We find out if Kia’s flagship seven-seat SUV can impress three generations of one family

Kia EV9 review: Is this the best family EV in the world?

August 2, 2024 Matt Allan

We find out if Kia’s flagship seven-seat SUV can impress three generations of one family

The Kia EV9 certainly arrived with bang.

Within months of its launch in mid-2023 it had been named the World Car of the Year and since then it’s gone on to scoop more awards than Beyonce.

Kia already has experience building great EVs – the EV6 – and great seven-seaters – the Sorento – so everyone has been expecting its first marriage of the two to impress. But while the seven-seat EV market is still relatively slim there are a growing number of serious options, from the Peugeot E-5008 to the VW ID Buzz LWB, that mean Kia can’t just rely on its track record to entice buyers into the EV9.

So, what’s it like? To find out, I really put the EV9 to the test, first taking the mid-level GT Line version from rural Scotland to sunny Buckinghamshire before using the entry-level Air model for a two-week break in France, ferrying three generations of Clan Allan around.

Design, interior and technology

The EV9 is a big car – 5m by 1.98m wide and 1.78m tall – but rather than hide that behind soft shapes, it leans into that, presenting an unapologetic blockiness that’s defined by an upright shape, sharp lines and smaller details such as the upright, slimline lights with their ‘star map’ motif.

Some people aren’t fans, I absolutely am. Kia’s engineers have done a remarkable job of keeping the production car as close to the impactful 2021 concept as possible. The rear-hinged doors might be missing in action but the assertive angular shape is still in full evidence, especially in GT Line and GT Line S trims, which get more pronounced body trim and 21-inch alloy wheels in place of the Air’s 19-inchers.

The downside to its impressive stature is that car parks feel very tight indeed, as do some public charging bays.

The upside, of course, is the interior space. The EV9 is a proper seven-seater, with usable space across all three rows. Even with a 6’ 5” driver, the second row has space for a similar sized passenger and you’ll still fit a child on a booster seat in row three. With a more average sized complement of passengers, seven adults will find plenty of space thanks to the wide bench and the way the middle row slides and reclines to create more space in row three.

While my trip to the south of England was solo, the two weeks in France involved plenty of ferrying of family. Most of our long trips were with five on board but we did venture out several times with seven passengers ranging in age from 2 to 72 and even then there were no complaints. The high ride height made access a doddle for the doddery and easy for getting toddlers into car seats, and the width of the car left room for everyone to get comfortable.

It’s the first car I can remember where holiday drives haven’t been punctuated by complaints about who is taking over whose side of the car.

Helping that harmony are a wealth of comforts for everyone. Every seat has its own cupholder, there are USB-C ports for all three rows, three-zone climate control and vents for all three rows, plus heated and ventilated seats in the front five pews. There’s also nearly endless storage in the deep door pockets and massive centre console with its various compartments.

But there’s not only space for passengers. Even with all seven seats up, there’s 333 litres of space – almost as much as a Fiat 600e has. With the rear two seats folded (done electronically via a button in the boot) there’s 828 litres – more than enough for two weeks’ luggage. And in two-seat setup there’s a ridiculous 2,318 litres. Plus, the frunk, which offers 52 litres of space in the AWD car and 90 litres in the RWD one.

As Kia’s flagship, the EV9 is loaded with tech, including a responsive 12.3-inch touchscreen, wireless Android Auto and CarPlay and a host of internet-connected services. Pretty much anything that can be electrically controlled or automated is, and features such as remote parking and fingerprint recognition are standard. There’s virtually every active safety and driver assistance function you can name. That includes highway drive assist 2.0, which manages the active cruise control and lane centring and will even change lane at a flick of the indicator, and which annoyed me more than it assisted.

Battery, motor and performance

There are two powertrain options in the EV9. Entry level ‘Air’ spec cars get a single rear-mounted motor with 200bhp. The higher-grade GT Line and GT Line S gets a two-motor setup bringing all-wheel drive and 378bhp.

There’s no question that the two-motor feels significantly punchier. It accelerates with noticeably more urgency and carries on accelerating after the single-motor car has run out of puff. However, while the Air feels pretty pedestrian (0-62mph takes 9.4 seconds compared with the GT Line’s 5.3) even fully laden it never felt underpowered, just more ‘relaxed’ in its progress.

Both variants come with a 99.8kWh battery. In the twin-motor model, Kia says that will provide up to 313 miles of driving. In the RWD car the official range is 349 miles.

2024 Kia EV9 Air charging at Ionity ultra-rapid charger — Ultra-rapid charging keeps stops nice and short Photo: (Matt Allan)

If you want a seven-seater that’ll go further, then you’ll have to fork out literally twice the price for a Mercedes EQS SUV. There’s just a couple of miles between the Kia and the Peugeot E-5008 but the Kia pips the Pug on interior space.

Of course, they’re official figures. Over 2,000 miles in the RWD model, I saw an average consumption of 2.8m/kWh, which translates to around 280 miles of range. That’s not brilliant but most of those miles were at French autoroute speeds and fully laden with people and luggage. Some shorter-range local driving suggests that more than 3m/kWh should be obtainable. In the unladen AWD model my results were similar across nearly 1,000 miles of British motorways.

The different driving conditions also revealed that while the EV9 is stable and composed on smaller roads, with impeccable ride comfort, you are always aware of its bulk. It feels more at home munching up the miles on larger routes, where it’s whisper quiet even at high speeds.

And long-distance treks only require short charging stops courtesy of the Kia’s 210kW charging. While some cars struggle to hit their stated peak rates, I saw 200kW or more at virtually every suitable charger we stopped at.

Price and specification

The EV9 is a bit of a gamble for Kia as it takes it into an entirely new sphere price-wise.

The entry-level Air starts at £65,035, while the GT Line is £73,275 and the GT Line S is £76,025. But when even the ‘basic’ model comes with three-zone climate control and cooled rear seats, you know you’re getting a lot of kit for your money.

All versions feature a laundry list of comfort and tech equipment, from heated steering wheel and electrically folding seats to a powered tailgate and an electronic rear view mirror.

The big difference between the three is the extra motor, but the GT Line does also add gloss black exterior trim, ergo motion seats, adaptive ‘small cube’ headlights, and an electrically adjustable steering column. On top of that, GT Line S adds front and rear sunroofs, a head-up display and 14-speaker Meridian sound system.

Options are limited to paint and whether you want to spend an extra £1,000 to replace the GT Line S’s middle bench seat with two individual, swivelling captain’s chairs.

Verdict

So the EV9’s massive size and space is matched by a substantial equipment list and equally substantial price. But also huge capabilities.

Is it flawless? No, the driver ‘assistance’ is annoying and its sheer size means efficiency isn’t its strongest suit.

But it offsets that with a massive battery that returns useful real-world range and rapid charging. And everywhere else – from looks, space and comfort to family-friendly tech – it consistently impresses.

Perfect? No. But the best family EV? Quite probably.