Kia plans to debut the production EV9 SUV next year.
You’ve seen the concept and possibly some spy shots, but these are Kia’s own official photos showing the electric EV9 SUV in development. Now that we have a much clearer look at the automaker’s intent, we can compare notes against the concept. What will make it through to production, and what’s been changed since last year’s LA Auto Show concept debut?
Up front, the silver wraparound trim framing the “grille” seems to have survived intact. Kia did dial back the headlight design a little bit (no surprises there), though you will still see LED lights pushed out to the edges of the front fascia. Designers integrated the turn signals further back along the fenders, while the side profile brings through the large, cladded wheel arches and huge glass area from the concept. This prototype SUV has some different wheels from what we saw before, but they definitely look interesting against the normal selection we get with conventional models like the Telluride.
Overall, this prototype EV9 brings the boxy design that chiefly puts it up against Rivian’s R1S, at least right now. We don’t see this Kia EV9 from the back, sadly, but I’d imagine you have the same sort of thin, LED light clusters that have become fashionable in the next-gen EVs.
More info is coming soon
We’ll know more in early 2023, though what I’m especially curious about is battery capacity and range. The 2024 Kia EV9 will ride on the same e-GMP platform as the EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and so on. That will likely provide a single-motor base model and certainly a dual-motor all-wheel drive option. Will we see nearly 600 horsepower variants like what we’re getting with the EV6 GT? It’s possible given that this is such a large vehicle. Models like the Rivian R1S and GMC Hummer EV SUV are absolute powerhouses.
Since cars like these need large batteries to make them even remotely practical, you can bet the EV9 will support up to 350-kW fast charging as well.
