Kia EV9 review

Our opinion on the Kia EV9

We crowned the Kia EV9 our best large company car at the 2024 New Car Awards, so that should give you some idea of how highly we regard this electric seven-seat SUV. A big battery helps it to deliver a long range, fast charging recoups energy at a rapid rate, while all versions are well equipped.

The seven-seat layout features plenty of room in all three rows, while the fit and finish befit the car’s price, which makes it the most expensive Kia ever sold in the UK. There are a few minor issues with the EV9, but they’re not big enough to stop it being on your shortlist if you’re looking for a premium family SUV.

About the Kia EV9

The arrival of the Kia EV9 means the Korean company reaches new heights in terms of size, but also price, with the range starting at more than £65,000. However, this does get you a well-equipped seven-seat electric SUV with a long range, making it a more viable premium family car option than you might think.

Kia has offered buyers a seven-seater for decades. Following on from the Sedona MPV, there was the slightly more compact Carens, and then the firm aimed to add some desirability with the first Kia Sorento. That nameplate has carried the seven-seat option for the brand since, but it’s the EV9 that moves that onto a fully electric powertrain. 

There’s a whopping 99.8kWh battery (96kWh of which is usable), providing up to 349 miles of driving range. You can choose from two motor configurations: a rear-drive set-up with 200bhp and 350Nm, or a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive layout with 378bhp and 700Nm of torque. 

Kia buyers get three trim levels to choose from, but the only reason to step above the base Air model is if you require the power of two electric motors instead of one. That’s because the entry-level car is superbly well equipped, with 19-inch alloys, LED headlights, twin 12.3-inch displays plus a 5.3-inch climate-control panel in between, six USB-C sockets (two per row), front and rear parking sensors, a powered tailgate, second-row window blinds, an eight-speaker audio system and power-adjustable front seats.

Anyone stepping up to a four-wheel-drive model can choose the GT-Line model. It’s around £8,000 more than the EV9 Air and features 21-inch alloys, two-tone upholstery, electric adjustment on the steering column, massage functionality on the driver’s seat, adaptive-beam headlights and exterior styling tweaks.

The top-of-the-range trim is GT-Line S, which is around £3,000 extra. It takes everything GT-Line has and adds a head-up display, a 14-speaker Meridian sound system and separate sunroofs for the first and second rows. This is also the only version available with a six-seat layout, incorporating ‘captain’s chairs’ in the middle row for £1,000 extra; they can rotate 180 degrees when the vehicle is stationary, allowing occupants in the back to interact more easily.

Customers can choose from two all-electric powertrain options for the Kia EV9, but both benefit from a 99.8kWh battery and 210kW rapid charging. Beyond that, the choice boils down to either one or two motors, and there’s a vast gulf in performance between the pair.

The single-motor model offers 200bhp and 350Nm of torque, which delivers a reasonable 0-62mph time of 9.4 seconds. It’s fine with one on board, but we’d like just a little more shove so it feels just a bit more effortless. Kia’s twin-motor option goes much further in the opposite direction. The additional motor at the front sees power climb to 378bhp, while torque doubles to 700Nm. The result is a 0-62mph time that is slashed to 5.3 seconds.

Big, comfortable and relaxing are words that spring to mind when driving the EV9. Less expected is a surprising amount of ability from the chassis, and levels of refinement that give many premium offerings food for thought.

The EV9 comes with five brake regeneration levels, ranging from complete freewheeling to one-pedal driving. The latter setting means the car can bring itself to a complete stop without the driver needing to touch the brake pedal at all.

Even within our test team, there’s a difference of opinion when it comes to which we’d rather use, so the fact that Kia gives drivers the choice – and that the levels can be so easily adjusted via steering-wheel paddles – is welcome. We wish every EV maker used this system. 

Performance, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed

The quickest EV9 is the 378bhp twin-motor version, which accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 5.3 seconds and has a top speed of 124mph – all despite weighing more than 2.6 tonnes. The 200bhp, single motor, rear-wheel drive Air model isn’t as quick, taking 9.4 seconds to get from 0-62mph and topping out at 114mph.

