The Kia EV9 Concept and its sibling rival, then simply called the Hyundai SEVEN Concept, both debuted at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show. But unlike their ICE alter egos, the simultaneously released Kia Telluride and Hyundai Palisade, Hyundai held its three-row EV SUVs back a bit to make time for some important differentiation and revisions. And although their gas-swilling siblings’ dimensions and specifications vary by mere gnats’ whiskers, the Hyundai Ioniq 9—the name gained two digits in the transition to production—and Kia EV9 are more meaningfully differentiated, both on and beneath their highly individual (and attractive) skins.
Bigger, More Luxurious
Outside, the Ioniq 9 measures 1.8 inches longer on a 1.2-inch-stretched wheelbase; it’s also 1.6 inches taller and 0.1 inch wider. Inside are 2.1 inches of added middle-row headroom and 0.7 inch more third-row legroom, while squaring off the concept’s roofline (not to mention ditching its L-shaped rear lounge seating) helps the Ioniq 9 deliver 3.2 cubic feet more cargo space aft of the middle row and 1.7 cubes more in the way back.
Yes, the seating is entirely conventional—we trust you weren’t really expecting rear-hinged coach-style doors either—and we’re also not getting the swiveling second-row captain’s chair option offered in Korea. As a consolation, reclining comfort seats with footrests like the ones offered on the Kia Carnival minivan are in the plan for the first two rows, as is a standard middle-row bench. Despite the more conventional silhouette, the Ioniq 9’s claimed drag coefficient is an impressive 0.269.
Better Battery
The battery pack is 8.5-percent more energy dense and carries 110.3-kWh of usable energy—a 10.5-percent increase over the larger of the two EV9 battery packs, which holds 99.8 kWh. Tweaks to the battery chemistry and a new current-mapping strategy that more precisely balances instantaneous charging current to individual modules based on their temperature, voltage, state-of-charge, etc., help maximize range, especially in cold conditions where usable capacity is as much as 10-percent higher than similarly sized competitor batteries.
A sheath heater (a series of resistance heaters inside pipes that warm the battery coolant) is used to precondition the battery pack to the ideal charging temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This happens automatically when navigating to a charger, or the driver can manually activate it via the central screen if, say, they prefer using smartphone navigation.
In extreme cold, it will also kick on as soon as a charging cord is connected. This reduces the time it takes to charge a completely dead battery at subzero temperatures by as much as 50 percent relative to an unheated Tesla battery. (Remember those frozen Teslas in Chicago last winter?) At optimal temperatures, charging from 10 to 80 percent takes 24 minutes, with charging power maxing out at 232 kW and maintaining an average of 201 kW.
Bidirectional Charging
The Hyundai Ioniq 9, like the Kia EV3 and other new Hyundai Group electric offerings to come, will support bidirectional charging to export power to a campsite, home, and potentially to the power grid.
Oh, and the new Ioniq 9 will be capable of supercharging passengers’ electronics via six USB-C ports, which can deliver 100 watts of power straight from the high-voltage battery by activating “high-output mode” (they otherwise deliver 27W). That’s enough to power a laptop without its 110-volt brick.
Savvier HVAC
Various Hyundai Group EVs on the Ioniq 9’s E-GMP platform have employed heat pumps along with positive temperature coefficient resistance heaters (a more efficient and self-regulating type than your hairdryer or baseboard heater uses), but the Ioniq 9 ups its game with improved logic regulating the blending of fresh and conditioned air as well as better use of waste heat from the battery, motor, and powertrain electronics. There’s also a new independent rear HVAC unit. It now cools second- and third-row passengers via slimmer new ceiling vents that accommodate a claimed segment-first optional panoramic roof (the EV9 and others offer dual sunroofs).
Three Powertrain Options
The 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 lineup will include rear-drive, long-range AWD, and performance AWD models. The first and last roughly align with EV9 output figures, employing a 215-hp/258-lb-ft motor for RWD or a pair of them for AWD. But the long-range AWD model uses a less powerful front motor, rated 94 hp and 188 lb-ft, instead of the mid-spec Kia’s 190-hp/184–258-lb-ft unit. We’re eager to test whether this boosts that model’s range and how much it degrades its performance.
Brief Driving Impressions
To sample the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9’s latest cold-weather technologies, we traveled to northern Sweden to enjoy several laps of a giant snow-and-ice circle in a base long-range rear-drive model wearing Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV winter tires. The tires and stability-control systems helped give an amazing illusion of all-wheel drive, reining in wheel slippage sufficiently to maintain a tidy drift angle of about 5 degrees in normal Snow mode driving. Sure, dialing up Sport mode and the iPedal maximum-regeneration setting made it easy to hoon around with the tail farther out, but Northern-tier customers willing to make seasonal tire swaps could make this rear-drive three-row SUV work (providing they don’t frequently traverse steep hills).
Cockpit Impressions
As luck would have it, we drove a Kia EV9 in between test venues, which presented an opportunity to appreciate just how much the screen graphics and info presentation differ, and how significantly the steering wheels and center stack switchgear are unique to each brand.
Even the column-mounted twist shifter is unique, although both vehicles incorporate the start/stop button. Other Ioniq and Hyundai touches are present throughout, including the four “parametric pixel” squares on the steering wheel (which are echoed on seatback escutcheons), and controls on the side of the front passenger seat to allow the driver or rear-seat passenger to adjust that seat.
One Seven Concept flourish to make production is the “racetrack” elliptical element on the doors and elsewhere around the interior. The middle-row seat is huge and comfortable, and enormous windows (with shades) afford terrific visibility. The flat floor provides plenty of footroom under the seats. Even the third row offers abundant headroom, good visibility, and cupholders and USB ports for all. Legroom in the way-back is sufficient with the middle seat slid forward, although the cushion is too close to the floor to be long-haul comfortable for adults.
On Sale Date and Price
Having made its public debut at the 2024 Los Angeles show, sales of the Ioniq 9 are expected to start in the first quarter of 2025. As a first stab at pricing, we’ve ratioed its big-battery pricing up by the same offset that separates the Palisade and Telluride, which suggests a base price range from $61,500 to $75,500, although the size difference and battery improvements—if not this latest reinterpretation of the Ioniq 5’s way-cool 8-bit pixelation—may yet see those figures ratchet a bit higher.
