Initial pricing for the Kia EV9 all-electric three-row SUV has been announced in Europe, where the Korean-built zero-emissions model starts at 61,975 Euro, according to the company’s official Belgian website.
This starting price doesn’t include Belgian taxes and applies to what is currently the entry-level Earth launch edition variant of the EV9, which comes with the bigger 99.8-kilowatt-hour battery.
Deliveries of Kia’s electric flagship started in its home market of Korea last week, where it has an MSRP of around $60,000, which is not relevant for the US market. Instead, the pre-tax price of the European model (which is also an import from South Korea) gives us a good idea of what the SUV will cost when it reaches US shores sometime later this year.
In other words, when the EV9 is launched in the United States, we expect to see a starting price of around $67,500 for the base version with the big battery. When the electric SUV debuted, company officials said it will also be available with a smaller, 76.1-kWh variant which is expected to be around $8,000 cheaper, leading to a base price of roughly $60,000.
In Belgium, the higher GT Line trim costs an additional 8,900 Euro, so around $9,700 more at current exchange rates, upping the estimated cost of the most expensive EV9 to around $77,000.
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Kia’s smaller EV6 crossover starts at $42,600 for the Light version with rear-wheel drive, 167 horsepower, and a 58 kWh battery pack. At the same time, the top-of-the-line GT variant with all-wheel drive, 576 hp, and a 77.4 kWh battery goes from $62,925, so it’s to be expected that the Korean carmaker will price the EV9 higher than this, considering it’s bigger than the EV6.
Based on the company Hyundai Motor Group’s Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), Kia’s first three-row electric SUV is available with a choice of three powertrain configurations. The base EV9 RWD Standard model comes with a 76.1-kWh battery and a single, rear-mounted electric motor that makes 160 kilowatts (215 hp) of power and 258 pound-feet (350 Newton-meters) of torque.
Next in line is the EV9 RWD Long Range which features a 99.8-kWh pack and a 150-kW (201-hp) motor that enables a driving range of 336 miles (541 kilometers) on the WLTP test cycle.
Finally, the EV9 AWD range-topper comes with two electric motors that deliver a combined 283 kW (380 hp) and a combined 442 lb-ft (600 Nm) of torque.
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