New Old Money

Kia's flagship EV packs presence, tech, and real three-row space. The EV9 proves Kia's premium ambitions are no joke — until you realize what it costs

- Dipayan Dutta

The Kia EV9 didn't just show up. It's walked into the global EV scene like it owns the place. It won the 2024 World Car of the Year and World Electric Vehicle of the Year, and it didn't do that by yelling the loudest or shoving the most screens into your face. It did that by being composed, confident, and critically — complete. It's not trying to reinvent the electric wheel, it's just trying to make a damn good car around it. And largely, it does.

This is Kia's global flagship EV, and it wears that weight well. Think of it as the S-Class of the Hyundai-Kia e-GMP platform lineup — a three-row, full-size electric SUV that wants to be everything from a family car to a future-proof tech capsule. And while some bits are still a work in progress, especially from an Indian market perspective, there’s no denying that the EV9 sets a high bar.

Visually, it’s large but not shouty. The face carries Kia's “Digital Tiger Nose” design and the dynamic LED lighting elements in the grille are straight out of a sci-fi concept sketch. It’s functional futurism — those pixel-like ‘ice cube’ LEDs tucked into the front look distinctive, not desperate.