Log in member
Kia delivers one of their most expensive cars, which also happens to be one of the cheapest EV seven-seaters on the market. We explore that duality.
"The Kia EV9 is by far the largest EV that I have ever tested.
It is both the widest, it is also the longest, it is also, I think, one of the candidates of being the tallest.
It is grandiose in almost every aspect."
"And was designed by Kia, I think, to fill out a very specific gap in the market.
Because, if you think about it, there really aren't a lot of seven-seater EVs in the business total.
It's just not a part of the market that has caught up in terms of EVs.
Which is quite funny when you think about it."
"Because the people that are shopping specifically for seven-seaters, they must really need the seven seats.
And you can get either this, or I think you can get the Tesla Model X, which is a bit more expensive.
No, but the point is that this is two things at once.
For one, this is probably going to be the least expensive seven-seater EV in this particular quality bracket that you'll find on the market."
"And by that account, Kia has done well.
And the other part that's also true is that this is a very expensive Kia.
Going into battle against a lot of really luxurious high-end cars, which does not offer seven seats, but offers a whole lot of other stuff in return.
So, is it worth it?
Let's take a look."
"For the four-wheel drive version, it's 379 horsepower, and it achieves 0 to 100 kilometers an hour in just 4.5 seconds.
More importantly for the target customer, though, the most expensive model has an almost 100 kilowatt-hour battery.
Good for, at the very least, around 550 kilometers of range.
Staggering for a car this big and, well, un-ergonomic."
"It looks fantastic, though, and gets close to hiding its bulk behind thoughtful exterior design solutions.
As bland as the interior is, the look on the outside is breathtaking.
Now, there is a lot of praise to be said about the Kia EV9.
Because taking into consideration that this is a seven-seater EV with a lot of power under the hood, or in the electric motors, and a heck of a lot of space in the back for large families or simply people that have to transport a lot of goods, there is one major letdown, and one that I have pointed out in Kia videos in the past."
"And that is, for one, driving position and interior, particularly here in the front.
But it's also just gadgetry in general.
Now, I'm going to show you briefly what it is that I'm on about.
This is the main control hub of the Kia EV9."
"And I'd like to remind you at this point that this car, while very big and therefore quite cheap compared to, well, not a lot of rivals on the market that can offer the same space, this is still an expensive car.
And the amount of stuff that you get here and how well it's all thought out and planned out and placed in front of you, it's just not good enough, if you ask me."
"For instance, look at this.
There are three main screen hubs here.
This rather unintuitive and drab-looking main display tells me stuff like my charge level, how fast I'm going, whether or not I'm adhering to the speed limit, that sort of stuff."
"And if you look at, this is a pretty close approximation of where I would be looking.
Over here on the right is a bunch of information about, well, what my climate setting is right now, whether or not I want to change that sort of stuff.
But it's not really visible for me because of the steering wheel while I'm driving."
"That's not very good.
Now, the car does offer seamless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is a great step up.
Usually, you have to use a cable.
But this screen is actually quite tiny and feels quite cramped because you cannot dedicate any of this other stuff to those functions."
"So that means that it's a little cramped.
And I think this is perhaps just a generalization.
There are so many buttons here.
So many physical buttons everywhere that I look that do a whole host of things that it's going to be pretty difficult to get used to."
"I'm not saying that Kia should adopt something like a Tesla setup where there is almost a lack of physical buttons everywhere.
But, for instance, this giant volume roller knob in the middle of everything, it just reeks of..."
"It's just not that intuitive if you ask me.
And I do think that Kia could use going back to the drawing board and sort of reassess what needs to be here and make everything just a tad more sleek.
Now, to be quite frank with you, I don't have any problems with the seating position."
"It's high. The car is big.
It's comfortable. The seats are comfortable as well.
But another thing is that all of the stuff that you see here is clad in this drab, gray, rubber-like material."
"I'm not saying that everything should be perforated white leather or carbon fiber.
But, again, I know that this car is expensive.
And what you get for all of that money is functionality and versatility, and that makes sense.
I also think that it ought to offer some luxury, a feeling of being special when you've put down that much money for a Kia."
"So, that's my one gripe. Other than that, this is pretty good.
Now, I should say that this is the first time ever that I'm reviewing an EV that is this big and offers this much spatial utility.
So, there are obviously new aspects of the driving and owning situation that I must cover."
"One of them is just the amount of space that is actually in here.
Now, I haven't ever, I think, driven a seven-seater before.
This is my first time.
And one thing that I was very impressed by when I just looked at it after I took over the loan some days ago is that this little button here means that I can get into these back seats on the third row very easily."
"It's one click, and you can hear that electric wheeze, and then it kind of lifts itself.
Then, I'm back here, and it's like a minibus, basically.
There isn't a lot of space here for my legs or my feet, so grown people like myself would probably struggle to undertake a journey of 10, 12 hours back here."
"But you can't deny the functionality, the versatility that it brings.
And when there is these many electric gizmos that help me get in and out, there's even electronic seat controls back here, so it's so easy to adjust the amount of space that you have on each of the three rows."
"It really is extremely impressive from that really thorough, versatile, functional perspective.
I'm really impressed.
Maybe this is what every seven-seater offers, but I haven't seen this before, so I'm impressed.
I really am."
"So, even though I think that Kia, again, whiffed on the interior, the user interface elements, and the little things that you have to interact with every day that isn't part of the bulk of the vehicle, where they do really innovate, we'll get to that, I find that one of the greatest strengths of the EV9 is just how it drives."
"Because while this car is absolutely gigantic, it doesn't feel it.
It feels nippy.
There's power to spare, and it's immediate when you press the throttle.
It doesn't feel like a big family bus."
"It feels like I'm driving a standard EV.
And, well, I don't think praise gets any bigger than that.
You have the versatility and the functionality of the seven seats, the three rows, and all of this space.
Yet, it doesn't feel like you're driving around this much bulk when you're behind the wheel."
