2023 Kia EV9 electric SUV ramps up orders, long wait times expected

Kia’s first full-size, seven-seat electric SUV will arrive in Australia later this year in limited numbers, ahead of larger shipments next year. However, a queue is already forming before the price is known or anyone has taken a test drive.

Customers in Australia have already started placing deposits for the new Kia EV9 electric SUV – before the price is known or anyone has taken a test drive.

The first two examples of the Kia EV9 seven-seater have arrived in Australia as demonstrator models before customer cars arrive in October.

Kia Australia says dealers are already unofficially holding approximately 200 orders for the vehicle even though the company has not yet issued a price and specification list.

However, some Kia dealers have been taking customer deposits – pending price and test drive – in anticipation of the new vehicle.

Early estimates peg the price of the new Kia EV9 range between $100,000 and $120,000 – perhaps even more.

Three models are expected in a mix of rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations, and with different size battery packs to offer varying driving ranges.

With only 200 Kia EV9s arriving in the initial batch, it appears the first shipment could be sold out before the vehicle goes on sale.

A further 1000 or so Kia EV9s are expected next year, however that too is unlikely to meet demand – meaning customers could be met with long waiting lists from the get-go.

Kia Australia it has so far received about 7000 “expressions of interest” from customers and dealers are collectively holding about 200 deposits.

When asked about the timing of pricing and specifications for the Kia EV9, the boss of Kia Australia, Damien Meredith, said: “When we know, you will know. We are just waiting on final sign-off from head office and then we will share that information with customers as soon as possible.”

Despite its high-tech DNA, the Kia EV9 will also benefit from local suspension and steering tuning – as with all but three Kia models introduced locally in the past 15 years.

At 2.6 tonnes, the Kia EV9 is the largest and heaviest vehicle it has had to validate for Australian roads.

Suspension expert Graeme Gambold said while the standard suspension on the Kia EV9 was well suited to the US and European markets, Australian conditions still have unique requirements.

“Every time we do a local suspension tuning exercise, we deviate quite considerably from the (overseas markets),” said Graeme Gambold, a veteran chassis engineer and long-standing consultant to Kia Australia.

“And that’s because … we need to make the car right for our conditions. It’s how we drive. It’s the speeds that we drive. It’s not uncommon to travel big distances in remote areas on narrow country roads, with potholes and other road in a poor state of repair.

“For example, Australia has a lot of spray-seal (coarse-chip) road surfaces which most countries in the world don’t have. 

“Basically it’s a remade dirt road. And those roads are susceptible to water ingress and movement in the base, and land subsidence, so you get these really irregular bumps and grooves in the road that are hard to tune the suspension for.”

The boss of Kia Australia, Damien Meredith, says the company remains committed to local suspension tuning and says research shows customers not only appreciate it, but recognise it as a point of difference.

“We definitely don’t want give it up on local suspension tuning,” said Mr Meredith. “We strongly believe it’s a key point of difference and customers appreciate it.

“We track a lot of metrics … around the brand, and one of them is ‘fun to drive’ or ‘good to drive’. And we’ve seen that steadily increase over the last five years. It’s been really important for us.”

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