Kia has officially teased the EV9 all-electric SUV concept it officially… pre-teased just days ago. The model will get an actual reveal next week at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Sporting what Kia describes as an “ultramodern exterior design”, the EV9 looks, if you squint a little, like a modified version of the Telluride. An all-electric counterpart, you might say. Certainly the basic shape is roughly the same, and while we don’t know the exact dimensions of the new SUV, it’s clearly in the “large” category and will almost certainly offer three rows of seats.
One thing it isn’t is a twin of the already-unveiled EV6, a much sleeker, sportier-looking crossover. The EV9 is proudly boxy, what with its long, flat roofline and vertical snout. We can’t help but wonder what effect the relatively un-aerodynamic silhouette will have on range. We’ll see…
We also note defined lines running from the fenders to the A and B pillars, both horizontally and angled downwards – a common characteristic of recent models produced by both Hyundai and Kia. The front end features a closed grille.
Otherwise, there are design elements that are typical of design studies – absence of door handles, Jetsons-era steering wheel, outsized wheel arches, massive sunroof, etc. – that may well not survive the transition to a production model.
Kia teased little bits of the inside but not much, so there’s mystery still about what the interior will look like – for that we’ll have to wait for the LA reveal on November 17. We do note the approach appears to be minimalist, with the wide dashboard screen (or screens) absorbing most of the controls.
It’s expected the future EV9 production model will be built on the same E-GMP platform that underpins the Hyundai Group’s other recent all-electric revelations, the EV6 and the Genesis GV60. We’ll know more next week when the model gets under the spotlight at the LA show, which it will do alongside the Hyundai Seven SUV concept, which most observers are reasonably assuming is the future Ioniq 7 we’ve been promised.
