Kia’s commitment to electric vehicles has taken a major step forward with the arrival of its new, fully-electric flagship EV9 — a large and luxurious three-row SUV.
The biggest and most expensive Kia model to date, the EV9 range will comprise three grades: Air, Earth and GT-Line.
Air and GT-Line are on sale now and the Earth trim will follow early in the new year.
Will the EV9 cost you the earth?
Maybe not, but when it gets here the mid-range Earth will cost you $106,500, sitting between Air at $97,500 and the GT-Line at $121,000.
On-road costs need to be added.
Entry level EV9 Air has a single rear-mounted motor generating 160kW of power and 350Nm of torque with a range of 443km (WLTP).
EV9 Earth and GT-Line each get front and rear motors with outputs of 283kW and 700Nm.
The single motor in the Air has a 76.1kWh/632V battery and the dual motors in the Earth and GT-Line share a 99.8kWh/552V battery.
Expected range is 512km from Earth and 505km from GT-Line which rolls on 21-inch alloy wheels.
Air and Earth each have 19-inch alloys.
Multi-charging 800V architecture gives the EV9 ultra-fast-charge capability, to let users add 232km of driving range in just 15 minutes.
A full charge from 10 to 80 percent can be completed in as little as 20 minutes.
With exterior dimensions of 5010mm in length, 1980mm width and 1755mm height, the EV9 is a large vehicle that will stand out in the crowd.
EV9’s front styling combines simple lines and clean surfaces with a bold body-coloured grille framed by vertical headlights forming Kia’s signature Digital Tiger Face.
The Digital Tiger Face is further developed with Small Cube Projection Headlights (GT-Line) with Intelligent Front-lighting System (IFS) and innovative ‘star map’ LED DRLs, to create a sophisticated lighting pattern that will become a signature of Kia’s EV models.
At the rear, a crisp and clean tailgate is flanked by three-pronged LED taillights that share the design of the headlights.
The cabin uses many sustainable materials and debuts an array of new Kia technologies in Australia.
With all three rows of seats occupied, EV9 still provides a decent 333 litres of cargo space, increasing to 828 litres with the third row folded.
With both rear rows folded the space expands to 2318 litres
EV9’s chassis has been locally tuned to suit Australian tastes and conditions
Like the smaller Kia EV6 which has been on sale here for nearly two years, the EV9 is built on the company’s dedicated battery electric vehicle platform.
The EV9 also introduces a series of new Kia technologies to the Australian market.
These include a panoramic wide display that combines dual 12.3-inch cluster and infotainment displays via a 5.0-inch segment display, a column-type E-Shift-by-Wire drive selector, fingerprint recognition, digital side mirrors and a digital centre mirror (GT-Line).
EV9 also debuts Over-the-Air update capability for its Kia Connect system and a Highway Driving Assist 2 system with Hands-on Detection.
Standard safety features include Highway Driving Assist 2 with Hands-on Detection, Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist 2 with Junction Crossing, Lane Oncoming & Lane Change Side functions.
There’s also Lane Keeping Assist, Lane Following Assist 2, Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Rear View Monitor, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance, and front and rear Parking Distance Warning.
EV9 Earth adds a Surround View Monitor, Blind-spot View Monitor, and Reverse Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist.
GT-Line also comes with Remote Smart Parking Assist 2, Forward/Side/Reverse Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist.
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