Kia EV9 Is The Boldest-looking Electric Concept At This Year's Auto Expo

Kia has showcased its plan for the future at the Auto Expo through the reveal of the EV9 electric SUV. It previews the next all-electric model to come out of the Korean carmaker’s factory and boasts a pretty bold and boxy silhouette, considering the fact that it’s an EV. Here’s everything bold on the concept:

Styling

You’d expect an EV to be as sleek and smooth as possible. Well, in this case, the situation is exactly the opposite. Kia has gone bold with the styling with an upright and boxy silhouette and it's the polar opposite of what you’d expect from an EV concept.

Up front, the concept retains Kia’s signature ‘Tiger Face’, but it's been reworked for an electric platform. There’s no grille. Instead, you get a body panel with integrated dynamic light patterns. The S-shaped LED DRLs flank the body panel, and three horizontal chrome/aluminum strips at different places make up the design at the front.

The bonnet features a vent duct that tucks behind a solar panel used to regenerate battery charge on the go. In profile, the wheel arches are as huge and faceted as they get, and the alloys are all the more interesting.

They feature triangular elements (used to control airflow) and that’s something that seems to be one of the prominent styling inspirations as it can be seen on the creases, side cameras (in place of mirrors), and even at various points on the inside. The vertical taillights are integrated into the D-pillar, and the bumper gets some beefy dual-tone cladding. 

Cabin

Thanks to the huge exterior proportions, there’s a lot of free space inside the EV9’s cabin. It looks and feels airy (partially thanks to the huge panoramic sunroof) and everything seems to be, well, floating. The two-layered dashboard design, which hosts the 27-inch single panel for the infotainment and digital driver’s cluster, seems to be afloat, and mimics the layout of the EV6. Even the rectangular steering design, headrests, and the central tunnel for the armrests seem to follow the floating-like characteristic.

All the materials used inside are sustainable. The use of recycled fishnets for flooring, vegan leather on the dash, and recycled plastic bottles for seat fabrics are the epitome of that statement. 

Powertrain

Being a concept, Kia has thrown some big claims as far as powertrain specifications go. The SUV is developed on the advanced E-GMP architecture and boasts a claimed range of up to 482 kms. The platform is capable of fast charging speeds of up to 350kW, which can top up its battery from 10% to 80% in around 20-30 minutes. 

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This concept initially broke cover in November 2021, but it’s still yet to spawn a production model which is imminent in the coming months. We expect Kia to bring the production model to India sometime after its global debut, given how well the EV6 has done for itself in the country.