The dual-motor version doesn’t hold back regarding performance. In typical electric car fashion, its huge reserves of power and torque are available right from the off, enough to make this seven-seat SUV feel hot-hatch quick when you want it to. 

However, the EV9 isn’t the sort of car to be driven spiritedly, so we’d recommend the 200bhp version. While its performance time looks leisurely compared with the dual-motor version, it has a similar acceleration time to a typical diesel-powered seven-seater SUV, such as the Kia Sorento. We’re yet to try it with a full complement of passengers on board, but we suspect it’ll be fast enough for most people when tackling mundane tasks, such as taking children to school or heading to the supermarket.

Town driving, visibility and parking

One consequence of the huge wheelbase is the 12.4-metre turning circle, which means it’s not the easiest car to manoeuvre in tight spots. Many more premium rivals offer four-wheel steering, and that feature would be welcome here.

There are one or two other small niggles that only really present themselves at low speeds. One is the throttle pedal, which can be a little tricky to modulate at parking speeds. The other can be felt over broken surfaces, where the EV9’s suspension can come across as just the slightest bit brittle.

B-road driving and handling

Those small gripes about the ride and the turning circle have a flipside at higher speeds, where the Kia’s ride comfort is excellent. There’s a soft, languid response over bumps that means occupants don’t get thrown around. Thanks to so much of the car’s mass being located in the floor-mounted battery pack, it feels superbly stable and has a very neutral balance front to rear.

So while the EV9’s size means it won’t be pushed anywhere near its limits often, it feels really impressively balanced and poised for a car of these dimensions, which is reassuring on those rare occasions that you might need to make an emergency manoeuvre. Nicely weighted and precise steering helps here, too.

Motorway driving and long-distance comfort

The suspension feels wonderful on a motorway, and it’s here that the EV9 really gets into its stride. Road and wind noise is well contained, and stability is excellent. 

All versions come with adaptive cruise control with a stop-and-go function that’ll be quite helpful in reducing the stress of holiday traffic. A lane centering assistance feature is also standard and takes some of the effort out of long-distance trips, although you will still need to keep your hands on the wheel and pay attention to the road at all times because this is not a self-driving feature.

While some regions see the Kia EV9 offered with a smaller 76.1kWh battery, the UK just gets the larger 99.8kWh pack, There’s a usable capacity of 96kWh as standard, which is one of the bigger packs available on the market – the Volvo EX90 has a 111kWh battery, but it costs at least £30k more.

Even better, the EV9 features a heat pump as standard, so less battery power is required in cold weather to keep the cabin warm. Owners can also sync their car to their smartphone via Kia’s dedicated app, enabling heating or defrosting the windows while it is still plugged into the mains. This means you won’t waste battery power heating the car up, and ultimately help to preserve the driving range.

The Kia’s 99.8kWh battery offers a claimed range of up to 349 miles in the Air model. We averaged 3.2 miles/kWh on test and 2.7mi/kWh in colder conditions, which translates to 270-320 miles of real-world range. While that’s slightly less than the WLTP figures, it means that even in winter, it’ll be more than good enough for longer journeys.

If you do need to top up on the go, finding a rapid charger that’ll keep up with the Kia’s potential will be the hardest part. Once it’s plugged into a rapid-charging point that can reach at least 210kW, then it will take just 24 minutes to replenish the battery from 10-80 per cent. Using a 7.4kW wallbox charger at home will take over 15 hours, so plan your charging accordingly.

Insurance groups

Group ratings are high for the EV9. Despite its modest performance, even the base Air model is in Group 45, while the twin-motor models are all in Group 50.

Tax

As of April 2025, the Kia EV9 (along with many other EVs) no longer benefits from temptingly low tax rates. While first Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) of £10 is still pretty good, owners will get a nasty surprise in year two, when not only are they subject to the same £195 per year as combustion equivalents, the Kia’s £40k+ price tag means a surcharge for the next five years too – lifting the total tax bill to £620 per annum in years two to six of registration.

Thankfully, things are a little lower for company users. While the Benefit in Kind (BiK) rate has gone up from two per cent to three per cent for the 2025/2026 tax year, that’s still far less than the double-digit percentage rates you’d pay for a petrol or diesel alternative, meaning BiK savings of thousands of pounds per year.

