Three-Row Kia EV9 Coming in 2023, Will Start Around $50,000

• Production Kia EV9 coming late next year.
• It will be one of few three-row fully electric SUVs.
• The EV9 should have around 300 miles of range and start around $50,000.

Kia is in full-on EV mode. The excellent EV6 is already on dealer lots and the EV9 concept stunned audiences when it made its debut at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show. It was so well received that the project was fast-tracked and will land in the U.S. sometime next year. The big three-row EV will serve as an electric alternative to the hot-selling Kia Telluride.

According to Motor Authority, Kia Chief Operating Officer for America Steven Center said the EV9 will be coming to the U.S. market and will feature 300 miles of range. Center called 300 miles the "sweet spot" but also noted that it was the minimum range for a larger vehicle like the EV9. This leaves the door open for other versions of the EV9 that will feature more range than the base car's 300-ish-mile figure.

Center also noted that the price gap between the Kia Niro and the EV6, which in today's money is about $15,000, would hold for the gap between the Telluride and EV9. Tack the $15,000 number onto the Telluride starting price of $34,385 and the EV9 should start at around $50,000 when it arrives late next year. If that number sounds too good to be true (especially considering the Tesla Model X's starting price of $121,940), consider that the EV9 will share its platform and batteries with both the Ioniq 5 and EV6.

A stretched version of the Kia and Hyundai's E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform) platform will underpin the EV9 when it reaches production. That also means it will have the same 800-volt architecture and the same vehicle-to-load, bidirectional charging feature, which allows you to charge accessories like a laptop or even another EV directly from the car. We also expect a similar trim lineup to the EV6, but it wouldn't surprise us if the EV9 featured standard all-wheel drive. Center also confirmed to Motor Authority that other bits from the concept including the rear suicide doors and Tron-spec interior won't make it to production either.

For a moment it looked like the VinFast VF 8 was going to have the affordable three-row EV segment to itself, but the introduction of an EV9 could spell trouble for the nascent Vietnamese EV brand. We'll see if that $50,00 price tag holds when the EV9 arrives on our shores, but it looks like the fight for big EV SUV authority is ramping up.

Edmunds says

As long as the EV9 looks like the concept on the outside, we're all for it.