Mach E vs. 2024 Kia EV9

[LincolnLuvr]

Official pricing for the base trim revealed!

Starts at $56,265 (including destination)

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[Auto Motive]

Official pricing for the base trim revealed!

Starts at $56,265 (including destination)

215 hp and 220 range. Under 200 miles in colder temps.

 

[mkhuffman]

Official pricing for the base trim revealed!

Starts at $56,265 (including destination)

215 hp and 220 range. Under 200 miles in colder temps.

Yep. That's due to the way too small 74 kWh battery pack. The market for this vehicle cannot be significant. When people who don't know any better buy it, they will be very upset the first time they need to go anywhere out of town.

 

[Reign of Ravens]

Yep. That's due to the way too small 74 kWh battery pack. The market for this vehicle cannot be significant. When people who don't know any better buy it, they will be very upset the first time they need to go anywhere out of town.

Doesn't Kia have some of the fastest charging speeds of any current EV manufacturer? The current EV9 lacks the NACS connector and I think Kia/Hyundai/Genesis represents the last significant EV company that has not yet committed to transitioning to it, but it may not be as bad as it seems. I'm still interested, but I also live in an area where it's about a 110-mile drive to loop around the island and there's no winter. If I lived on the Northeast I'd probably wait for the winter reviews.

 

[IgorKl]

Doesn't Kia have some of the fastest charging speeds of any current EV manufacturer? The current EV9 lacks the NACS connector and I think Kia/Hyundai/Genesis represents the last significant EV company that has not yet committed to transitioning to it, but it may not be as bad as it seems. I'm still interested, but I also live in an area where it's about a 110-mile drive to loop around the island and there's no winter. If I lived on the Northeast I'd probably wait for the winter reviews.

Hyundai/Kia uses 800v batteries architecture, as result they can charge above 220-240kW on CCS station, but about 70-80kW at NACS . As I understand they are working to solve NACS limitations

 

[LincolnLuvr]

MotorTrend review:

 

[Reign of Ravens]

MotorTrend review:

For those who want the text-based website to skim (a 6-minute video is an ideal length for a video, but I can't skim videos well and skimming a website is faster): https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2024-kia-ev9-gt-line-electric-3-row-suv-first-test-review/

It's a bit of a weird review. Most people probably care about this for the third row, but they sort of give the third row a middling review without really explaining why - the most detail they give to it is how long it takes for the second-row seats to move away to exit the third row. They seemed very fixated on making remarks about comparing it to if you were to go ICE instead.

Fair enough; there are two audiences coming to this: people who are viewing this as their possible first BEV, and people who are already into electric and want to know if this would be viable for their uses. Motortrend seems to be targeting the former with these reviews.

 

[LincolnLuvr]

I'm surprised that Kia didn't fix the EV9 suspension for its US release. Some Korean reviewers noticed that the suspension is very soft and that sitting in the 2nd row is like being on a carnival ride. There was speculation that the US-tuned EV9 would have a stiffer suspension but doesn't seem like that's the case.

 

[Reign of Ravens]

I'm surprised that Kia didn't fix the EV9 suspension for its US release. Some Korean reviewers noticed that the suspension is very soft and that sitting in the 2nd row is like being on a carnival ride. There was speculation that the US-tuned EV9 would have a stiffer suspension but doesn't seem like that's the case.

I wonder how true that is. People complain about the Mach-E's suspension for a similar reason but claim that it's too stiff.

On one hand I could imagine there being a placebo effect, where people know that EVs are heavier than ICE equivalents in their vehicle class, but don't seem to realize that they are not the heaviest vehicles on the road, by default (my Mach-E weighs about the same as my Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid). On the other hand, there probably is a real effect occurring, but it's not the suspension. While the driver is well-connected to the vehicle, passengers only had some inclination of what to expect as far as acceleration or deceleration from the engine sounds. It certainly seems likely that people might feel a bit more motion sickness or as if they're being jerked around if they don't know what to expect as far as speeding up or going slower.

Hopefully a study will be done some day to find out if motion sickness is really greater with EVs, and if it's mitigated with the use of artificial engine sounds.

 

[LincolnLuvr]

I think the motion sickness is tied to the weight of the battery pack and insufficient suspension dampening. Certainly, lack of acceleration sounds, isolation from the road, one-pedal driving, and rapid acceleration also contribute to it.

Anecdotally, It seems the EVs that don't cause motion sickness are the sport tuned ones with beefier suspension parts (e.g. GT/GTPE) and air suspensions.

 

[Auto Motive]

I think the motion sickness is tied to the weight of the battery pack and insufficient suspension dampening. Certainly, lack of acceleration sounds, isolation from the road, one-pedal driving, and rapid acceleration also contribute to it.

Anecdotally, It seems the EVs that don't cause motion sickness are the sport tuned ones with beefier suspension parts (e.g. GT/GTPE) and air suspensions.

Totally agree.

 

[Reign of Ravens]

Hyundai has indicated that it will implement NACS for vehicles sold in late 2024. Kia is presumably included in this. EV9 preorders are reportedly opening soon (with a free charger valued at around $500-600, as well as 1,000 free charging miles thrown in as a bonus) but it may be worthwhile to wait for the charger changeover. Also, from what I have read it seems preordering does not lock the price for you. We complain about Ford dealers and their ADM (added dealer markup) but it seems a lot of people online are complaining about Kia dealerships doing the same thing.

Me, I'd like to climb into one to assess the interior space. I'm still not 100% convinced that this can replace our minivan. Pity Kia is dragging their feet on electrifying the Carnival...

 

[Auto Motive]

Hyundai has indicated that it will implement NACS for vehicles sold in late 2024. Kia is presumably included in this. EV9 preorders are reportedly opening soon (with a free charger valued at around $500-600, as well as 1,000 free charging miles thrown in as a bonus) but it may be worthwhile to wait for the charger changeover. Also, from what I have read it seems preordering does not lock the price for you. We complain about Ford dealers and their ADM (added dealer markup) but it seems a lot of people online are complaining about Kia dealerships doing the same thing.

Me, I'd like to climb into one to assess the interior space. I'm still not 100% convinced that this can replace our minivan. Pity Kia is dragging their feet on electrifying the Carnival...

A ev minivan AWD long range with 250 and 300 miles of range would be a true game changer. Utilizing 2 batteries 100kw and 129kwh battery priced standard and premium at $60000 and $70000. Our GTPE and model y are great ev buf a van offering would be model y trade in time. We will continue watching model x pricing believe one drop possible up to $5000. With grandkids and trips we are using our 7 seat 06 Jeep Commander but the x would hit the sweet spot on range , seating, and price.

 

[generaltso]

1,000 free charging miles thrown in as a bonus

I think it’s 1000 kWhs, not miles.

 

[LincolnLuvr]

Hyundai has indicated that it will implement NACS for vehicles sold in late 2024. Kia is presumably included in this. EV9 preorders are reportedly opening soon (with a free charger valued at around $500-600, as well as 1,000 free charging miles thrown in as a bonus) but it may be worthwhile to wait for the charger changeover. Also, from what I have read it seems preordering does not lock the price for you. We complain about Ford dealers and their ADM (added dealer markup) but it seems a lot of people online are complaining about Kia dealerships doing the same thing.

Me, I'd like to climb into one to assess the interior space. I'm still not 100% convinced that this can replace our minivan. Pity Kia is dragging their feet on electrifying the Carnival...

Who is still holding out? BMW?

Agreed about Kia dealers being notorious about ADMs. They're the worst.

I would wait for an EV9 with at least a 150 kWh battery pack for it to be practical.

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