It is already official that the Kia EV9 GT performance flagship will make its public debut in January 2025. According to Kia, the upcoming model of their largest SUV would have two electric motors providing “enormous power output,” with a 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) time promised in 4 seconds.
Recently, at Kia’s 2024 CEO Investor Day in Seoul, the news was announced. But it wasn’t until recently that the 1.5-hour video presentation was posted to YouTube that we were able to grab screenshots of the EV9 GT slides.
When he addressed the media a year ago at the 2023 New York International Motor Show, Kia President and CEO Ho Sung Song had already confirmed a “early 2025” launch date for the EV9 GT. This time, though, they provided us with a specific date for January of next year along with some further model specifics.
It is expected that the Kia EV9 GT will have two electric motors that provide all-wheel drive. We wonder if the EV9 GT will outperform the smaller EV6 GT, which has 576 horsepower (429 kW) and 545 lb-ft (738 Nm), given the reference of “enormous power output” in the blurb. Either way, a lot of power is needed to convince the EV9’s heft to accelerate like a real sports car. The future EV9 GT will accelerate from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 4 seconds, which is 1.3 seconds quicker than the EV9 GT-Line and only 0.5 seconds slower than the EV6 GT.
The next EV9 performance flagship, like current GT-badged vehicles, will include a “reinforced suspension and electronic braking system” that should deliver “stable driving performance at high speeds.” A new set of alloy wheels covered in sticky rubber will probably be paired with the upgraded chassis configuration. It’s also reasonable to predict that the EV9 GT will have a slightly more aggressive appearance than the current GT-Line model.