TOKYO — The brand new Kia EV9 all-electric three-row crossover will get hauling brawn to match its rugged appears to be like together with all the newest trappings of the brand new EV period, together with Stage 3 autonomous driving and a plethora of over-the-air software program updates by way of Kia’s on-line retailer.
The complete vary of options is supposed to place the brand new entry, unveiled immediately, on the prime of the Kia vary and elevate the picture of what was as soon as a bargain-basement model.
“We take into account the Kia EV9 to be the brand new flagship for our model,” Kia Corp. CEO Ho Sung Music stated. “It additionally will play a key position in how the Kia model is outlined going ahead.”
In detailing technical specs for the primary time, Kia stated the EV9 will are available all-wheel and rear-wheel drive variants for the U.S. market, in each customary and long-range fashions.
The long-range rear-wheel-drive model will obtain a spread of 336 miles below the Worldwide Harmonized Mild Automobiles Take a look at Process, which is taken into account extra beneficiant than U.S. EPA calculations. Utilizing the EV9’s 800-volt charging system, the autos can prime as much as 148 miles of vary in quarter-hour, Kia stated.
A 76.1-kWh battery is obtainable within the rear-wheel-drive customary mannequin, whereas a 99.8-kWh battery is fitted in each the rear-wheel-drive long-range and all-wheel-drive variants.
The rear-wheel-drive long-range mannequin has a 150-kilowatt electrical motor that boasts 0 to 62 mph in 9.4 seconds. The usual rear-wheel-drive variant will get a extra highly effective 160-kilowatt motor that accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 8.2 seconds. The AWD variant has two electrical motors for mixed output of 283 kilowatts and goes from 0 to 62 mph in 6.0 seconds. An elective enhance characteristic lifts torque and cuts that acceleration time to five.3 seconds.
Kia eked each additional mile of vary partly because of a super-slick 0.28 drag coefficient, a powerful feat of aerodynamics, given the EV9’s boxy, squared-off and upright stance.
Music stated his engineers are creating a high-performance GT model of the EV9 that can arrive in early 2025. That’s on prime of a GT-line mannequin that debuts with this 12 months’s launch.
Kia didn’t announce pricing for the EV9, which is available in six- or seven-seat configurations.
Preorders start within the house market of South Korea within the second quarter of 2023, and the EV9 shall be rolled out within the second half to Europe, North America and different markets. It’s going to make its North America debut at this month’s New York auto present.
The powertrain sports activities a towing capability of 5,000 kilos within the U.S., Kia stated. That compares with a towing capability of seven,700 to 10,000 kilos for the electrical Ford F-150 Lightning pickup. However the EV9 is a extra of a weekend warrior than a workhorse.
Kia’s promotional movies tout the EV9 as a rugged, go-anywhere automobile equally suited to exploring the mountains or taking the household to Disneyland. The battery will even be able to vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid connectivity.
Tapping the newest pattern towards software-defined autos, Kia says a bunch of upgrades shall be obtainable from Kia’s on-line app by way of over-the-air updates. The choices, obtainable for both one-time buy or on a subscription foundation, will embody such options as Distant Sensible Parking Help 2.0, an acceleration enhance perform or new digital grille lighting patterns.
The good parking system permits the proprietor to park the EV9 from outdoors the automobile.
“Following the EV9’s market introduction, much more superior options shall be obtainable by way of [over-the-air] updates,” Senior Product Supervisor Sang Lee stated. “The Kia Join Retailer means that you can browse revolutionary options for personalizing your automobile even after preliminary automobile buy.”
And when the EV9 is not parking itself, it could possibly be driving itself down the freeway.
GT-line variations of the EV9 shall be outfitted with a brand new Freeway Driving Pilot system that allows Stage 3 driving below sure situations and in sure markets. The expertise will enable hands-free driving whereas conserving the automobile centered in its lane and distanced from vehicles forward.
Kia didn’t present particulars about what markets will get this characteristic.
The system depends on 15 sensors, together with two lidar setups for a 360-degree view.
“Our engineers centered on easy methods to intelligently mix captured photographs in order that the automobile can higher detect potential hazards forward lengthy earlier than the motive force may be capable of see them,” Lee stated. “[Highway Driving Pilot] may also help make your every day commute or much more adventurous journeys extra stress-free and offer you added confidence.”