Kia EV9 SUV Estate 99.8kWh 201 Air Auto RWD

The Kia brand's upward trajectory would probably have continued if we'd stayed in the combustion era, but it's really taken off as this new electric age has progressed. We like the fact that the marque isn't afraid to be different - and particularly here. In a segment full of streamlined toothpaste tube-shaped large luxury EV Crossovers, the EV9's bluff, blocky but still-futuristic looks stand out. As Design Chief Karim Habib says, there's an authenticity to it. The cabin's also a selling point, allowed by the squarical dimensions to be the most practical interior in its class. It makes conventionally-engineered similarly-sized luxury segment 7-seat SUVs like the BMW X7 and the Mercedes GLS feel very yesteryear indeed, limited as they are in so many ways by the constraints of their combustion platforms. We wish the EV9 had been equally ground-breaking in its electric driving range: that's not particularly notable. But the 800V electrical infrastructure that trumps most rivals by providing the potential for ultra-rapid charging is. And in summary? Well it's rather refreshing that Kia doesn't particularly want to be perceived as 'premium'; it's a brand that deserves to be recognised as interesting and different. The EV9 is.

Kia keeps surprising us. Here for example, in the EV9, the marque's largest and priciest car yet, is a fully-electric SUV that's completely different to anything we've seen before from the brand. It bucks the trend of super-sleek full-battery models, which helps this six or seven-seat luxury contender to be supremely family-friendly. An intriguing mix of the familiar and the futuristic. We'll see this chunky 'Opposites United' look again in smaller form with the brand's forthcoming more compact EV5, a design theme very different from the existing more familiar EV6 and one that does indeed meet its intended brief to re-shape the image that customers have of this growing Korean brand. Kia says it wants to 'take a few risks' with its design going forward but retain a mainstream appeal. Is that what's been delivered here? Let's take a closer look.

It doesn't seem likely that a family seven-seat SUV that looks like this will accelerate to 62mph in just 5.3s, but that's what the twin motor AWD 378bhp EV9 variant that most customers will choose manages. If, understandably, you can't see why a huge family wagon like this needs to go that fast, then Kia will offer you a base spec single motor rear-driven 'Air' version with 200bhp, which is considerably more sedate, making 62mph in 9.4s. That tops out at 114mph (10mph less than this Twin Motor EV9) but uses same big 99.8kWh long range battery, which takes the car 349 miles in 'Air' form - or 313 miles in the AWD model. Predictably, like any car of this kind, it's a big thing to manoeuvre about, especially around town and on narrow country roads. Still, at least there's less body roll than the slab-sided looks lead you to expect, helped by the low-down central siting of the enormous 566kg battery pack beneath the floor - positioning that considerably restricts any pretensions this Kia might have otherwise had towards off-road prowess. Steering feel is accurate but quite lifeless, with feedback one of the parameters you can control via the various drive modes - 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport', plus a configurable 'MyMode' setting. Because there's no adaptive damping, these modes can't affect ride quality but Kia does provide standard self-levelling rear dampers. There are also six brake regeneration settings, which can be operated by the steering wheel paddle shifters. Impressively, the EV9 can tow 2,500kgs (as much as a Range Rover Velar); can be had with Level 3 autonomous drive technology; and can be parked remotely from its key fob.

The EV era has prompted a whole fresh approach to design from quite a number of brands and Kia is one of them. The EV9, overseen by ex-BMW stylist Karim Habib, is much like the radical concept shown in Los Angeles in 2021, but has slightly smaller 21-inch wheels. And, contrary to the image suggested by the boxy Defender-like silhouette, a lower ride height (because of the required thick battery pack). With the drivetrain beneath the car, you might wonder why it needs such a big bonnet (there's only a small 'frunk' for the charging leads inside). Or such a wide, vertical nose (Kia calls it the 'Tiger Face'), a smooth panel that can be decorated with customisable 'Star Map' LED light patterns shining through from behind. The headlamps and tail lights are both vertically-orientated and in dimensions, we're talking over 5-metres long and almost 2-metres wide - think Range Rover size. Inside, we're already into a new generation of Kia EV interiors, this cabin less visually dominated by twinkling displays, though there are still plenty of them. The new dashboard gets one large 27-inch instrument panel incorporating a trio of screens, flanked by digital rear view monitors at either end of the fascia, if you've ticked the box for that option. The cabin feel is warmer and more up-market that we've previously seen from Kia, with more cloth and fewer textured plastics. There's a 'D'-shaped steering wheel to make viewing the instrument display easier and the column it's attached to has all the main driver controls to avoid clutter elsewhere. In the rear, there's a choice of six or seven-seat layouts being offered: choose a six-seater (only available with top 'GT-Line S'-spec) and the middle row has two 'captain's chairs' that can swivel to face the third row seats. Or can be swivelled towards the door openings to help elderly folk in and out. There are tray tables on the front seat backs and a digital climate control panel for the middle row. Depending on seat positioning, expect a large boot too - 572-litres in size. With all the seats flat, capacity rises to 2,319-litres.

