First test drive Kia EV9: Colossal from Korea

Kia, Hyundai’s sister brand, has already achieved a lot with its bold design. The new, huge EV9 sets another exclamation mark with its angular style, with few flowing shapes, but with a lot of space in the interior. This shouldn’t be surprising given an external length of 5.02 meters, a height of 1.76 meters and a width of 1.98 meters without exterior mirrors. The electric SUV is one of the few electric cars with three rows of seats. With fully seated seats, there is still 312 liters of loading space left, and a maximum of 2993 liters, which is typical of a delivery van.

The 99.8 kWh battery has a volume of 375 liters, which contributes almost 570 kilograms to the vehicle weight of around 2.65 tons. The 204 hp with a maximum torque of 350 Newton meters of the rear-engine variant may seem a bit little, but the dual-motor EV9 with a second electric motor on the front axle, which was available for initial test drives, offers 385 hp with double the torque.

This means that you are by no means underpowered, especially not in the GT-Line, which can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.3 seconds instead of six seconds thanks to different performance characteristics. The base model needs 9.4. The limit there is at 185 km/h, otherwise at 200. Kia Germany says that a good 90 percent of customers will order the powerful variants, prices start at 72,490 euros for the basic model and end at 82,380 euros for the GT-Line. There are nine colors to choose from and the wheels are 19 or 21 inches. Unlike before, there are almost no delivery times.

Anyone who drives the Kia EV9, which is on the same platform as the EV6, first enjoys the huge amount of space and the large, flat screen, which is divided into three areas: driving information, heating control and the area for navigation and infotainment . There is also a head-up display. The weight of the car is hardly noticeable, but you should familiarize yourself with the dimensions of the large Kia, especially when going into narrow streets. With a full battery, Kia promises ranges of 505 to 563 kilometers according to the standard. We think 400 is realistic.

Charging can be done with a maximum of 210 kW, 22 kW is in preparation for the wallbox at home or in the office, but it still remains at 11 kW. The EV9 is prepared for bidirectional charging, and it can also deliver its power to other devices at up to 3.7 kW for an additional charge. Maybe the e-bikes, which are transported on the trailer hitch with a support load of 125 kilograms. The maximum trailer load is an impressive 2.5 tonnes.

Anyone who makes full use of everything will certainly drive their electricity consumption well beyond 30 kWh per 100 kilometers; as a solo vehicle, the EV9 is given as 20.2 to 22.8 kWh. Of course, all common assistance systems are on board, the occupants are protected with nine airbags, and the materials used are touted as particularly sustainable. For an additional charge, there is seating with six seats; the middle row can be turned against the direction of travel.