Kia has teased the production version of the Kia EV9 through two Twitter posts ahead of its world debut at Auto Expo 2023 which is set to happen in India in January 2022. Only showing the silhouette of the Kia EV9 with a dark background, the body lines and front bumper in the teaser video are different than the Kia Concept EV9’s that was unveiled back in November 2021.
In August this year, Kia released official images of a test unit of the Kia EV9 in heavy camouflage and stated that the EV9 will “revolutionise the large electric SUV segment, while accelerating Kia’s brand transformation and affirming its leadership in sustainable electric mobility”. Built on the same E-GMP architecture as the EV6, the EV9 has a much larger footprint and is about the size of a Mazda CX-9. So far, we haven’t gotten a peak of the production EV9’s interior.
No numbers have been revealed for the production version of the Kia EV9, but the Kia Concept EV9 was claimed to have an electric range of 482 km and featured a 350 kW charger that allowed a charging time of 20-30 minutes from 10% to 80%. The production version of the Kia EV9 is expected to have a larger battery capacity than what current E-GMP models have (more than 77.4 kWh).
In its testing phase, the Kia EV9 was subjected to a demanding verification program that entails a 4WD climbing hill, a rough terrain track, and a deep-water wading test. Testing is also done on Kia’s high-speed, handling, and low-friction tracks. On top of that, it was also subjected to verification tests in locations all over the globe. The cobble roads in Belgium, for example, enable Kia’s engineers to test the EV9’s ride comfort and build quality.
RELATED: 5-door Suzuki Jimny to debut on 13 January, with brand’s concept EV
Set to make its world debut soon, some publications speculate production of the Kia EV9 to begin towards the end of 2023. The EV9 will be Kia’s second ‘EV’-series model after the EV6.
RELATED: Kia EV9 teased in final testing images, to debut in Q1 2023
GALLERY