Depreciation

Holding on to around 56 per cent of its value after three years means that the EV9 depreciates less than many other seven-seat SUVs at this price, including the Volvo XC90, which is predicted to be worth between 52 to 53 per cent over the same period. The Land Rover Discovery does do better by maintaining between 58 and 61 per cent, but there’s no company car tax-friendly plug-in hybrid version that’s capable of driving on electric power alone, which might offset any savings with its superior residual values.

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The EV9’s cabin isn’t quite as eye-catching as some recent Kias, but it’s more than fit for purpose, with a priority on space, storage and usability. Kia’s infotainment systems aren’t the most advanced you’ll find in modern cars, but they’re generally among the better options for usability, and the same is true here. At the EV9’s price, some of the materials could be better, but we suspect few serial Kia buyers will complain with what’s otherwise a contemporary and quite luxurious space.

Interior and dashboard design

The wide, low dash gives the cabin a very contemporary look, while the chunky, square steering wheel spokes and the physical toggles for the climate controls manage to look modern, yet remain intuitive to use.

You might be confused by the starter button’s position on the column-mounted gear selector stalk at first, but it makes perfect sense to put it there once you’ve found it.

Although the cabin is loaded with tech, not all of it is perfect. One irritation is the climate-control touch panel. This sits between the two 12.3-inch displays on the dash, but is almost completely obscured by the steering wheel from the driver’s seat. Fortunately, the row of physical toggle switches provides easy interior temperature adjustment. It’s a welcome addition that many rivals could learn from as they opt to embed such controls in the infotainment system menus to save costs. We’re not so blown away by the touch-sensitive panel beneath the infotainment screen; it’s needed for jumping around between key functions on the system, but it requires a surprisingly hefty prod to register an input.

Adding to the display count is the electric rear-view mirror, which is standard on every model. For those who would rather use a conventional mirror, it can be switched off.

Materials and build quality

Kia’s fit and finish improves with every generation of cars it releases. While it’s more than good enough to compete with the best mainstream offerings, it’s still not quite on a level with the premium brands yet. While everything feels fairly well screwed together, the materials in something like a Land Rover Discovery or Volvo XC90 feel plusher, and the switchgear feels more sturdy.

The buttons for heated and ventilated seats, plus the heated steering wheel, are on the door. Initially, it’s a little odd, but you’ll get used to it. What’s actually annoying is that the heated seats switch on to the coolest setting first. We think that’s counterintuitive because you put heated seats on due to being cold, so that becomes a needless three-button pressing faff every time you wish to turn them on to full power.

Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo

The EV9 features a 12.3-inch touchscreen navigation, which comes with seven years of free  Kia Connect Services. As ever with Kia, the infotainment system keeps things simple; it’s not the fanciest to look at, but it’s clearly laid out and intuitive to use. However, while that’s absolutely fine at the mainstream end of the market, the tech does begin to feel a little less impressive at this price point.

Whether you choose a Volvo, Mercedes or Land Rover, each has a screen that’s more responsive and has a higher resolution. Kia’s touch-sensitive shortcuts sit on a panel below the screen to make the system easy to work out.

Wireless phone charging comes as standard, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity and an eight-speaker sound system. The richer-sounding 14-speaker Meridian premium sound system comes with the top-of-the-range GT-Line S trim, along with a head-up display system that projects essential driving information – such as the speed you’re going – onto the windscreen within your line of sight.

The Kia EV9 is a big car. For length and width, it’s almost on par with a Land Rover Defender 110, which means UK parking bays will feel a real squeeze - you’ll always have some of the car hanging out of the space, and getting in and out won’t be easy with cars parked next to you either.

If you can live with that, then the benefit of the EV9’s size is the space it offers inside, with the option of six or seven seats, a wide, open and spacious dashboard design, high seating position, and loads of interior storage. The rearmost seating row still isn’t entirely suited to adults, so this is no MPV replacement, but there are no such concerns with the middle row. Even with seven seats in place, there’s a decent boot that’s capable of handling the weekly shop. The EV9’s not beyond a bit of towing either, provided you opt for the all-wheel drive version.

