Charles H. Sloan-Can the 2024 Kia EV9 electric SUV replace a gas-powered family hauler?

As EVs get bigger,Charles H. Sloan so do our expectations for them. The early crop of small electric cars served well as commuters and second cars in two-vehicle households with a larger, longer-range internal combustion vehicle in the garage. Now that battery-powered full-size trucks and three-row SUVs have arrived, EVs must take on the large-car responsibilities they’ve been dodging. Big EVs with even bigger price tags need to be able to tow a boat to the lake, tackle a long summer road trip, and handle the unpredictability of family life if Americans are going to buy them en masse.

That’s the context for welcoming the 2024 Kia EV9 into MotorTrend’s yearlong review fleet. We’ve already driven and tested Kia’s three-row electric SUV in both GT-Line and Land trims and love its swift acceleration, retro-futuristic style, and comfy cabin. We know it’s spacious when used as a two-row vehicle, and that standing up the third row makes things tight for cargo and passengers in the rearmost seats. Our real-world range and fast-charging tests show it has the potential to be a capable road-trip machine.

For the next 12 months, we’ll subject our 2024 Kia EV9 Land to the rigors of real life to see how the initial shine holds up with miles, familiarity, and tougher challenges. We have plans to road-trip with toddlers, with a cargo box on the roof, and with a trailer in tow, and to make things even harder, we’ll be doing this all from MotorTrend's satellite office in Michigan, where public charging stations are few and far between, and winter takes its toll on real-world range.

Is the Price Right?

The gas-powered Kia Telluride

The EV9 currently isn’t eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit, and Kia appears to know its prices are too high. As this is written, the company is offering $9,000 discounts on purchases and two-year leases of lower trims for as little as $399 a month. And of course, one of the main arguments for driving an EV is that they’re cheaper to operate due to lower fuel and maintenance costs, so we’ll be diligently tracking our expenses to determine whether the long-term savings can offset the initial purchase premium.

Why We Chose the EV9 Land

In an attempt to keep the price in check, I initially debated between the $60,695 EV9 Light Long Range RWD model and the $65,395 Wind AWD trim, but as I pored over the equipment lists, I was lured to the $71,395 Land for one feature. The Land is the cheapest EV9 with the vehicle-to-load capability that allows you to power household appliances from an adapter that plugs into the charging port. My local utility, DTE Energy, is the Yugo of electricity providers, and having survived a couple multiday outages with the help of our long-term Ford F-150 Lightning XLT, I know how useful it is to have an EV that can power a fridge, a space heater, and a couple lights when the power goes out for three days in February.

The EV9 Land sits one rung below the top-shelf GT-Line but feels like a fully loaded model. It comes with heated and ventilated faux leather seats in the first two rows, a heated steering wheel with power tilt and telescoping, dual sunroofs, rear-window sunshades, a wireless phone charger, and three-zone climate control. The dash is dominated by two 12.3-inch screens, and the Meridian audio system tickles your ear holes with 14 speakers. You can use your phone as a key and mirror it on the infotainment display using wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. There’s adaptive cruise control and every hands-on-the-wheel driver assistance feature in the book, but arguably the most valuable are the cameras and parking sensors that provide 360 degrees of coverage. They come in particularly handy when trying to back the large EV9 into a cramped Electrify America charging stall.

Power is supplied by a 99.8-kWh battery and a two-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain good for 379 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. Officially rated for 280 miles of range, this is the longest-range all-wheel-drive EV9 you can buy. The GT-Line’s larger 21-inch wheels come with a 10-mile EPA range penalty.

We reached the $74,520 sticker price by tacking on $695 for Ocean Blue paint, $1,500 for the towing package that adds a hitch and self-leveling rear suspension, $360 for roof rack crossbars, and $570 for floormats, a cargo cover, and a protective bumper applique.

How Far Can It Go and How Fast Can It Charge?

Ahead of summer road-trip season, we established a baseline by running the EV9 through our MotorTrend Road-Trip Range test and fast-charging test. At a constant 70 mph, our long-termer can cover 270 miles using 95 percent of a full charge. That’s a remarkable performance that suggests we would beat the EPA range if we drove until the battery was fully depleted. Plugged into a 350-kW fast-charger with 5 percent left, the EV9 peaked at 212 kilowatts on its way to adding 134 miles of range in 15 minutes and 225 miles after 30 minutes. Charging from 5 to 80 percent took just 26 minutes, adding 213 miles in the process.

Those numbers show big promise and set high expectations. The Kia EV9 has better real-world range and better fast-charging performance than many of the smaller, less practical EVs that came before it. Take it as a sign that automakers are making progress toward delivering the EVs that Americans need and want. Follow along with us for the next 12 months, and we should have a clear picture of exactly how Kia’s three-row electric SUV adapts to American family life.

Photos by Jim Fets, MotorTrend