Kia EV9 Infotainment Review: Top Of The Class

Kia’s new infotainment software is a huge leap forward. I just wish the physical controls were a bit better.

Kia

Kia nailed it with the EV9. It’s the family-sized, three-row electric crossover America needed. And with its aggressive lease deals, the EV9 can be more affordable than its gas-powered sibling, the Kia Telluride. It has won plenty of awards: World Car/EV of the Year, North American Utility Vehicle of the Year and a Car and Driver 10Best commendation.

The EV9 has also earned plaudits on the design front, taking home Red Dot’s “Best of the Best” award. Even the EV9’s tech—not a particular strength in previous Kia standouts like the Telluride—has won critical acclaim. Ki, Kia’s version of Hyundai’s new Connected Car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) infotainment software, also received prestigious Red Dot and iF Design awards. 

Gallery: 2024 Kia EV9 First Drive

I’m about as far far from a design expert as one can get. I struggle to form images in my head, let alone tell you what phrases like “visual rising tendencies” and “centripetally unified” mean. But I do drive a lot of cars. And after testing the EV9’s infotainment system for a week, I can tell you how it works in real life.

(Full Disclosure: Kia loaned me an EV9 for a week. The vehicle arrived fully charged, with an April, 2024 updated build of Kia’s Ki infotainment system.)

What are the Kia EV9 graphics and interfaces like?

The Kia EV9 employs a panoramic display with dual 12.3-inch screens: an instrument cluster behind the wheel and an infotainment touchscreen over the center console. Kia sandwiched digital climate controls between them in what is ordinarily dead space. Like the previous-gen Kia system, the EV9’s screens use a landscape orientation. That horizontal setup keeps your eyes close to the road and more easily incorporates multiple functions simultaneously, whether that’s audio and navigation or providing multiple camera views when reversing. 

Kia’s previous-gen OS used two rows of identically colored pictograms, making it hard to scan and find things among similar-looking buttons. Ki resolves that issue. Kia still uses pictograms rather than an iPhone-like array of logos, but the system now has one row of icons rather than two. The icons are larger—six span the entire screen—and have larger text.

That means more swiping. While that’s typically a “no-no” for a car infotainment system, in the EV9 you can easily swipe while looking at the road. The faster skimming through six options means you spend far less time looking down. With a front screen that includes the audio, navigation and EV status buttons, Kia owners will hardly ever need to swipe to the secondary screens.

Voice controls are activated with a button on the steering wheel. I prefer that to an automatic system where you would yell “Hey, Kia” to reach the virtual assistant. Cars with “wake words” lead to a lot of false activations anytime you say something close. I liked that the screen displays what you are saying in text to ensure your message arrives as intended. 

Kia also says it will add features and enhancements to the system through over-the-air software updates. Downloads occur while the vehicle is driving. Installation happens when the car has been stopped and turned off. I didn’t experience any during my week of driving. According to the Kia Owners Portal, Kia has already updated its wireless phone charger and LED headlights to reduce energy consumption, so that’s a hopeful sign that meaningful updates will come. 

What are the Kia EV9’s physical interfaces like?

I was not impressed by the EV9’s physical interfaces. Kia had to cut costs somewhere to reach that affordable price point, and you can feel it inside. Even in the top-of-the-line GT-Line AWD model I drove, the points you touch —often flat or glossy plastic—felt like the cheapest parts of the car. 

Kia made some quirky decisions with the physical controls that affect usability, too. The brand freed up space in the center by locating the climate controls between the two screens. That’s ordinarily dead space for a reason: the steering wheel obstructs it from the driver’s view. Even if the driver could look at it head-on, the EV9 presents a lot of similar-looking graphics in a confined space. Kia mollifies that by providing quick access to temperature and fan control toggles below the infotainment screen. 

Like the Nissan Ariya, the Kia EV9 features buttons embedded into the top of the dashboard, below the screen. But unlike the Ariya, the buttons aren’t haptic. You have to push into the dashboard a bit to activate them. Pressing the dashboard never felt natural, even after a week of driving. I also inadvertently pressed them several times; that part of the dashboard is the natural place to rest your palm while using the touchscreen. 

How do the EV-specific functions work?

Very well. Kia designed the Ki interface with the EV transition in mind. EV data is easy to access as the third button on the main screen. One click gets you to a basic EV readout showing range, charge status and the nearest available charger. An additional swipe brings you to a more involved menu with details on electricity consumption and battery temperature. Kia provides a manual option to precondition the EV9’s battery, too, an advantage over many systems that only precondition the battery when the in-car navigation system is set to a DC fast charger. 

While charging, the EV9 delivers a static readout on the instrument cluster with the current range, battery level, charger speed and time left to perform a full charge (or to a set limit). With the car on, you can also access charging information through the EV menu on the infotainment screen.

The EV9 provides EV-specific, multiple-stop route planning in its onboard navigation system. It’s better than the previous Hyundai group software I’ve tested, but it’s still not as seamless as Tesla’s Supercharger route navigation. I torture-tested the EV9’s navigation by asking for navigation from my house north of Detroit to the Steamship Authority in Hyannis, MA: the longest road trip I would do in any car (nearly 800 miles) and a trip that requires routing through Canada. 

Kia’s navigation provided a multi-stop EV route to get me there in 17 hours and 40 minutes. However, the initial result could have been better. Kia had me making prolonged stops to charge to 100% rather than 80%, including a two-hour-plus stop at a slow-ish charger in Ontario. The route would also have had me roll onto the Nantucket ferry with a 2% charge. Most EV9 owners would probably be better off using third-party route-planning for longer, more complicated trips.

How does the smartphone integration work?

I don’t have many notes on smartphone integration in the Kia EV9. That’s a good thing. The EV9 offers wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The wired connection is through USB-C ports, meaning there’s no scrambling to find an old USB-A connector. There were enough ports scattered throughout the car to charge every device I own simultaneously. 

Apple Carplay worked very smoothly in the EV9. As with the native system, the landscape orientation leads to larger graphics and easier-to-read text. There seemed to be less latency than under the previous Kia system, particularly when using Google Maps.

Unlike in many vehicles, I found the EV9’s standard home screen preferable while driving. I only dipped into Apple Carplay when I needed to change the audio.

Verdict

The Kia EV9’s infotainment system is among the best systems I’ve tested. The tech looks great and works quickly, smoothly and intuitively. Sensible upgrades make it feel far more purpose-built for the EV owner. I didn’t have to look up anything to use the EV9’s infotainment. Had I not been writing this review, I would not have had to think much about it.

The one mild disappointment was with the layout of controls in the EV9. Physically interacting with the EV9’s tech was not as seamless as the operation of the tech itself.I hope Kia improves that when it refreshes the EV9, because it’s one change away from having one of the best overall user interfaces on the market.

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