Dimensions and size

At more than five metres long, the Kia EV9 is only beaten by limousines and pick-up trucks for length, while a width of 1,980mm without mirrors (only 28mm narrower than a Land Rover Defender; Kia doesn’t publish mirrors-out figures) means width restrictions need to be at least 6.5 feet wide for the EV9 to fit.

Driving position, seats & space in the front

A light, open feeling makes the EV9 seem very spacious from either of the front seats. There’s loads of adjustment in both the driver’s seat and the steering wheel, which, combined with a fairly low dashboard line and a square bonnet means that it’s quite easy to judge the front corners for such a large car. There are also front, rear, and even side parking sensors to help you out, plus a 360-degree camera system should you need further assistance.

Storage is plentiful, too. The glovebox is huge, the slim door bins have enough space for a bottle, and a raised centre console includes a wireless smartphone charge pad and two covered stowage areas. The one under the centre console is quite shallow, because it makes room for a huge space below that’s accessible from the middle-row seats.

Buy an EV9, and there will be no excuses for you and your family not to stay hydrated, because there are no less than 12 cup-holders scattered around the cabin. Starting from the back, the third row occupants get two each; and there’s a further six in the middle row – two are at the rear edge of the front armrest, two in the centre fold-out armrest, and one on each door. Up front, there are another two; press a little button and the spring-loaded holders appear within the front storage cubby.

Seats & space in the back

Hop into the second row and the EV9 offers loads of headroom and a very wide cabin that, hard centre seat backrest aside, means it’s accommodating for three people. A completely flat floor and kneeroom that is above average among seven-seat SUVs make it a comfortable place to be, too.

The backrests for the middle row can recline and the seats slide forward to make more room for those in the third row. Even when the middle row is slid all the way forward, there’s still a reasonable amount of space for adults. Passengers can choose their preferred temperature thanks to a climate-control panel and a pair of vents in the roof, plus there are heated and cooled outer middle-row seats, and a pair of retractable window blinds. Some EV9 trims are available with six seats, which swaps the centre bench for a pair of captain’s chairs.

An electric release tilts and slides the middle seats forward, but getting into the third row is still a slightly tight squeeze. Once there, kneeroom is a bit tight for taller adults, but headroom and elbow room are both good, and the backrests are electrically adjustable. Those in the third row also have two USB-C ports, and each seat has an ISOFIX mounting, for a total of four points across the second and third rows.

Boot space

At 333 litres, the EV9’s boot is close to that of most superminis even when carrying seven people. But a space under the bonnet offers 52 litres in dual-motor models. A single-motor Air has 90 litres of load space up front – perfect for storing charging cables.

In five-seat mode (the rear seats fold down electrically via buttons on the side of the boot wall), luggage space is 828 litres. This expands to a van-like 2,318 litres in two-seat mode, and the area is square in shape and almost completely level.

The Kia’s vehicle-to-load system lets the car power appliances via a three-pin-plug socket in the boot. There’s also a 12-volt outlet.

Towing

The rear-wheel drive EV9 doesn’t have a great towing capacity because it’s only rated to pull a braked trailer or caravan of 900kg, whereas a front-wheel drive Mercedes EQB 250+ can manage 1,400kg. That changes with the four-wheel drive EV9 because it can pull a hefty 2,500kg braked trailer or caravan, which is impressive for an electric vehicle and the same as a BMW iX.

If you’re looking to tow more and still want something electrified, a BMW X5 xDrive50e can lug up to 2,700kg, while traditional petrol and diesel seven-seat SUVs like the Land Rover Discovery can pull up to 3,500kg.

Kia was third in the 2024 Auto Express Driver Power owner satisfaction survey of brands, behind only Subaru and Tesla. Powertrains was the only category in which the Korean firm fell outside the top 10.

The EV9 bagged a five-star Euro NCAP rating in 2023. An active bonnet system helps to mitigate injury risk for pedestrians, while a 360-degree camera system is standard on every model to help with low-speed driving.

Safety experts Euro NCAP awarded the Kia EV9 the maximum five-star rating when tested in 2023. Regarding similarly priced large electric SUVs tested around the same time, the Lexus RZ achieved better results in adult, child, and vulnerable road user protection, but the EV9 outperformed it in the safety assistance category.

