Up close with the Kia EV9 on its public debut in New York
WE’VE already seen the all-electric Kia EV9 SUV, but its world debut at the New York Auto Show gave us the opportunity to climb aboard and see how the new model shapes up.
The EV9 is expected to go on sale later this year, priced from around £65,000, and it will push Kia upmarket to challenge everything from the Volvo EX90 to the all-electric Range Rover.
But can it match up to the luxury of established premium rivals? On first examination, the answer’s yes – on quality, comfort and technology.
Grabbing hold of a flush-fitting, retractable door handle, we were struck by the weight of the doors. They open to a cabin using calming colours and more inviting materials than we’ve ever seen from Kia.
There are just a few hard plastics, notably around the window switches on the doors, but there’s an impressive feeling of airiness.
Plenty of sustainable materials are used inside, and there’s lots of storage in the door cubbies and between the front seats. Subtle LED interior lighting gives a very premium feel, too.
While rows one and two have lots of head and kneeroom, the third row is tighter. The payoff is a usable 572 litres of space with all seats up, though, while folding them all down sees space rise to 2,319 litres.
With a premium tech list that includes a digital key stored on your smartphone, the EV9 feels very upmarket. There’s already a queue of buyers willing to shell out well over £60k for an EV6 GT, so spending a considerable sum on a Kia doesn’t seem like the problem it might have been just a couple of years ago.