Kia EV9 GT SUV delivers hot hatch thrust for all the family

November 26, 2024November 25, 2024 John Mahoney 187 Views 0 Comments EV9, Kia

Kia has unleashed an all-electric seven-seat SUV that accelerates like a hot hatch – and could even humble some supercars.

The high-performance Kia EV9 GT pairs the practical large SUV body of the EV9 with sportier looks and a more engaging drive courtesy of punchier electric motors.

Lining up to the soon-to-be-updated Kia EV6, the headline news is the seven-seat battery electric alternative to new Volvo EX90 gets a new dual-motor powertrain that blends a 160kW front motor with a 270kW motor driving the rear wheels.

While that’s some way off the 478kW maximum outputs the Kia EV6 GT produces the Korean brand say its new performance flagship can still launch from 0-60mph (0-97km/h) in a very respectable 4.3 seconds.

That makes it quicker than most hot hatches and even gets it close to many modern supercars, at least for the benchmark off-the-mark acceleration test.

Green highlights are part of the styling tweaks of the Kia EV9 GT

Kia hasn’t explained why the EV9 GT doesn’t get the high-output powertrain from the EV6 GT or closely-related Hyundai Ioniq 5 N but says the latest member of the GT family comes with its own bespoke suspension tune. That uniq chassis set-up is said to boost the standard car’s agility.

Ensuring you can tell the GT from a regular EV9, the sportier large SUV comes with new 21-inch alloy wheels, bigger brakes with lime-green calipers, plus mildly tweaked front styling with active air flaps and revised lights.

The cabin features Alcantara sport seats, new ambient lighting and lots of GT badging to ram home the sporty positioning.

Like the EV6 GT, the fast EV9 comes with a lime-green GT button on the steering wheel that sharpens up the dampers, brake response and steering weight for a sportier driving experience.

Providing more driving engagement then the typical EV, the EV9 GT comes standard with the same simulated gear shift tech that was introduced on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N.

Doing a convincing impression of a proper transmission, drivers can use the steering wheel-mounted paddles to virtually select gears. The system can then artificially limit torque, mimicking a real transmission.

The tech works with an Active Sound Design system that uses the car’s speakers to pipe in fake engine sound.

Finally, an electronic rear differential has been added to boost agility and traction, ensuring that the EV9 GT should be one of the most-fun, best-driving seven-seater out there.

Kia hasn’t confirmed just how much the extra performance has sapped the standard car’s 443km WLTP range, but the Korean brand has revealed that the EV9 GT can be DC charged from 10 to 80 per cent in less than 25 minutes.

Following its reveal at the Los Angeles motor show, Kia USA has confirmed the EV9 GT will be on sale in the second half of 2025 but has not announced pricing.

In Australia it’s thought the EV9 GT could rock up at around the same time but be priced as high as $150,000 plus on-roads, with the fast three-row battery-electric SUV set to command a healthy premium over the $121,000 (plus ORCs) charged for the EV9 GT-Line AWD.