First Drive: 2024 Kia EV9 Takes the Three-Row EV Mainstream
With generous interior room and a long estimated driving range, is the newest Kia the best midsized SUV EV or not?
Consider the 2024 Kia EV9 the first mainstream three-row all-electric SUV. Sure, the Tesla Model X arrived back in 2016, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV and Rivian R1S are also available. But those three models are all significantly more expensive than the EV9, which starts at $54,900. That price is more in line with the Tesla Model Y, which has a minuscule third-row seat that isn’t suitable for adults.
It’s not inexpensive by any means, however. The EV9’s price is a little steeper than high-end versions of midsized three-row SUVs that use internal combustion engines (ICE), such as Kia’s own Telluride and Hyundai’s similar Palisade, as well as models from Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen. While the EV9 has similar length, width, and height measurements as conventionally powered midsized three-row SUVs, its wheelbase (the distance between the center of the front wheels and the center of the rear wheels) is 5 to 8 inches greater, which can be seen in the roomy second-row seating.
Kia offers two different battery and drive combinations for the EV9, although there are three different power figures. The base version, called Light RWD, is a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive model with a 76.1-kilowatt-hour battery, 215 horsepower, and an EPA-estimated driving range of 230 miles. One level up is the Light Long Range RWD version, with the bigger 99.8-kWh battery, 210 hp, and an estimated range of 304 miles. All other EV9s above those are dual-motor, all-wheel-drive models that have a 99.8-kWh battery. Along with our Wind AWD, there’s also a Land AWD, both with an estimated range of 280 miles, and the performance-focused GT-Line AWD. It makes 379 hp and has an estimated range of 270 miles.
Both the Light and Wind come with seating for seven passengers, while the Light Long Range, Land, and GT-Line use second-row captain’s chairs, cutting seating capacity to six.
With its arrival, the EV9 becomes the flagship of the Kia lineup. Hyundai, which develops vehicles with and owns a large share of Kia, will be releasing its own version of this SUV, called the Ioniq 7, for the 2025 model year.
