Kia EV9 GT Electric Luxury SUV Revealed With Over 500 Hp!
Kia has officially revealed the more powerful GT version of the EV9 flagship electric SUV, at the Los Angeles Auto Show 2024. This product will sit at the top of Kia’s global EV lineup and boasts enough styling cues to be loud about its uniqueness. Let’s see what has changed and what has not, compared to the regular EV9, which is already on sale in India.
Kia EV9 GT: What Is It?
Like what the EV6 GT used to do, the EV9 GT offers more oomph than the regular car and is a performance-centric iteration. The dual electric motors on this vehicle offer more power and torque. The front gets an axle-mounted 215 hp motor while the rear gets a 362hp unit. The combined output of the powertrain stands at 501 hp. As per claims, the 0-96 mph is done in just 4.3 seconds.
The regular EV9 which is currently on sale here, has a dual motor setup with a combined output of 384 PS and 700 Nm. This makes the GT guise more powerful by 117 horses. It is also a second faster than the regular EV9 in doing the 0-100 kph sprint. Citing the manufacturer itself, the EV9 GT is the “most powerful” three-row SUV Kia has ever built. The regular EV9 claims to deliver a range of 561 km on a full charge.
The GT gets larger brakes and an upgraded suspension setup with adaptive damping, to match the extra chunk of performance on offer. It is in fact, the first Kia to get an electronically controlled suspension setup. Pressing the GT button on the steering wheel will get the vehicle into its stiffest suspension setting. To further enhance the dynamics, it gets 21-inch wheels with Neon Green callipers, Continental tyres and an electronic rear limited-slip differential.
The electric flagship also comes with Kia’s Virtual Gear Shift (VGS) tech which mimics the sound and feels of shifting through gears manually using paddles. It generates fake engine noises, gear shifts and torque cuts, based on driver inputs. The audio mimicking, or Active Sound Design (e-ASD) as Kia calls it, is a technology that we have previously seen in the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N. Both the VGS and e-ASD are claimed to enhance the driver engagement.
Kia EV9 Vs EV9 GT: Exterior And Interior Changes
The EV9 GT (not to be confused with the EV9 GT Line) gets a few notable styling tweaks like new front and rear bumpers and wheels. The front fascia comes with an exclusive ENERGETIC lighting pattern and GT-specific active air flaps. The ground clearance continues to be 180mm.
The interior gets touches of Lime green and better bolstering for the seats. The seats themselves feel sporty and are finished in Alcantara and get embossed GT logos on them. The 12.3-inch display gets GT-exclusive graphics, and the ambient lighting also comes with notable improvements. The driver assist (ADAS) system offers a host of features and feels quite advanced.
The EV9 GT comes with a Tesla-style North American Charging Standard (NACS) port. It is based on the same 800V fast-charging architecture as the regular car. 10-80 percent charging can take place in 25 minutes and the vehicle can be plugged into any Tesla supercharger. This would be of great benefit as North America has a vast network of these. There is no official speak yet on the range that is to be expected.
Kia has plans to launch the EV9 GT in North America next year, and then take it to other countries. It is unclear if India is on the radar, as even the regular EV9 costs 1.3 crores here and the GT would only push the price further up.