In coches.com we have been able to discover the new Kia EV9. It is a vehicle manufactured in Korea and we have been with the first unit that arrives in our country.
It will be on sale in the summer and the first units are delivered in October. It is, of course, an SUV. Of course, from an electric SUV. Large in size and that wants to be the new flagship of the brand. Although we have not yet been able to drive it, we have seen and touched it to bring you our first impressions.
Abroad
Kia has been surprising us with the designs of its vehicles for some time and with the EV9 it has done it again. She has very little to do with the EV6, the first member of the EV family (which we tested) and seeing it has surprised me how resounding its lines are.
The bodywork has very cubic shapes, almost classic off-road, although its aerodynamic figure is surprising, with a CX of 0.28. The hood is very flat but softens when it reaches the front. Right in that area the logo of the brand appears in polished aluminum. There is no upper grill (not the exact one) and then we find very vertical headlights. LED technology allows these designs unthinkable a few years ago.
The optics are already slipping into the wings and lead us to the wheel arches with very marked edges and black wheel arches. Under them 19-inch wheels in the basic finish and 21 in the GT-Line finish. With this finish, some more details vary in the car, such as the roof bars or some exclusive color, such as Ocean blue. The low waistline for an SUV also caught my attention and, of course, it has integrated door handles for better aerodynamics. It can also have digital mirrors, but they stick out quite a bit.
Is big. Very big. Measure 5.01 meters in length, so it is 20 cm larger than a Sorento (4.81). Of those, 3.10 meters correspond to its wheelbase. It is also impressive for other dimensions, such as its almost two meters wide (1.98 cm) and 1.75 high.
At the rear we find a very vertical gate crowned by a spoiler under which the rear wiper is hidden, leaving the glass area cleaner. The very robust bumpers are striking, with slight differences depending on the finish you choose. The drivers are in an upright position, slightly hugging the side flanks of the car.
Inside
Inside, a lot of prominence for technology and in a well-known way. There is a double screen on the dashboard, 12.3 inches for the instrument panel and another of the same size for the infotainment system. Novelty? In the middle of both they have embedded a third, 5.4-inch, for some functions. And if you have digital mirrors, add a couple more screens.
There are few buttons, but we have some. For starters, a touch area with shortcuts to the main screen, a volume wheel and physical controls for air conditioning. Well separated and accessible.
The rotary control for the change disappears, which now passes to a satellite control behind the steering wheel. That manages to free up space in the center console, which focuses on being practical for storing objects. As for materials, the appearance is good. All of the leather you see is plant-based, and there’s recycled materials, too, as we saw in our Kia e-Niro test.
The second row of seats can be configured with two or three seats. The first of them have footrests and it is possible to recline them a lot, perhaps to rest during loads. The space is good, those more than three meters of wheelbase are noticeable.
In the third row we find two seats, which we can access by folding down the seats in the second or, in the case of having a two-seater configuration, between them. You sit a little low to the floor, which forces you to bend your legs quite a bit, but an adult could sit there with no problem.
Trunk
With all the seats in use, the Kia EV9 has a trunk of 333 liters, which is not bad if we compare it with its combustion cousin, the Kia Sorento (179 liters). The normal thing is to use five seats, and thus announces 828 liters of capacity, which is very good.
It is also possible to fold down the backs of the second row of seats by means of buttons on the side of the trunk and we find some detail such as 230 volt sockets and a hole to leave objects in which it fits, for example, the stoer covers luggage.
It is not the only cargo space, because under the front hood there is a hole where you can carry, for example, the charging cables.
Engine
Initially the Kia EV9 arrives in Spain with a single version. With all-wheel drive, with two motors, one per axle, each with 192 CV to have up to 384 hp total combined power and no less than 600 Nm of torque, which reaches 700 Nm if the Boost function is activated.
It announces some interesting features, since it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 6 seconds, a figure that you can lower to 5.3 with that Boost mode that we mentioned before. Not bad for an electric SUV that weighs about 2,500 kg.
But in a car of this type, designed to travel, more interesting than the benefits is the distance you can travel before plugging it in again. Has a 99.8 kWh battery of capacity with which it announces around 497 km of autonomy (figure without approval). A respectable figure and, furthermore, being mounted on the same base as the Kia EV6 and having a 800 volt architecture You can charge at more than 200 kW of power if you find chargers that offer them, of course.
Opinion cars.com
The Kia EV9 seemed to us an interesting proposal, for space, finishes and equipment. Also for battery capacity and the autonomy it announces. We have not been able to verify the latter yet, but it shows that the electric car is going to abandon urban routes.
We will have time to see if this large-format electric car is optimal for travel and also to test the arsenal of technology that it can do, from remote parking to a level 3 autonomous driving, through a trip planner and recharges.
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