Bojan Vrbnjak
Kia is in November 2021 at the car show in Los Angeles showed the study EV9 Concept and thereby indicated that it wants to penetrate the large segment electric SUVs. We now know that the production version will be launched in the first half of this year.
It will be at the launch Let's EV9, which shares the same platform as EV6, the first car on the market to include the system Highway Driving Pilot (HDP). This system was also announced for the luxury sedan Genesis G90, which is not available in Europe. HDP enables 3rd level of autonomous driving. This means that drivers only need to take the wheel in emergency situations where human input is required to prevent a potential accident.
As an electric alternative to the model Kia telluride, which is not available in Europe, is supposed to be EV9 available in the US at prices starting at approx $ 50.000. For an SUV of this size with three rows of seats, this would be affordable very affordable and well below the price of competitors that offer cars with three rows - including a much smaller model Tesla Y. According to the American cycle EPA, the car should have a range around 480 kilometers. At the presentation of the study it is Kia advertised charging support 350 kW. In this case it would take approx 20 to 30 minutes, to charge the EV9 from 10 to 80 percent.
Although the design of the study brought strong vibrations concept vehicle, the spy shots and official teasers so far indicate that the appearance of the production vehicle should not differ too much from the appearance of the show car. The study is long 4,93 meters, wide 2,06 meters and tall 1,79 meters. The wheelbase is also very generous 3,10 meters. Although Telluride is longer, the study has EV9 because of the special E-GMP platform a significantly longer wheelbase, which should benefit interior space. The EV9 will be one of the seven fully electric models, whose arrival is already confirmed by 2027.
