Kia EV9 - Boot space, comfort & practicality

The EV9’s electric powertrain has allowed for a relatively short bonnet and an enormous 3.1-metre wheelbase, allowing Kia’s designers to maximise passenger and boot space.

Dimensions and size

The Kia EV9 is a big car, but it offers lots of space to go with it. At more than five-metres long, it’s only beaten by limousines and pick-up trucks for length, while a width of 1,980mm means width restrictions need to be 6.5 feet wide for the EV9 to fit.

How practical is the Kia EV9?

Seats & space in the front

A light, open feeling makes the EV9 feel 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. 

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’s another two; press a little button and the spring-loaded holders appear within the front storage cubby.

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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 can recline and the seats slide forward to make more room for those in the third row. Even when they’re forward, there’s still a reasonable amount of space for adults. Passengers can choose their own 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 it’s still a slightly tight squeeze to get into the third row. 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 for you to install a child seat.

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 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.