Kia Unveils EV9, All-Electric SUV Proves Its Hip to Be Square

There’s little doubt that designers at Kia and Hyundai are currently hitting it out of the park in terms of styling, particularly with their EVs. Like ‘em or lump ‘em, at least rigs like the Ioniq5 and EV6 refuse to blend in at soccer practice.

Now, Kia has hauled the covers off its new EV9 – and its looks are bound to get a few jaws flapping.

The brand refers to the thing as having a “strong SUV identity”, though some unkind folks have already used terms like ‘block of apartments’ and ‘kitchen fridge’. Whatever your take, this is a large three-row all-electric SUV with the type of bluff front generally reserved for the white cliffs of Dover. Two clusters of small cube-shaped lamps light the way forward and contain an animated light pattern plus a so-called ‘Star Map’ pattern for daytime running lights. Expect to see the latter on more Kia EVs down the road.

Around back, its taillights reach for the sky – but not before breaking away to make a lighted spear towards the center of its liftgate. Volvo designers will find the overall vertical shape to be quite, erm, familiar. The charging port flap incorporates an edge into these lamps, while the flush-mounted door handles appear lifted wholesale from the EV6. Being an SUV, there is no shortage of black cladding over its wheel arches. There is a chance some small details will be changed before production but it’s safe to say this is, by and large, what we’ll find in dealer showrooms.

Kia is deploying many lessons from the EV6 in the EV9’s interior, particularly on its dashboard. A long single panel houses screens for a gauge cluster and infotainment gear, both 12.3 inches in size, underlined by a horizontal stretch that includes ventilation registers plus a few actual buttons for climate control. The EV architecture permits a completely flat floor that’ll pay dividends in space allocation for second- and third-row passengers. Speaking of, the model on display here permits its middle-row captain’s chairs to swivel 180 degrees – a feature we hope makes it to this side of the pond.

As expected for these types of drawn-out reveals, Kia is mum on details like range and power numbers. Still, it’s not unreasonable to speculate it may receive the 77.4-kWh battery pack found in its Ioniq5 and EV6 cousins, vehicles which also utilize the E-GMP platform. Wonks at the EPA rate an EV6 with that battery at 310 miles of range on a full charge, though the EV9’s larger size will likely shave a few clicks off that number. While there is no indication Kia is readying a battery pack larger than 77.4 kWh, it’s worth noting the EV6 is also available in a 58 kWh flavor, suggesting the unit may be scalable. 

The Kia EV9 will make its digital global premiere in late March.

[Images: Kia]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by   subscribing to our newsletter.