Electric Kia EV9 sizes up to LandCruiser

Kia has confirmed that on November 11 it will unwrap a near-production concept for its flagship all-electric Kia EV9 that will preview a production model that lands in 2023.

Announcing on social media the date of the official unveiling of the Kia Concept EV9, the Korean brand released a shadowy silhouette teaser of the blocky big SUV that it first heralded back in January.

Created to sit above the current Kia EV6, the larger EV9 is expected to have similar dimensions to the new Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series, which means it will dwarf the current 4.8m-long Kia Sorento.

If the production SUV keeps the concept's dimensions the pure-electric EV9 will likely feature three rows of seating and at least seven seats.

Based on the Hyundai Motor Group's E-GMP architecture that's also shared with sister brand Hyundai, it's almost a dead cert the EV9 will borrow its powertrains from the Kia EV6.

Given its size, it's likely to be only offered with dual motors, with the flagship 4WD version producing 239kW/605Nm.

Two batteries should be available, a 58kWh and a larger 77kWh power pack that should see the largest SUV cover up to 450km between top-ups.

Like the related Hyundai IONIQ 5, the EV9 will get both 800V ultra-fast charging and 400V charging.

When hooked up to a 350kW DC fast-charger, the EV9 should recharge from 10 to 80 per cent of battery capacity in just 18 minutes. It should also be capable of adding 100km of range in less than five minutes.

Stay tuned for the full unveiling of the near-production Kia EV9 concept later this week.