Kia has officially launched the EV9, its new fully electric SUV that comes with up to 7 seats. After unveiling the design, the Korean carmaker finally revealed more technical details of the EV9 as well as other new features including Level 3 autonomous driving.
Being a 7-seater, the Kia EV9 is massive with a wheelbase of 3,100mm and it has an overall length of 5,010mm. Using the Hyundai Motor Group e-GMP platform, the EV9 boasts a generous amount of space for all three occupants thanks to its flat floor. The EV9 has a width of 1980mm and a height of 1755mm. The EV SUV can be matched with either 19, 20 or 21-inch wheels.
As a comparison, the latest 7-seater Kia Sorento SUV has a wheelbase of 2,815mm and an overall length of 4,810mm. Even the larger Kia Telluride SUV is shorter than the EV9 as it has a wheelbase of 2,900mm and an overall length of 5,000mm.
Despite its blocky design, the EV9 has an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.28. According to Kia, the EV9 features the first-ever 3D-sculpted underbody cover which has a convex shape at the front and a concave shape at the rear for improved airflow and efficiency.
The Kia EV9 has a Digital Tiger Face which now features a unique Digital Pattern Lighting Grille for its GT-Line model. The headlamps consist of two vertical clusters of small cube lamps and it is accompanied by an array of hidden LED lamps which blends into the closed-up grille. There are also bold L-shaped daytime running lights (DRL) which Kia describes as a Star Map.
Similar to the Kia EV6, the EV9 SUV is offered in both single-motor rear-wheel-drive (RWD) and dual-motor all-wheel-drive (AWD) models. The standard RWD model gets a 76.1kWh battery while the Long Range RWD and AWD variants come with a larger 99.8kWh battery.
Interestingly, there are two motor options for the RWD version with the Long Range model pushing a 150kW (201hp) and 350Nm, that’s capable of doing 0-100km/h acceleration in 9.4 seconds. Meanwhile, the standard RWD variant gets a slightly higher 160kW (215hp) output which can propel this EV SUV quicker to 100km/h in 8.2 seconds.
The AWD version gets two motors which can push a total output of 283kw (380hp) and 600Nm of torque. The 0-100km/h sprint takes 6.0 seconds which is just slightly quicker than the 5-seater BMW iX xDrive 40 which has a power output of 322hp and 630Nm of torque.
Interestingly, Kia is giving EV9 buyers the option to upgrade the performance post-purchase via their online platform. The optional Boost feature can unlock the motor’s 700Nm performance which brings down the 0-100 acceleration time to 5.3 seconds.
With the introduction of the EV9, Kia claims to take a significant step towards full autonomy. The EV9’s HIghway Driving Pilot (HDP) system offers conditional Level 3 autonomous driving which allows drivers to take a short break from controlling the vehicle where conditions permit.
The feature is made possible with a total of 15 sensors which include two LIDAR sensors upfront. The sensors around the EV9 can scan and detect objects in full 360-degree field of view to detect and react to other road users to prevent a potential collision. The HDP feature will be rolled out for selected markets.
As mentioned earlier, Kia EV9 owners will be able to unlock more performance similar to Tesla. Beyond the standard features, Kia EV9 owners can enable more options via the Kia Connect Store on their smartphones. Besides increasing the torque from 600Nm to 700Nm, the store allows users to enable the Digital Pattern Lighting Grille and also enable Remote Smart Parking Assist 2 as well as a content streaming feature that can be enjoyed on the main infotainment display. From the looks of it, users can enable the feature as a subscription or pay one-off for unlimited usage.
Similar to other Hyundai/Kia EVs on the e-GMP platform, the EV9 uses an 800V electrical architecture which makes ultra-fast charging possible. Kia has not provided specific AC and DC fast charging rates but it claims that the EV9 can get 239km of driving range with just 15 minutes of charge.
Similar to the EV6, the EV9 also supports Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) which lets you power up other home appliances up to 3.68kW.
As shown in an earlier preview, the Kia EV9 is offered with a 6-seater option that features two individual seats for the second row which can be swivelled 180-degrees to face outwards or the third row. That’s not all as Kia claims to be the first EV carmaker to offer a total of four seating options which include 3-seater bench seats, basic-type, relaxation-type and swivel-type two-seater independent seats.
On the safety front, the EV9 still offers all of your expected advanced driver assistance system features which include Blind-Spot-Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control (NSCC) and Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA 2). There’s also Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance (RCCA) and Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist (PCA). The EV9 can be equipped with up to a total of 10 airbags.
The EV9 is also the first Kia to offer Digital Key 2 which allows users to unlock their vehicle with their smartphone using Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology.
According to Kia, the EV9 will be available for pre-order in the Korea market in the second quarter of 2023. It will go on sale in select global markets start from the second half of 2023.
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