So what'll you pay for one of these? Well from launch, and at the time of launch, EV9 pricing was starting from around £65,000, but that only gets you the base rear-driven 200bhp 'Air'-spec model that few will want. The AWD 378bhp variants start with the 'GT-Line' version (priced from just over £73,000 at the time our our review), but you'd probably ideally want the top 'GT-Line S' spec level, available as we compiled this from around £76,000 in this seven-seat form - or from around £77,000 with a six-seat cabin format. All EV9s from launch shared the same 99.8kWh battery. Three rows of seats are standard on all models, but with the top 'GT-Line S' variant, special individual 'captain's chairs' can be fitted for an extra £1,000, which drops the total number of passengers you can carry from seven to six - two in each row. All EV9s come with complete LED illumination for the headlights, the LED daytime running lights, the tail lamps and the rear fog lights. Plus you get power-folding mirrors, auto headlamps and wipers, a rear spoiler, rear privacy glass, roof rails and silver front and rear skid plates. Plus fingerprint recognition and 'Digital Key' keyless entry. You also get a 'Smart' power tailgate with height adjustment, all-round parking sensors, rear self-levelling suspension, a Thatcham category one alarm, a heat pump to preserve driving range in cold conditions and a clever Vehicle-to-load (V2L) system that allows you to power external devices from the car's main battery. Inside on all models, you get 12.3-inch driver display screen and a 5.3-inch climate control screen. There's also three-zone climate control, ambient lighting, an electronic rear view mirror, a wireless mobile phone charger and a 360-degree surround view monitor. Plus you get manual window blinds on the second row, six USB-C interior charge ports and a four-spoke heated steering wheel with an illuminated emblem. Media features are taken care of by a 12.3-inch touchscreen navigation with voice control. And all variants get Kia's latest 'highway driving pilot' system that uses 15 sensors (including a couple of lidar sensors) to offer 'Level 3' autonomous driving (where conditions allow).

In our 'Driving' section, we gave you the drive range stats for this EV9's 99.8kWh battery: 349 miles for the base rear-driven version and 313 miles for the dual-motor all-wheel drive variants. Like the EV6 and other larger Hyundai Motor Group products, this electric Kia uses an 800V e-GMP platform electrical architecture that allows access to the new generation of ultra-rapid public chargers that are springing up around Europe. Connect up to one of these and this EV9 is capable of recharging from 10-80% in 25 minutes when plugged into a 350kW high-powered charger; and gaining up to 148 miles of range in just 15 minutes. The EV9 is also able to distribute charge to other vehicles at up to 3.6kW using it's Type 2 socket, as part of an incorporated 'vehicle-to-load V2L' function. We're not quite sure why you'd ever want to do that, but it might conceivably be useful to charge large appliances using the car's battery 'on an outdoor adventure' according to Kia. Like the EV6, the EV9 is fitted with energy-recuperation technologies to maximise driving range. This includes the option of Kia's latest-generation energy-efficient heat pump which scavenges waste heat from the car's coolant system. This ensures that at minus 7 degrees Celsius, the car can achieve 80% of the range that would be possible at 25 degrees Celsius. Also featured is the latest generation of Kia's smart regenerative braking system, which is operated by paddle shifters behind the steering wheel so drivers can quickly and easily slow the car and recuperate kinetic energy to maximise driving range and efficiency.