Gear up! For what, you ask? Then, gear up for the ultimate Electric Vehicle revolution in India, which is about to take place. Agreed that Indian EVs, like Tata Nexon EV, Mahindra XUV 400, Mahindra eXUV series, and Tata’s future EVs, but we need a big 7 Seater Electric Monster and Kia has the answer for it with the 2024 Kia EV9 India Launch.

But before that, let us briefly examine what this EV9 is all about.

About the Kia EV9 for India

The KIA EV9 is all about practicality, but it is over an Electric battery. It is a 7-seater Electric SUV, which sits on the Hyundai E-GMP, elaborating, Hyundai Electric Global Modular Platform, which in fact, also underpins the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6, which were launched in India earlier this year.

The KIA EV9, perhaps, sits over the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 in terms of product positioning. This also makes the EV9 compete with other EVs like Audi E-Tron, Jaguar I-Pace, BMW iX, etc. Well, we believe that you might have made a guess on KIA EV9’s India launch price, so keep this guess and see whether it is RIGHT or NOT at the end.

Exterior of the EV9 7 Seater: A Rare Vehicle!

No, it doesn’t consist of any sort of extraordinary feature, which might make it rare. But, still, it is rare. Look, we have seen many concepts of Cars that have been launched or will be launched in the future. But, honestly, it is very rare to see a car getting launched and having almost every bit of its design picked out exactly from its concept. And the KIA EV9 has it! Its design contains pin-point similarities, of course, with some slightly different strokes here & there, but still, it is very similar to its concept avatar. Thus, this makes it rare.

Starting from the front of the 2024 EV9 for India . Typical EV traits: it is packed! The grille has been kept closed in order to make it look like an EV. But it still holds its brand’s design history, the Tiger Nose Grille. However, this time, the tiger nose grille, as said, has been kept closed and given the body-colored treatment to it. The whole grille outline creates a rectangular design and joins the DRLs at both ends. More to it, just inside both the side pillars of the rectangular-shaped grille, there are small cubes of LEDs included, which glow when the lighting has been turned on.

The DRLs have somewhat of a Lexus touch to them, as it is in an ‘L’ shape. The L-shaped DRLs start halfway of the hood and run to the lower outline of the Rectangular grille, further joining it. Talking of the Head Lamps, they have been given an LED beam treatment, with 3 LED beams stacked upon each other.

Coming lower down of the Font bumper. Here, we can see that the EV9 contains some sharp edges to give the vehicle its overall shape and also to maintain the ethics of being an SUV. Anyways, there is a small body panel that runs between the grille and the lower part of the Skid plate, This body panel consists of Parking sensors. We can see just over the Skid plate; there is a ‘Glossy Black’ treatment attached for some contrast; it also contains the ADAS’ front Radar.

Moving to the Side. We can see a lot of straight lines, with no such curves added to beautify the SUV. Sharp, Thick, Angular, and Muscular wheel arches have been given to the vehicle to enhance its SUV quotient even more. Even the wheel cladding is Thick and Big, giving more of a filled and completed look from the side. The Alloy wheels it sits on are 21 inches; they are very plain and flat when it comes to their design. The Window area is pretty big, so claustrophobic-ness would not be felt inside, even for the Third row. On the Right side of the SUV, we can see the charging port trying to merge with the Tail lamp design, a typical Hyundai-Kia design insert!

Over to the Rear. You see, it is so similar at the rear that even the Tail lamp design is indistinguishable from its concept avatar. Well, talking of the rear profile, it gets a small spoiler treatment to add some sporty vibe from the outside. Coming down, the tail lamps have been given a vertical posture, like the Volvos, but do not worry, the EV9 differs itself from the Volvos. The shoulder line looks healthy, further adding some ruggedness to the design. At the rest of the back, you notice one thing: there is not much lettering added, it has been kept Simple and Clean, and it further values the EV9’s electric existence.

Interior of the EV9: Space + Individuality

The interior of the car looks and, in fact, is spacious. It contains an outstanding balance between Space and Technology. Kia has tried to keep the car spacious by merging and minimalizing technologies. This explains the statement containing ‘KIA’ and ‘Innovation’ earlier.

The Dashboard is broad, but still, Kia has tried to keep less Tech screwed onto it. On the Driver’s side, we can see one single screen containing both the Instrument Cluster and the Infotainment system. Usually, we have seen this tech on other vehicles as well, in fact, in Indian cars as well, but they have one aspect that pulls them down compared to the EV9. It is that they contain a decent amount of gap in between them, a Bezel. But, in the KIA EV9, there is no bezel; both the instrumentations are connected to each other. In which, the Right side holds all the detailed vehicular information, and the left-hand side contains standard Driver’s information. 

If you will notice at the middle of the Dashboard, right below the Infotainment screen, you will see something glowing. Well, there are a few Touch-sensitive buttons that are used to control the screen. Below, there are neatly inserted - Sleek AC vents, a Volume-adjusting roller, and some essential vehicle controls. 

If we talk about the Armrest, it is individual. It is not connected to the Dashboard, which ultimately adds a load to one’s sense of space. The armrest packs a hidden storage compartment - mostly cup holders, a few buttons, and a Wireless charging pad. At the back of the Armrest, there is also a storage compartment for the Second row, which slides out of the Front armrest as said.

Being a 7-seater SUV, the EV9 consists of 7 seats, obviously, but with a change. In its second row, KIA has provided Captain seats, which, in fact, can be rotated about 180 degrees.

Battery & Expected Price of the EV9

The KIA EV9 is offered in two variants. Standard Range and Long Range, wherein, further, the Long Range variant is divided into two sub-variants - RWD  ( Rear Wheel Drive ); and AWD  ( All Wheel Drive ).

The Standard Range is available in a 76 kWh battery pack, which can generate 215hp and 350Nm of Torque. This power can be used for approximately 400 - 450 km of driving range. This particular ‘Standard Range’ variant sticks a price tag of ₹80 lAKHS Ex-showroom over it. 

Talking of the Long Range variant, which is available with a 100 kWh battery pack for both the sub-variants - RWD and AWD. Whereas the RWD sub-variant produces about 201 hp and 350 Nm of Torque, and the AWD produces 380 hp and 600 Nm of Torque. 

Now, before sharing the prices of the Long Range variants, let me tell you the math that Kia will be using to position these variants in India. To tell you straight forward, Kia will not be bringing in the Long Range variants - RWD sub-variant. Why? Because it does not make sense. As there is already a Standard variant producing the same amount of power, it is sure that the LR’s RWD variant will produce the same amount of Driving range as well. So, instead of having two variants with similar characteristics, Kia will exclude the LR’s RWD variant for India.

Instead, only the Standard Variant and the LR’s AWD variant will be introduced for the Indian market, that too, the LR’s AWD variant will be renamed the KIA EV9 GT. 

Hence, coming on the Long Range - AWD / GT variant’s Driving range, then, it will reach up to 550 km on a single charge. Plus, it will also cost us around ₹1.2 Cr Ex-showroom.

The KIA EV9 India prices seem to be over the top because KIA, unlike Hyundai, will neither be Assembling nor Manufacturing the EV9 in India. Therefore, Import duties will be hitting hard on the EV9.

Some more details related to the Battery: the EV9’s - 77 kWh and 100 kWh batteries will be pairable to a 230-kilowatt maximum DC Fast charger , which can charge up to 240 km within 15 minutes .

Expected Launch Date of the KIA EV9

We expect the KIA EV9’s India launch to take place in late 2024 in the Segment of BMW X5 and Audi q7