Kia EV9 Air 2024 Review

The 2024 Kia EV9 is available in three variants. The entry-level rear-wheel drive Air is priced from $97,000 plus on-road costs. Expect to dip well into six figures once you get it on the road.

That in itself makes for a big “wow”… who would have thought an entry-level Kia would ever cost more than $100K to park in your driveway?

The dual-motor all-wheel drive Earth – which also gets a bigger battery pack – costs $106,500 plus ORCs, while the range-topping GT-Line is $121,000 plus ORCs.

Kia has also committed to a high-performance GT model in 2025, although details haven’t been released yet. It’ll clearly be the most expensive variant.

The Kia EV9 needs to be serviced every 12 months or 15,000km. Kia offers a five-year/75,000km pre-paid service plan for $1351, or a seven-year/105,000km plan for $1997.

Even the entry-level 2024 Kia EV9 Air comes with plenty of kit, including 19-inch alloys, triple-zone air-conditioning, wireless phone charging, a powered tailgate and a heated steering wheel, as well as heated, ventilated and power-adjustable front seats.

It’s a shame the driver’s seat doesn’t have a memory function (something fitted to the more expensive GT-Line).

There are also dual 12.3-inch infotainment and instrument displays, and wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. A smaller 5.0-inch screen takes care of the ventilation controls, although there are also physical buttons for the main controls.

A smartphone app and remote connectivity monitors the vehicle, allows unlocking and locking and brings over-the-air (OTA) software functionality.

The 2024 Kia EV9 comes with dual front airbags, front side airbags, head airbags down each side and a centre front airbag.

Safety systems include autonomous emergency braking (AEB) in forward and reverse with the ability to react to vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians. Plus, there’s blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert and a warning when opening the doors if other vehicles are approaching.

There’s also lane keep assist, lane follow assist and driver attention monitoring.

The Kia EV9 earned a five-star ANCAP rating when tested to the independent auto safety body’s 2023 protocols.

The headline tech in the 2024 Kia EV9 is a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.3-inch central infotainment screen.

The main screen has a logical set of swipe and push menus as well as some fixed touch pads integrated into a strip across the dashboard.

However, we occasionally found ourselves inadvertently leaning on one or two of those touchpads when using it to rest our palm while adjusting the screen.

The roller volume adjustment also isn’t as quick and easy as a dial, although you learn to get used to it. And, obviously, there’s myriad buttons on the steering wheel to act as back-up for navigating the various displays.

Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity allows for the easy connection of smartphones and the world of apps that unlocks, plus there’s inbuilt satellite-navigation.

The EV9 Air gets an eight-speaker audio system with digital radio tuning. Unusually for an EV it also includes AM radio tuning.

There’s also Kia Connect telematics, which allows remote monitoring of the vehicle, including locking and unlocking and activation of the ventilation system.

OTA software updates allow for improvements and tweaks to the infotainment system.

The 2024 Kia EV9 gets a single electric motor driving the rear wheels.

That solitary rear-mounted motor makes modest outputs of 160kW of power and 350Nm of torque, and drives through a single-speed reduction gear.

In Air guise, the 2024 Kia EV9 comes with a 76.1kWh battery claimed to provide 443km of WLTP range.

Think closer to 400km in everyday driving, or more like 360km on the open road.

All of which limits its usefulness when you load it up and head off into the sunset.

It’s terrific around town, but you’ll have to plan the route – or buy one of the more expensive EV9 variants with a bigger battery pack – for more far-flung adventures.

On an 800km road trip in the EV9 Air we learnt more about its charging and range performance.

One negative was the range predictor, which started off a tad optimistic. It meant that at the start of a 300km-ish stint we were expecting to get upwards of 400km, but as the trip progressed that figure kept sliding back towards 350km.

We’d always expected something like that in real-world freeway usage – given EV efficiency is at its worst from about 100km/h – but it would have been nice to have a more accurate estimate of how far we’d get on a charge earlier.

The official energy efficiency (electricity use) figure is 19.5kWh per 100km and it was a number we were able to match, which is impressive given the size of the EV9. Freeway runs yielded higher energy use, hovering around a still-respectable 22kWh/100km.

The EV9 has an 800V electrical architecture that allows charging at up to 230kW, for a 10-80 per cent charge in 20 minutes with the Air.

Using a 7.4kW home wallbox takes about 11 hours or you can plug into a home powerpoint and wait about 38 hours for a full top-up.

And for those looking to run camping gear or other electronics, the EV9 has a vehicle-to-load (V2L) power output that allows any 230V device to be powered on the road.

The 2024 Kia EV9 Air drives only the rear wheels and there’s 160kW/350Nm to play with, which is nothing to be sneered at, although 2312kg of large SUV (463.3kg of which is accounted for by the batteries) dulls the performance somewhat.

