2023 Kia EV9 pricing to start around $95,000

The 2023 Kia EV9 has been priced from 73.37 million won in its native Korean market, correlating to a theoretical starting price in Australia of around $83,600 before on-road costs.

That would comfortably make the large electric SUV the priciest Kia model range ever sold in Australia (but not the most expensive Kia model variant; that honour goes to the high-performance EV6 GT with its $99,590 plus ORCs price tag), but it would also undercut the luxury car tax threshold for ‘green’ cars, which increases to $89,332 from July 1.

However, carsales understands the local starting price of the Kia EV9, which is due to arrive Down Under in the fourth quarter of this year, will actually be somewhere around the $95,000 mark – plus on-roads – for the base Air variant.

Kia has previously confirmed its dedicated EVs will predominantly wear elemental variant nameplates going forward, and the EV9 is the best example of this nomenclature strategy so far given the three core equipment grades comprise the Air, Earth and GT-Line.

The mid-range Kia EV9 Earth variant has a KDM starting price of ?78.16m (the equivalent of $A89,078) but will probably cost around $106,000 plus ORCs locally, while the lavish GT-Line starts from ?87.81m ($A100,083) but we understand the Australian figure will be somewhere between $110,000 and $120,000.

Both the Air and Earth grades are available in Korea with the option of a single-motor or twin-motor drivetrain and six-seat or seven-seat cabin configurations, while the GT-Line is available exclusively with the twin-motor powertrain and both seating layouts.

Opting for either the six-seat option or twin-motor powertrain inevitably adds to the respective models’ asking prices, with the dearest GT-Line six-seater starting from ?88.81m ($A101,218), but odds are the local EV9 line-up will be significantly simpler, as per the model range for the smaller EV6 electric SUV.

carsales has contacted Kia Australia for an indication of its planned pricing structure for the EV9 ahead of its release and we’ll update this article when we hear back.

The most frugal EV9 variants will be able to cover up to 541km on a single charge courtesy of the extra-large SUV’s equally big 99.8kWh ‘long-range’ battery, which we understand will be the default choice Down Under, while the fastest core variants will dispatch the 0-100km/h sprint in less than six seconds.

The upcoming Kia EV9 GT range-topper, which is due by 2025, will inevitably shred those acceleration figures and likely stop the clock in around four seconds depending on how much grunt it’s endowed with – ie: more or less than the EV6 GT’s 430kW/740Nm outputs.

Rumours of the upcoming Hyundai IONIQ 5 N being good for 450kW or more have been swirling for a while now, so the prospect of the EV9 GT becoming the most powerful Kia to date (as well as the most expensive) is looking increasingly likely.

We’re driving the big new Kia EV9 in Korea this week, so stand by for more details and our first review next Wednesday (June 28).

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