2024 Kia EV9: A Year of Testing Cemented Its Award-Winning Status

• We just finished living with the Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD for an entire year.
• It's still one of the best electric SUVs on sale today.
• Our EV9 had no mechanical or electrical problems, just feature design issues.

What we got

Our test car was an Ocean Blue top-of-the-line 2024 EV9 GT-Line AWD, loaned to us by Kia for the purpose of evaluation. This trim checked nearly every feature box, save for some port-installed accessories, for a total price of $76,585 including destination. You might say that's luxury car territory, and you'd be right. But our EV9 was packed with plenty of luxury goodies like ventilated second-row captain's chairs, a 14-speaker Meridian audio system, eye-catching LED headlights, a surround-view camera system and 21-inch wheels.

Carrie Kim, our creative services project manager, summed up our first impressions well, saying, "I couldn't get over the interior of this thing. I love the two-tone seats, the multicolor ambient lighting and the big displays. It's super nice without feeling fussy."

Highlights

Continuing on Carrie's sentiment, there was a lot to love about the EV9's interior. Some of our favorite things were the small details, like its unique mesh-style front seat headrests that felt like little hammocks for our heads. We were big fans of the highly adjustable seats that cradled us on long drives, and the cabin materials had premium vibes all throughout the cabin and were easily on par with what's used in some luxury SUVs.

Video manager and connoisseur of fine things Will Kaufman commented, "One very small thing that stood out to me in the EV9 is just how quiet the little motors in the cabin are. I'm talking about stuff like the window and seat-adjustment motors. It's a quiet car, but even without much noise to cover them up, those motors are basically silent."    

Kia packed the EV9 to the brim with useful tech, but the 360-degree camera system and blind-spot cameras were real highlights. Script writer Duncan Brady wrote, "The cameras are so well done. They're super high-resolution and occupy the whole infotainment display so you get a large image. I also love that Hyundai/Kia show a display of the blind-spot camera in the instrument cluster — it's a great example of using a digital gauge cluster to support additional function instead of just saving costs. And the rearview mirror camera is the best I've ever used."

Brady added, "Love that there's a physical button to activate the 360-degree camera system. That camera view was essential when I was navigating the EV9 in and out of an especially tight spot. The only way to improve this would be to position that camera activation control on the steering wheel the way Tesla does with the current Model 3 and Cybertruck." 

The EV9's lightning-quick fast-charging capability was another big perk. Kaufman again recounts, "Took the family on a road trip to San Diego and only had to charge once. I found a 150-kW fast charger in a mall parking lot not too far from our hotel, and just had half an hour of quiet time in the car while it added a little over 200 miles of range. At this point, I would absolutely prioritize charging speed over range for any EV I'd buy for myself."

The EV9's seating flexibility also meant that whether we needed to ferry the kids, the dog, or half of a living room, the EV9 had the space. From ample legroom across all three rows (yes, even adults could fit in the third row) to quick entry via the power second-row seats, everything about the EV9 lent itself to practicality to suit whatever we needed to move. 

While we never truly needed it, the EV9's vehicle-to-load feature — which allows you to power home appliances using the car's battery — provided a level of comfort to the inner doomsday prepper within us.

Lowlights

While we generally appreciate the amount of tech shoehorned into the EV9, not all of it functioned up to expectations. Our biggest gripe was with the auto lane-centering function. While Kia's Highway Driving Assist 2 system was mostly fine, the function that helps maintain your lane position wasn't great.

Andy White, senior director of social media, wrote, "The adaptive cruise system is comparable to [Tesla] Autopilot, and in some regards superior. For example, you cannot get something as simple as lane change assist on a Tesla unless you pay $8,000 for FSD [Full Self-Driving]. On the Kia, it's included with its driver assistance suite. However, Autopilot is nailed on the center lane almost 100% of the time. If you approach a turn in the Kia that's anything more gradual than a light turn, it will sail out of its lane unless you turn the wheel manually, old-school." 

Kaufman also confirmed this when he wrote, "The steering assist won't fight you even the slightest bit, so it feels like any pressure on the wheel makes it give up. I found I had to keep the very lightest touch on the wheel to let the system function, and it was actually more tiring than a system with the torque to turn your hands a bit, or than just steering myself. It also makes the lane change assist almost useless because it's so easy to override, and when you accidentally cancel it halfway through, it kind of freaks out and tries to back out of the maneuver. Bad feeling." 

We also didn't love some of the button placement choices Kia made. Brady wrote, "Not a fan of the touch buttons embedded in the dash below the infotainment display. I like the tactile feedback, but you need to be super specific with where you're pressing to actually get a response. Plus these buttons are in a location on the dash where I typically anchor my thumb for more accurate touch inputs on the screen above." These buttons also become hard to see in direct sunlight, which is something we have an abundance of in Southern California. 

The climate controls were also unanimously unloved by staff. Many shared Kaufman's experience when he wrote, "Your view is blocked by the steering wheel rim, so if you want to use it, you need to lean around the steering wheel to see it properly. And I couldn't figure out if you could even access all the climate controls or just some from that mini screen, so I wound up just accessing the climate control menu on the big screen for some things." 

One of our biggest pet peeves with all Kia and Hyundai EVs, including the EV9, is the inability to quickly switch between drive and reverse without fully pressing the brake. While this was likely intended as a "safety feature," we found it more of a hindrance — especially during a quick three-point turn. If the brake wasn't fully engaged when changing directions, the car shifted into neutral, adding unnecessary steps and delays. Compared to most other EVs, which don't require brake engagement for this maneuver, this design choice felt inefficient and cumbersome.

What about reliability?

From a mechanical and electrical standpoint, our EV9 was bulletproof. We are aware of some electrical issues that many of the early-build cars had, leading to charging troubles and the 12-volt battery draining. We readied ourselves for such things, but over 12 months of ownership, the EV9 never so much as hiccuped. 

The main problem we faced was being unable to log into our Kia Connect account after the initial activation. As a result, we were unable to access any of the remote services in the Kia Connect app. We spent a significant amount of time troubleshooting with customer service, but the problem remained unresolved. We were informed that the only solution was to visit the dealership, a step we admittedly procrastinated on for too long, especially since it was just this one issue.

Our final verdict

The Kia EV9 GT-Line offered a near-perfect blend of style, comfort, practicality and performance in the electric SUV space. While it has a few technical and functional quirks — some more frustrating than others — its plush ride, striking design and versatile space for passengers and cargo far outweigh the drawbacks.

If you're in the market for a spacious electric SUV that's surprisingly luxurious, the EV9 should be right at the top of your list. It earned back-to-back Edmunds awards for good reason, and after a year of thorough evaluation, it's clear those accolades were well deserved.

Photos by Ryan Greger