How much? The new Kia EV9 GT costs an eye-watering £82k!
A high-performance flagship variant of the family-friendly Kia EV9 will cost the same as a Volvo EX90
Kia has announced pricing for its most expensive model yet, with the new high-performance Kia EV9 GT priced from £82,185. It will arrive with customers in the third quarter of this year, and its price puts it within a few pounds of other high-end seven-seat electric SUVs including the Volvo EX90 – but Kia thinks its new flagship has what it takes to rival the best in the business.
Two versions of the Kia EV9 GT will be offered, with the only difference being their seating layouts. For an additional £1,000 over the standard seven-seater, the £83,185 six-seat variant includes more indulgent captain’s chairs in the second row, with full electric adjustment and a pass-through to the third row.
Underpinning the EV9 GT’s upgrades is a big power boost to 501bhp, generated by two electric motors – one on each axle. This is split between a 214bhp front unit and a 362bhp rear motor, with total peak power providing that combined figure. This represents a 122bhp increase over the existing dual-motor GT-Line car, and provides a 0-62mph time of 4.6 seconds.
But the EV9 GT doesn’t just add a big chunk of power and some more torque. A core upgrade is the Virtual Gear Shift system (VGS), derived from the one introduced on the Ioniq 5 N that mimics the sound and throttle mapping of a combustion powertrain.
This system goes far beyond a simple piped-in engine noise, and actively maps the e-motor’s performance to mimic a V6 engine and eight-speed transmission. The driver can even put up an old-fashioned set of round dials on their digital display, giving the GT a feature that no manufacturer outside of Kia or Hyundai can match.
Kia has also fitted the car with an electronic limited-slip differential (LSD) and – for the first time in one of the company’s SUVs – adaptive dampers, which should improve both handling and comfort. As well as boosting the performance, Kia has also upgraded the brakes, which sit behind new 21-inch wheels and wide tyres.
The GT’s battery pack is the same as in a standard long-range EV9 model, with a 99.8kWh capacity running on an 800V electronic architecture. As well as being lighter and more compact than a simpler 400V system, it also allows ultra-high-speed charging at more than 200kW, which will top up the battery from 10-80 per cent in 24 minutes.
As you’d expect from the increase in power, the GT model’s range takes a hit. The standard car can reach 313 miles, but Kia is aiming for ‘more than 450km’ (279 miles) in the GT.
Kia has also been tweaking the car’s design, including a slightly different bumper treatment, plus a set of acid-green brake callipers also seen on the smaller EV6 GT. This colour is repeated in neon highlights across the cabin, and can be matched to the car’s ambient lighting system.
The seats are a similar shape to the standard model’s, but feature a bespoke leather and microsuede fabric, offset with more acid-green stitching and a GT logo. Completing the cabin upgrades is a new three-spoke steering wheel with a unique GT button that gives direct access to the sportiest driver mode.
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