Often times a car comes along that'll make you do a double take, and the all-new Kia EV9 EV SUV is one such vehicle that blurs the line between concept and reality. The Seoul outfit has shed more light on their latest flagship SUV and the shape of things to come too.

Exterior

The boxy beast – penned by Karim Habib of the F30 BMW 3 Series fame – rides on the same Electric Global Mobility Platform (E-GMP) as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6.

But the EV9 is measures larger; sitting on a 3,100 mm wheelbase, it's overall length is 5,010 mm long, 1,980 mm wide, and 1,750 mm tall.

Its impressive that something this boxy can have a Prius-rivalling drag coefficient of just 0.28 cd (the Toyota comes in at 0.27 cd). That's achieved by smart aerodynamics comprising of functional air curtains up front, an underbody cover that's convex in front and concave at the back, as well as flat-faced wheels.

Also read: Toyota builds its cars to last 20 years but this Prius is the first to allow used car buyers to enjoy factory-approved upgrades

The front is a bit love it or hate it, but if you ask me I belong in the latter. Partly for its looks and partly for its tech – do you see the light patterns on the grille next to the upright headlights? The 'Star Map' LEDs has customised animations that'll follow what drive modes you're in. Cool stuff.

Interior

Offered in both six and seven seats in three rows, there's four seating options for the second row: it can be had as a three-seater bench, basic type, relaxation type, and a pair of swivelling seats, which can turn 180 degrees to enable face-to-face conversations with third row passengers.

Also read: Review: Perfected by ex-BMW M's maestro, the Kia EV6 is the best EV others have yet to build

As for those in front, they get a pair of relaxation seats, and if paired with the same type in the second row, all four occupants can recline while the SUV charges!

Tech and features within the cabin encapsulates a 'Panoramic wide display', which gels two 12.3-inch screens together (the instrument panel, and the infotainment display), and the side mirrors are digital too – relaying a live camera feed like the Honda e.

Also read: Want to stand out? Honda e now in Malaysia, priced from RM 210k

Backing up its eco chops is that no animals are harmed in the making of the expansive interior, as upholstery is made out of a plant-based leather replacement, more specifically corn extract. Inside each EV9 is also about 70 PET bottles worth of recycled plastic, and depending on the variant, up to a 100 of them make up various bits of the cabin.

Performance

Three variants of the EV9 will be available at launch, and these are the RWD Standard, RWD Long Range, and the AWD. A high performance one will come sometime in 2025, the company confirmed.

For now, the rear-wheel drive Standard runs off a 76.1 kWh battery, while the Long Range and AWD models have a 99.8 kWh one. As for power, the RWD Standard gets a 215 PS/350 Nm electric motor, while the RWD Long Range gets the same motor, albeit in a lower state of tune for 201 PS/350 Nm.

Most powerful of the lot is the dual-motor all-wheel drive variant, with a combined output of 380 PS and 600 Nm, which also propels the SUV from nought to 100 km/h in just 6 seconds. The best part? It can get faster; as an optional Power Boost feature will be made available down the line via subscription, bumping torque up to 700 Nm.

Most importantly the EV9 has a 800V charging system, which Kia claims can return 239 km of range in just a 15 minute charge. Total range is quoted only for the RWD Long Range at the moment, and that is 541 km (with base 19-inch wheels) on the WLTP cycle

Safety and driver assists

Driver assist features in the EV9 also boasts several firsts, with the EV9 getting the Highway Driving Pilot (HDP) system. 15 sensors (including two LiDAR ones) allow the SUV to have conditional Level 3 autonomous driving, but in plain terms this means it has full 360-degree field of view, allowing it to drive almost by itself on highways.

It'll also park itself, regardless if the driver is in the vehicle or not. This is made posible by the Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA) 2 feature, activated by the new Digital Key 2.

Alongside these fancy acronyms, the suite of driver assists are as follows:

• Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA)
• Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA)
• Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
• Intelligent Speed Limit Assist (ISLA)
• Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control (NSCC)
• Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA 2)

Pricing and availability

Pricing for the EV9 haven't been announced yet. Pre-orders for the Korean market will begin in Q2 2023, and will go on sale in selected global markets in the second half of this year.