The rate of growth at Kia over the past couple of decades has been nothing short of staggering. If you’d said even a few years ago that this South Korean firm would have a car capable of taking on cars like the BMW X5 or Audi Q7, you’d have been met with laughs.

But in 2024, Kia will have just that with the EV9. It’s the second bespoke electric car after the EV6, and is this brand’s most ambitious car yet – being considerably larger and more expensive than anything Kia has ever sold before. We’ve been behind the wheel to try it out.

Like the EV6, this new EV9 is built around a specific electric car platform – giving Kia greater flexibility regarding technology, design and interior space. It’s that latter point that has been fully utilised, with this being one of the first proper ‘full-size’ electric seven-seat SUVs available and is well ahead of Audi and BMW for this.

The 99.8kWh battery isn’t just the largest fitted to a Kia to date, but also one of the largest of any production car, with Kia claiming up to 349 miles in the most efficient configuration – an impressive figure considering the EV9 weighs more than 2.6 tonnes.

Read the full test-drive at timesmotors.com