It’s taken the UK Car of the Year title for 2024 – and the Best EV Large SUV accolade at our own Great British Fleet Awards – but in a highly competitive marketplace, just how good is the Kia EV9? By Al Suttie.

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Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD

List price (BiK): £73,220 (2%) Official range: 313 miles Test efficiency: 286 miles

Monday

It doesn’t seem that long ago when it seemed radical to be driving a Kia Sorento that cost a shade more than £40,000. Yet here we are with a Kia EV9 arriving this morning with a price tag north of £70,000 and I’m thinking it looks solid value next to the likes of the Land Rover Discovery and Tesla Model X. And in the interests of openness as UK Car of the Year juror, I voted for the EV9, which duly won overall honours.

Tuesday

It’s easy to see why the EV9 won over around half of all the UKCOTY jurors: it’s just so darned easy to get on with. Key in pocket, the door handles pop out to greet me as I approach the car and the doors open wide to hop in. There isn’t the step up into the cabin you might expect, but the driving position still has that desirable raised feel once you’re sat on the big armchair with plenty of electric adjustment. This car also has a massage function for the driver’s derriere – and it’s very good.

Wednesday

Kia has struck a good balance between its twin info screens and the sense that there are still some physical buttons remaining. The touch switches on the upper console give a definitive click when they are pressed and the touchscreens are very quick to respond to any input. They are also clear to read and have the menus arranged in a simple, human-friendly order – far from the case in many other cars.

Thursday

Blimey, it’s big inside the EV9. Bus driver duty this evening means collecting a few of my son’s mates to cart them to a football match. Six of the seven seats are occupied yet the youth contingent fits comfortably. They even ooh and aah at the electric seat adjustment. With one remaining rear seat folded down in the third row, it’s also easy to stash all their kit. Best of all, they won their match 6-0.

Friday

The EV9 arrived with a range showing on the dash of 258 miles with 90% charge. I was sceptical this would be anywhere near accurate, but it’s proved eerily on the button. That means today was the first time I needed to head to a charger. Sadly, the charging infrastructure round my way is nowhere near as slick as the Kia EV9, so it took three attempts to find one that worked. On the plus side, the EV9 sucked up the charge quickly.

Saturday

A round trip today beyond Edinburgh with the family saw the EV9 cover almost 200 miles. In most EVs, this would have me twitching about finding a charger en route, but the EV9 still has range to spare. As luck would have it, a 150kW charger is on the way home and the EV9 is soon back to showing near full while we head for a cup of tea and quick shop in the supermarket next door.

Sunday

I’m racking my brains to think of anything I don’t like about this Kia. The size melts away as you drive, it’s quick, comfortable, easy to use, and superbly practical. If it was my company lease deal, I think I’d stick to the base Air trim as it still has most of the goodies but with an even longer driving range – 349 miles versus 313 miles, but that’s nit-picking. Really, Kia has knocked it out of the park with the EV9.