A combination of bold design, three-row practicality, and electric power means Kia will have no trouble finding buyers for its EV9 SUV when it arrives in the U.S. in late 2023. Exactly how much it will cost when it arrives hasn’t been revealed, but new info from the SUV’s home market appears to give us a major clue.
Kia has released pricing details for the EV in Korea, and while there’s no guarantee that the North American cars will have the exact same spec, and a simple currency translation can be misleading, we can at least get a steer based on how it’s priced relative to the other vehicles in the Korean lineup.
The base EV9, for instance, costs 78.1 million won in Korea, which equates to $60,378 at current exchange rates. But what’s more relevant is that the entry-level EV9 is priced only slightly above the top of the EV6 line, the EV6 GT. That car costs 77.3 million won in Korea, which translates to $59,760.
As it happens, that converted Korean EV6 price is fairly close to the $61,600 MSRP for a U.S. market GT. Throw in the $1,300 destination charge and something in the regions of the $618 price differential seen in Korea between the EV6 GT and EV9, and we could be looking at a $63,500 on-the-road price for an American EV9, versus $58,590 for the (admittedly smaller) Cadillac Lyriq.
Related: 2024 Kia EV9 Detailed, Offers Power Boost Via Subscription And Up To 338 Miles Of Range
Your gut reaction might be to think that’s a lot of money for a Kia, even a big Kia. The brand’s biggest combustion SUV, the Telluride, is around the same size as the EV9 but prices range from $35,890 excluding destination for the base LX to $52,985 for the SX Prestige X-Pro flagship.
But Kia has moved away from its budget roots, the EV9 is a distinctive vehicle with very few rivals, and even at $60K+, it will seriously undercut machines like the Tesla Model X and Rivian R1S. The final transaction price could also be much lower because the EV9 will be eligible for tax credits if Kia can comply with battery sourcing stipulations. The EV9 will be built in the U.S. from 2024 at the firm’s Georgia plant and most versions are likely to slot below the $80,000 price cap for SUVs.
And even if the SUV does fall foul of battery rules Kia will be able to take advantage of a loophole that allows leased EVs to get aid even if they don’t meet the regs. That would bring the effective price down to the $55,000 mark that has been suggested by some sources as a U.S. baseline for the EV9.
Koreans can also benefit from tax breaks and discounts, meaning someone living in Seoul could reduce the price of a base-spec EV9 Air 2WD from 78.1 million won to 69.2 million won ($53,500). Buyers in Korea also get digital door mirrors and a second row of seats that rotates to face the third row, two features sadly not available on the U.S. version of the EV9 seen in the video below.