Give us a moment to collect ourselves. We need to catch our breath. We're speechless. There are no words.
When the production version of the Telluride was unveiled at the 2019 North American International Auto Show, a new era of SUV design excellence was clearly underway. But this. This. Honestly. What do we say now?
The 2024 Kia EV9 is so clearly a relative of the Telluride, a close sibling even, and yet it so clearly takes Kia SUV design to a new place. There's so much surface tension and such a vast greenhouse due to the low beltline and high roof. These enormous wheel wells push right to the corners of the vehicle allowing for big rear doors with terrific ingress/egress. The front end follows the electric norm – yes, the EV9 is 100% all-electric – by eliminating a conventional grille, but Kia didn't allow the grille removal to lead to a plain and indistinguishable front fascia. In fact, the EV9's front view is decidedly distinct.
There's so much going on, but rather than appearing mish-mashed, the 2024 Kia EV9 is a cohesive unit. It's actually the result of a design contest that Kia HQ ran its global teams through. The winning exterior design came from Kia's California group; the interior design was completed by the studio in Namyang, South Korea.
So, what do we know? Well, we know what the EV9 looks like. We know there are three rows of seats with either six or seven-passenger configurations. We know the EV9 rides on the E-GMP platform which suggests an SUV with 450-500 kilometres of range. We know there's a front trunk, known in the modern vernacular as a frunk. We know the floor is basically flat, greatly enhancing overall passenger volume. We know there are two 12.3-inch touchscreens.
And we know it looks absolutely terrific.
