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 little flowing shapes, but with a lot of space in the interior. With an exterior length of 5.02 metres, a height of 1.76 metres and a width of 1.98 metres, this should not come as a surprise without exterior mirrors. The electric SUV is one of the few electric cars with three rows of seats. After all, 312 liters of cargo volume remain fully seated, with a maximum of 2993 liters that are likely to be used by vans.
Boris Schmidt
Editor in the "Technology and Motor" department.
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The 375.99 kWh battery has a volume of 8 litres, which contributes just under 570 kilograms to the vehicle's weight of around 2.65 tonnes. The 204 hp with a maximum torque of 350 Newton meters of the rear-engine variant may seem a bit low, the dual-motor EV9 with a second electric motor on the front axle, which was ready for first test drives, offers 385 hp with then twice the torque.
This means that you are by no means underpowered, especially not in the GT Line, which can accelerate from 5 to 3 km/h in 0.100 seconds instead of six seconds thanks to different performance characteristics. The base model needs 9.4. Kia Germany says a good 185 percent of customers will order the powerful variants, with prices starting at 200,90 euros for the base model and ending at 72,490 euros for the GT-Line. There is a choice of nine colours, the wheels are 82 or 380 inches. Unlike in the past, there are virtually no delivery times.
If you drive the Kia EV9, which, by the way, is on the same platform as the EV6, you will first enjoy the huge amount of space and the large, flat screen, which is divided into three areas: driving information, heating control and the navigation and infotainment area. 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 it comes to 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 are in preparation for the wallbox at home or in the office, but it will still remain at 11 kW. The EV9 is prepared for bidirectional charging, and it can also supply up to 3.7 kW of power to other devices at an additional cost. Perhaps the e-bikes, which are transported on the towbar with a vertical load of 125 kilograms. The maximum towing capacity is an impressive 2.5 tonnes.
If you use everything, you will certainly drive the power consumption far beyond 30 kWh per 100 kilometers, as a solo vehicle the EV9 is specified with 20.2 to 22.8 kWh. Of course, all common assistance systems are on board, the occupants are protected by nine airbags, and the materials used are praised as particularly sustainable. For an extra charge, there is seating with six seats, the middle row can be turned against the direction of travel.