Kia’s big statement in luxury league
HUGE EV9 IS A SERIOUS RIVAL TO TOP GERMAN RIVALS
We laughed at the whitewall tyres, thinking they belonged more on a chromed-up Cadillac rather than on a small city car.
The car was the Pride and its maker the then unheard of South Korean brand Kia, which was trying to break into new markets. If the Pride was its best shot then that breakthrough looked as far away as England’s men lifting the World Cup.
However, in the last 30 years Kia has more than achieved what it set out to do. Much better cars followed the Pride, backed up by a confidence inspiring seven-year warranty. But no one would have envisaged that today we’d be testing a Kia with such a high price tag.
Meet the EV9, an imposing electric seven-seat SUV that is over five metres in length. It is an imposing machine not just because it is so big, but because of its angular and striking styling.
Two versions are available and both are fitted with a huge 99.8kwh battery but one has a single motor driving the rear wheels with 200bhp and the other has two motors with a combined 380bhp that drives through all four wheels.
The range is in typical Kia
tradition refreshingly simple with the 2wd model available only in Air trim and the 4wd in GT Line spec. The third option is GT Line S and that’s the launch version that we’re driving. It’s available now with the other two arriving from March.
Eye catching and classy
designs, as with sister brand Hyundai, have propelled Kias into territory once occupied by the German premium brands. But neither Audi, BMW nor Mercedes-benz make an SUV as visually pleasing as the EV9.
Kia quotes an official WLTP range of 359 miles for the single
motor version and 313 miles for the model we’re testing. That’s still pretty respectable but the option of going further for less money could sway the decision on which model to go for.
SUVS like the EV9 are usually promoted as being the wagon of choice for young families with an adventurous lifestyle.
In order to live up to this image, we loaded the EV9 with our two-man inflatable kayak and all its associated gubbins.
This is a big car and swallowed all our gear even with the third row of seats in place. We simply folded them down electrically (the second row has this facility too) for ease of loading.
The boot offers 333 litres of luggage space with all the seats in place. There’s also a front boot – or frunk in EV parlance – in which you can store your charging cables.
Talking of charging, all versions can be juiced up from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes if connected to a suitably brisk charger.
The middle row of seats can be slid forwards and backwards to vary the legroom, but in all settings there’s plenty of space in the EV9, not just for legs but for heads and shoulders.
The equipment list is substantial at this trim level with two-tone upholstery, a massage seat for the driver, a 14-speaker sound system, twin 12.3in display screens and a 5.3in climate control panel in between.
The EV9 demonstrates well that you don’t need fancy suspension with adaptive dampers or even air springs for a comfortable ride.
This big Kia rides the standard
Seats can be electrically folded and there’s a huge amount of legroom
urban bumps and ruts extremely well. The focus is on keeping the occupants relaxed rather than giving them an exciting driving experience which is how it should be.
A bit of fancy tech that would be useful is rear-wheel steering because that would make this long car easier to park and manoeuver.
Sure it’s expensive, but the EV9 shows that Kia can compete with the very best from Europe’s traditional luxury car makers.
I’d seriously suggest you take one for a test drive before heading over to your BMW or Mercedes dealer.