appropriate term than seats) are extremely comfortable and invite you to either take relaxed rides or take a little nap in the back rows. The smooth running of the vehicle also helps.
When it comes to infotainment, Kia has done a good job and already offers a very good solution for getting from A to B with its own navigation system. The screens are very easy to read and easy to clean. Of course, Apple Car Play or Android Auto offer significantly more connectivity; both are on board as standard, but unfortunately only via cable. Wireless Carplay should have been quiet, also because there is a wireless charging cradle for smartphones in the center console.
Another clever feature of the Kia EV9 is the so-called “Vehicle To Load” function. A charging port adapter allows you to mount a power outlet that can charge items such as laptops and camping equipment with a maximum output of 3.8 kW. If the in-house infrastructure supports it, you could even use it to feed electricity into the grid.
Conclusion: Kia EV9
The Kia EV9 does exactly what it is supposed to do: The car is probably the perfect car for families who don’t want to put a van or small van in the garage, but are dependent on the generous amount of space. In its field, the Kia is attractively priced and, with starting prices of 72,490 euros, represents real competition for similarly sized vehicles.
Speaking of big: You should definitely try out the Kia EV9 in your own environment in order to notice possible bottlenecks before buying. The SUV does not fit into every parking space, does not fit into every parking garage and will reach its limits on some driveways. You should know this, but it is not due to the vehicle, but simply the size of such calibers. Rear-wheel steering would probably have helped, but it’s not really found on cars in this price range.
For your money you get a really great electric car with a lot of range and great charging performance, so you don’t have to stand around everywhere forever. You should relax every now and then anyway, otherwise the fatigue detection will beep in your face for a few seconds. If you could switch off the little annoying “driving aids”, that would be a real benefit.
Overall, if you are looking for such a car anyway, you should plan a test drive of the Kia EV9.