Spacious Kia EV9 electric SUV offers middle seats facing the last row as it gets detailed prior to US launch

The Kia EV9 will be the first tangible choice for an affordable big electric SUV with three rows of seats when it is released in the US later this year. Kia just detailed the production version of its EV9 family SUV and it is quite a bit tamer than the crazy concept it revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show back in 2021.

The toning down of the design language has mostly to do with the lights and exterior, though, while the interior has kept its clean and spacious looks, while the brilliant middle row twist has been carried over from the concept. The KIA EV9 can have the two rear rows of seats facing each other like in a limo with a simple 180 degree turn of the middle row.

On the outside, the headlights are now more orthodox looking, although the vertical daytime running lights strip from the concept has been kept intact. According to Karim Habib, Kia's Global Design chief:

It's about the juxtaposition of [a] man-made structure in nature and how that contrast actually can be very beautiful or even within nature itself. As one example, you'll see that we have these very high, very boxy, triangular fenders. But at the same time, we have a very sleek body with a very low center of gravity. A low center of gravity for an SUV is a bit unusual. We also had a pretty low belt line, so a lot of glass.

For the interior, Kia did away with the near elliptical steering wheel and the glossy black elements in favor of more orthodox shapes and shades. The distance between the steering wheel and the windshield has been shortened by a more minimalistic dash, too. 

We wanted to create something that is still, from the exterior, an SUV. But because of the flat floor, because of the amount of space you have here - you know, a little bit more upright - you really maximize the interior space.

So much so, that there has remained place to turn the aforementioned middle row around to face the last row of seats in the EV9 SUV for added fun and easier communication on longer trips. Well, not that much longer, as it is still a big and heavy electric SUV that reportedly maxes out at a 290-mile EPA range for the RWD version with the larger battery.

This Kia EV9 trim should cost about US$61,000 and will have 2,000 lbs towing capacity when the first mass market electric SUV with three rows of seats in the US launches in the second half of the year.

The base RWD EV9 with the smaller battery of the e-GMP 800V platform will only offer a 220-mile range, though. This puts its eventual US$56,000 price into perspective, especially if Kia starts assembling the EV9 in North America and it qualifies for subsidies next year, as the price difference doesn't seem to be worth the dip in range.

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