The Kia EV9 comes stacked with safety technology as standards, such as autonomous emergency braking to help prevent or mitigate low-speed collisions with other vehicles and vulnerable road users in town. It also has a lane keep system to help keep you within your lane on the motorway and a driver monitoring system to let you know when to take a break. A traffic sign recognition system also lets you know important information, such as speed limits.

All EV9s come with blindspot monitoring to warn you of any cars that are alongside when you go to change lanes, plus a 360-degree camera system with front and rear parking sensors to help when parking. Both of those are handy for such a large car, and are welcome standard features – especially when many rivals (often more expensive ones) make you pay extra for such features.

All Kias get a seven-year warranty and that puts the EV9 clear of all its premium SUV rivals, except Lexus, which offers up to 10 years’ cover. This is only valid if annual services are carried out at a main dealer for the duration.

The 12 months of roadside assistance provided by Kia is a little stingy when plenty of manufacturers can cover up to three years.

EVs have far fewer moving parts than ICE cars, so there aren’t any regular oil or spark plug changes. Regenerative braking means discs and pads need less frequent attention, too. As a result, maintenance tends to be less expensive, which is why (as of 2024) a three-year service plan for the EV9 comes to a reasonable £439.

Buying and owning

• Best buy: Kia EV9 Air 99.8kWh 200bhp RWD

Basic is best for the EV9. Yes, it’d be nice if the rear-wheel drive EV9 had just a little more performance in reserve, given the 200bhp rear-motor model has to work hard to overcome a kerb weight of well over two tonnes even with just a single passenger aboard. And it’s not the option if you want to do any towing either, as it’s rated for a braked trailer of only 900kg.

But at just over £65,000, you’re getting the best value EV9 in the range. The next model beyond this is just over £73,000, which is a bit too much of a jump in our opinion. At the more affordable end of the EV9's pricing structure, the fact that not all of the cabin feels up to the level of premium rivals doesn’t matter so much, nor that the Kia badge doesn’t have the kudos of its premium competitors.

The powertrain still does a pretty good job of motivating the EV9, and it’s always smooth and quiet. Compared with a diesel Kia Sorento - the kind of car that thousands of family buyers are already perfectly happy with (and some of whom may well be trading up to an EV9) - it doesn’t seem so bad. Likewise, the 349-mile range is better than the dual-motor EV9 can manage, which we suspect most buyers will find more useful than a quicker 0-62mph time that’ll trouble a 1990s supercar.

Alternatives

As it stands, EVs with seven seats are hard to track down. The main choice comes from converted vans such as the Citroen e-Berlingo and larger Spacetourer (as well as their Stellantis group alternatives) and the V-Class-based Mercedes EQV. Beyond that, there’s the Peugeot E-5008, but it comes to outright space, it’s down to the Volkswagen ID. Buzz in long-wheelbase form and the very leftfield Maxus Mifa 9 as the viable alternatives.

The electric Volvo EX90 offers similar seven-seat versatility, but that is several orders of magnitude more expensive. Then there’s the cheaper Mercedes EQB, which also offers seven seats but is smaller and not as practical as the EV9. It doesn’t have the big Kia’s clever EV technology with super quick recharging times, either. There is another contender on the way from Hyundai, though. Kia beat its group partner to the punch in building a true jumbo electric car, and it’ll be a while before the Hyundai Ioniq 9 enters the fray in the UK.

Expand your search to include combustion engines and plug-in hybrids, and there’s more variety on offer. A mainstay of the class has been the Land Rover Discovery, while the company also offers the Defender with a similar boxy style to the Kia. It’s worth noting that the Discovery is diesel only, while the Defender has a selection of petrol, diesel and PHEV powertrains, as well as three body lengths to choose from, although the 110 and 130 versions are the ones to choose if you want passenger-carrying ability.  Elsewhere, company car-friendly plug-in hybrids such as the Audi Q7, BMW X5, and Volvo XC90 are on offer, as are PHEV versions of the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe. 

Despite the van-like looks of the Volkswagen Multivan, it’s much better to drive than its van-based MPV rivals because it actually has more in common with the Volkswagen Passat under the skin. It’s available with a variety of seating configurations and can be had with plug-in hybrid, diesel, or petrol power.

Kia EV9 pictures

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