Kia EV9
A slightly inconvenient truth regarding the electric car revolution is that it’s harder to manufacture a small electric car with useable range that makes sense in the real world than it is to make a larger one. That’s certainly no concern of this; the Kia EV9; starting at over £65k, this 7 (or 6) seater is a behemoth. It’s over 5 metres end-to-end, nearly 2 metres wide and weighs in at over 2.5 tonnes unladen. That’s similar dimensions to a Range Rover but, thanks to the EV9’s blocky design it somehow manages to look like it’s taking up more of the road than pretty much anything else on it.
Strangely reminiscent
I’m not going to constantly draw comparison with Land Rover’s flagship, especially as the entry level RR now starts at over £104k, but every time I looked back at the EV9 it reminded me of something. Then it dawned on me; the EV9 is reminiscent of the MK1 Range Rover. Not an early 3-door one, granted, but a 5-door model circa 1990, especially with this entry level ‘Air’ and its 19” aerodynamic wheels that leave plenty of rubber sidewall.
RWD or AWD
Anyway, back to the EV9. As I said earlier, this is the Air version, it’s RWD with 200bhp from its single motor and it comes with 7-seats as standard. Above this sits the GT-Line spec and GT-Line S which has a 6-seat option – more on that later. All GT-Line versions are AWD, and have 378bhp. Perhaps most pertinently here, all EV9s come with a massive 99.8kWh battery with the ability to charge rapidly; 10-80% takes 24 minutes should you be able to find a 350kW charge point, 1hr 23m with a 50kW charger which is more likely if we’re honest.
What’s the EV9’s range?
What that rather large battery means in the real world is this rather large car has a claimed range of 349 miles when combining city and motorway driving in the RWD EV9 & 315/316 miles in the AWD version. During our week with the EV9 we split city & more rapid driving roughly 30/70 respectively and in during a mild autumn which is fairly ideal for electric cars we managed approx 320 miles from our RWD EV9.
Inside the EV9 is about as big as you may expect. With no pesky engine taking up valuable space up front, the bonnet is relatively short and the seating area is positively cavernous. The driving position is high up and driving and positioning what could be considered a challenging vehicle is made as gentle as possible thanks to its squarish shape and multiple driver aides and cameras.
6-seater’s party trick
The EV9 is a true seven-seater and proper, grown-up adults do fit into the rear-most seats. It’s a bit of a faff to get into them but all seats move electrically so there’s no sweaty shunting about and embarrassment as you fail to recall how to manoeuvre the seats in your own car. If you go for the GT-Line S spec you can opt for 6 seats and that’s where the EV9 gets all showy-offy. You see, you can either have a 2nd row that swivels to face the 3rd row, like a mobile conference room – they can even swivel to face the doors when stationary. OR you can go for the Premium Relaxation package which gives you two heated and cooled seats in the middle row that recline fully so you can have a snooze whilst the EV9 charges.
Special mention to the headrests
Headrests aren’t something we’re prone to raving about when considering a car review but the EV9 does sport a set that deserve a few words. They’re without a doubt the most cosseting, comfortable headrests I’ve ever experienced, and that includes those found in ‘premium’ brands such as Bentley and Rolls-Royce. Your head sinks into them like a soft, squishy pillow, so that option to have a snooze in your reclining 2nd row is a realistic possibility.
Real-world sustainability
The rest of the interior is a good combination of minimalism and necessary switchgear. No, it’s not got the quality, style or refinement of, say a BMW or a Mercedes but what it does do is make use of sustainable, recycled materials. Be it the carpets made of discarded fishing nets or the various plastics that do away with traditional oil-based products in favour of corn extract, sawdust or sugar cane, this EV9 is doing its best to walk the walk in terms of real-world environmental friendliness, not just pay lip-service to it by discarding an internal combustion engine.
How fast do you really need to go?
I always find discussing performance in electric cars a bit daft. Almost all of them accelerate more rapidly than is probably sensible on public roads and when a family hatch boasts 0-60mph times that were the reserve of pricey exotica not that long ago, it’s all just become a bit Top Trumps. When you’re driving something the size and weight of the EV9, performance should really be the last thing on your mind and that’s why I’d recommend sticking with this RWD Air spec and leaving it in Eco mode for that matter.
Yes, the twin-motor EV9 almost halves the RWD version’s 0-62mph time from 9.4s to 5.3s but the base-model comes with almost all of the GT-Line’s gadgetry and comforts inside, it costs over £8k less and, perhaps most pertinently, it’ll get you over 30 miles more on a full charge which is ultimately what we really want from an electric car.
Should I buy a Kia EV9?
It comes to something when a Kia starts at £65k, but that’s the electrified car world for you. Put the EV9 next to the competition, though and it doesn’t just do well in terms of value-for-money, it’s a great all-round package and it has some real road presence.
By Ben Harrington
The Kia EV9 is available now, priced from £65,025. For full details go to: www.kia.com/uk/
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