Kia EV9 Spy Shots Reveal Kia’s Biggest, Most Expensive & Most Luxurious Car Yet

The big boy's been spotted in the wild.

Kia EV9 Spy Shots Reveal Kia’s Biggest, Most Expensive & Most Luxurious Car Yet

Sightings on social media have given us our best look yet at Kia’s hotly anticipated luxury electric SUV – and it’s looking pretty good.


Kia has already taken the world by storm with their super-fast EV6 crossover, which they’re following up with another very exciting vehicle: the Kia EV9, which promises to be the brand’s biggest, most expensive, most luxurious and most high-tech car yet.

The South Korean carmaker first revealed the car as the Concept EV9 at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show. Boxy yet futuristic with huge rear suicide doors and massive rims, it was a real stunner and statement of intent from Kia.

Kia then released official shots of the car late last year undergoing low-friction, off-road and skidpan testing in South Korea – although the EV9 remained heavily camouflaged. Now, in 2023, we’ve had our first non-camouflaged public sightings of the car.

Chilean motoring enthusiast @nacional.collector has shared a video of what looks to be a final production model EV9 driving around the streets of Santiago on Instagram ahead of the car’s worldwide launch. Nicely spotted.

Some observations: we really like the blue paint job, as well as those rims, which seem to be the same four-spoke design seen on the camouflaged test car from September, just with polished metal elements.

It seems as if the overall design of the car hasn’t changed that much if at all since September, except for the lower front fascia, which now seems to have (faux?) air inlets. It’s a good-looking beast.

RELATED: Australian Police Plan To Use Kia EV6 GTs As Highway Patrol Cars

Another two more camouflaged EV9s have also been spotted out in the wild in Germany, one of which also had those polished rims, while another was rocking a different four-spoke rim design. Interestingly, both seemed to omit the LED matrix lights of the September car for more conventional lights. Perhaps the LEDs are an option?

Guess we’ll just have to wait for the official reveal of the car, which will happen in Q1 of this year. Kia Australia has confirmed that the EV9 will be making its way Down Under, with an initial allocation of 400 units.

A camouflaged Kia EV9 in Germany.
A camouflaged Kia EV9 in Germany. Image: Motor1.com

Built on the same e-GMP platform as the Kia EV6, Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the forthcoming Ioniq 6, the EV9 is projected to have a driving range of around 483km as well as a 5-second 0-100km/h time. A high ride height and boxy dimensions mean it’s probably pretty good off-road, too.

Price? Who knows. But seeing as the EV6 GT is already pushing $100,000, we could likely expect a six-figure price tag for the EV9 too. Watch this space.