The numbers are decent by SUV standards, with torque output similar to that of a lusty petrol V6.

The difference is that the torque is available almost instantly, rather than having to build revs as it would in a petrol engine.

So while it’s not as fiery as the dual-motor versions of the EV9 (Earth and GT-Line), most drivers will likely be fine with the available oomph, especially for suburban running.

There’s the usual effortless surge that electric cars do so well and even on the open road the EV9 easily maintain 110km/h with extra in reserve for overtakes. But more planning is required for overtaking from 100km/h with the family on board.

The dash to 100km/h is claimed to take 8.2 seconds – which is good but not great – although that doesn’t tell the full story with the easily-accessible pulling power of the EV9.

Paddle shifters allow quick adjustment of the regenerative braking system, from coasting with no regen to fairly aggressive deceleration and even a smart mode that adjusts depend on what’s ahead (it sounds good in theory but can be difficult to judge if you press the brake at the same time it’s just ramped up the regen).

There are three drive modes – Eco, Normal and Sport – and Normal is the most easy-going for everyday driving. We found Sport mode to be sensitive on the throttle, so when easing between gentle acceleration and coasting you have to be very gentle with your right foot.

While the EV9 Air is nuggety at 2.3 tonnes, it’s a few hundred kilos lighter than its two-motor Earth and GT-Line stablemates.

Having previously back-to-backed an Air with a GT-Line, we reckon the Air is the pick in terms of its dynamic demeanour.

The 19-inch tyres allow more compliance over sharp edges and the overall chassis tune deals nicely with a large high-speed bumps as well as everyday ridges and rumbles.

When laden the rear-end can momentarily sag over big speed humps, but the suspension movement is nicely controlled, adding to the comfort and confidence.

It’s quiet, too, nicely quelling road and wind noise to the point where there’s a luxury air about the EV9’s cruising nature.

The 2024 Kia EV9 Air is not designed to go off-road, in part because it only drives two of its four wheels.

While the Earth and GT-Line variants drive all four wheels, they have only light-duty off-road aspirations (including Snow, Mud and Sand drive modes).

None have a spare wheel.

It’s all about space in the 2024 Kia EV9 Air.

It’s classified as an upper large SUV, which positions it above merely large SUVs into space occupied by the Toyota LandCruiser and Nissan Patrol.

So there’s no surprises that it feels big in the cabin.

The width of the cabin is immediately obvious sign that there’s plenty of occupant space.

That not only translates to ample elbow room up front but also makes for a sizeable centre console between the front seat occupants. A large lower section of that centre console is perfect for small bags and there’s no shortage of headroom either.

In the rear there’s also acres of space, although occupants in the second and third rows have to trade off on knee room.

If you want to fit adults in the very back row – which can be done – then those in the middle might find themselves tight on knee room as you slide the seat forward to accommodate.

There’s no shortage of foot space in that middle row, though, courtesy of the flat floor.

And the sheer width of the cabin means that three large derrieres should easily fit side-by-side.

Accessing the third row is easy via a single button press to tilt the middle row seat forward. However, disappointingly, it’s easier from the driver’s side – which will mostly be the traffic side – because that’s the side with the single seat section (the passenger side has a bulkier two-seat section).

Storage is good, too. Those in the middle row get an oddly deep binnacle that is the underside of the main console up front. It’s a lean to get to it but could hide plenty of trinkets.

As with most three-row SUVs the boot is compact when all seven seats are in place. There’s 333 litres to play with if you load things to the roof.

Fold the third-row seats and there’s a far more useful 828 litres. It can be covered by a retractable luggage cover that slots into a space beneath the floor when you’re not using it.

There’s also a 90-litre frunk – or front trunk – that’s perfect for charging cables and valuables.

But accessing it isn’t as easy as it should be. There’s a bonnet release lever on the passenger’s side and it’s hidden behind a clip-in plastic cover. So you’re over to the passenger side to clip off a cover then pull a lever.

As we said, not as easy as it should be…

The 2024 Kia EV9 Air mounts a compelling case for those looking for a spacious and confident seven-seat electric SUV.

Yes, it’ll take a mindset readjustment to shell out six figures for something with a Kia badge on the bonnet.

But the reality is the EV9 sets a new benchmark for three-row electric SUVs in Australia, especially when it comes to interior space and comfort.

In Air guise it misses out on some of the fancy kit and attention to detail that some may expect when paying $100K-plus, but it partially makes up for that with a healthy list of standard gear and an excellent driving experience.

Does it justify its price premium of tens of thousands of dollars over other excellent ICE alternatives? To some extent that will depend how much you value the ongoing running cost savings – and whether your budget can meet the initial outlay.

2024 Kia EV9 Air at a glance:
Price: $97,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor, rear-wheel drive
Output: 160kW/350Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 76.1kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion battery
Range: 443km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 19.5kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2023)