Good intro for EV neophytes like you. If you do decide to get one, just install a Level 2 station in your garage and you'll be set. It's so great to arrive home at the end of the day, plug it in, and by the next morning… you've got a full "tank"! Even better, install some solar panels on your roof, and you'll be driving on clean, green, free sunshine. Can't beat that!
@@ErinLawrenceTV I cannot speak for your grid directly in Canada but I speak and liaise with electric employees and officials in my area in the US and they are handling everything out there now and are moving plans to be ready for future EV use. They do not expect everyone overnight to switch to EVs, so it will take time to get there for mass adoption and it gives them time to build for future growth. Talk to your local utility reps and see how they feel, but I would not be surprised if they tell you they are not concerned and have plans to handle the growth of EV use.
Thanks for the review! We're thinking about this as our next vehicle. A comment about long distance road trips, my wife and I are experienced EV owners (in Canada) and have taken family road trips of over 800km each way and charging was never an issue. We stop for washroom and food breaks while charging, so it doesn't really delay our trip by much if at all. It does take time to get used to the charging mindset, but it quickly becomes a non-issue. The best thing though is home charging, it's like having a full tank every morning without the inconvenience of a gas station and at a fraction of the cost of gas. A 240V (level 2) charger at home is important, but isn't a big expense (usually $500 - $1000).
Just a note, it's an EV9 "GT-Line", not a full GT. The GT-Line is a trim level for the standard car, where the full GT will be a different beast altogether with nearly double the horsepower when it is released. For example the smaller EV6 GT-Line has 320hp where the full GT version has a sportier suspension, bigger brakes, and nearly 600hp. Most people with an EV will have a level 2 charger at home, where you plug in when you get home and have a full charge the next time you need it. At ~$0.12/kWh for residential power you're normally spending under $10 for a full charge.
Thanks Erin, great review - the EV9 is good for towing a caravan or trailer too, and when you get you your campsite you can use it as a source of "mains" electricity.
When you do eventually road trip, what most EV drivers do is you start at 100% when you leave home and you plan your route with either routing apps like PlugShare or A Better Route Planner or you can use the EV nav to route you (some of the EVs are great at this, some not so. EV9 is actually pretty terrible at route planning). When you actually drive out, you only charge at the fast charging stations up to 80% and then move on. That is typically more than enough range to make it to the next station and it takes about 20 minutes from 20% to get that range back at a proper fast charging station. It will take an hour to get to 100% and you are only gaining maybe an additional 20-40 miles for all that extra wasted time. It really is very easy once you've done it once or twice. It's just a change in mentality from gas and filling up the tank that is hardest for most to get used to. This is a very good video to see from someone very new to EVs, thanks for sharing!
Hey Erin, this was a great review. I love both your presentation style and analysis. It's appreciated how you stayed away from the tech specs and focused on the practical livability of the car. My one suggestion is that if you wish to do future EV reviews, that you guys invest into a home wall charger so that your review better matches the daily ownership experience of someone who buys an EV and thus never thinks about charging. Thanks!
A great review Erin. Some very nice features that all vehicles should have going forward. I have charging anxiety with my cell phone, so I can only imagine how I would be with an all electric vehicle. Other than that, I think KIA did a great job with this model.
Close to reaching end of our 10-year 100,000 miles bumper-to-bumper extended warranty this December on our 2015 Kia Sedona. Our daily commuter was switched to Tesla Model 3 ~6 years ago and its been great not having to waste time going to gas stations to fill up with the ability to charge conveniently in home parking garage, so we know our future family vehicle replacement would also be EV, but haven't seen a viable 6-7 passenger EV until this Kia EV9.
Thank You Everybody for supporting Electric Vehicles and for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 ✌ ☮ ❤
Well, it takes long to charge the whole battery with a household plug, but if your daily commute is under say 50 km, it should be able to keep up if you charge every night.
Nice review. I had a whole thing written up about not mentioning faster charging options at home, but you snuck it in at the end! Not many people will drive 400 km in a typical day, but you can do it every day with this for just a few dollars if you put some forethought into your home charging strategy.
Hi Erin, very interesting! I got my driver's license in 1968. My first car was a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. I find it amusing that many cars today have indeed become "tech gadgets". 😀 (BTW, I currently have a 2017 Toyota Camry LE. This vehicle is definitely *not" a tech gadget, and that is fine w/ me!) RogerC 96/24
Well done. It is good to have some first impressions from a none BEV person. You chose a nice model for a first one. It is a very capable road trip car due to 800V architecture of the battery pack. For you to be comfortable to do a road trip you need to get a bit geeked. There are levels within the 3 levels [level one is 110V with 15 or 20 amps, 20 is faster but not typical]. Level 2 is 220V based and can be 30, 50 or 80 amp. Base price varies by area but most often hear $4000 US to $5000 for the charger [$400-800], then parts, wire and labor. This is an expense any home owner needs to be aware of going in. Better to get a quote on your situation. It takes a bit of a different mind set when it comes to road tripping and it starts with how to charge based on how batteries are by nature. The first 80% of charging any battery is generally pretty fast, the last 20 is slow. The battery type [NMC] you have in that vehicle in normal daily use, should only be charged to 80%. Unless you want maximum range when starting a trip. The next 20% will take just as long as charging from 20% to 80%. This is referred to as the charging curve when tested by geeks. If you want to know more about that and all the things the EV9 can do I suggest Out of Spec Reviews. They had one like yours for 6 months, the software you tested is better but this model gets over the air updates. They can also teach you how to plan your stops! This a skill you will need to road trip successfully and not panic if plan A fails. You also need to know how climate affects range, hot and cold, for a specific model. Hyundai will be releasing their version soon of a 3 row SUV BEV. It will have the same electronics. But may have some tweaks and a different style? That might be a good comparison for you to look at. Then do a test drive of one of their sedans that is a long range design before you venture to other brands.
You didn’t mention you can install a Level 2 charger at home (either on a NEMA 14-50 or hardwired) so you can charge the vehicle fully overnight rather than Level 1 granny charger. If you have a Level 2 charger at home it only takes seconds to charge if you plug in at the end of the day and no more trips to gas station and if you take a road trip you use other level 2 trips or level 3 fast DC chargers You can also have a Level 2 NEMA 14-50 to take to a lot of camping sites.
Like I said at the end, if you're going to get an EV, you should absolutely set aside part of your budget for proper charging at home. It would make life much simpler.
@@ErinLawrenceTV yeah saw that end but was commenting as you went over this and would have been more useful to people to mention at that point in time options for home instead of wall outlet so people are not turned off by having to find an L2 or DC (“Level 3”) charger for day to day. Good review otherwise
Kia is really dropping prices on these to get them to sell. EV9's here at dealers in Oklahoma are going for almost $20,000 off MSRP. Gas is around $2.50 a gallon, so it will take a huge discount to get folks to move away from combustion cars with these cheap gas prices. Watching that self-parking feature shows that most people wouldn't bother with that and just park the car myself.
Important clarifications on your 2 main concerns: 1) Charging: Although I used a super slow level 1 charger for over 2 year with zero problems because I do not drive a lot any my car sits in my garage a lot, most people with EVs get a level 2 charger, and in many ways it only takes 10 seconds to charge your car. You pull into your garage/driveway, plug it an and go in your house. The next time you want to get back in the car (likely hours later or the next day), it will be fully charged. It is super convenient and no need to go to a gas station ever again. And it is CHEAP!!! You talked about the price of charging at a level 3 charger which is WAY more expensive than public level 2 charger and charging at home. A full charge (0% to 100%, which is never actually done) of my ioniq5 at home (in QC) would cost me about $6. 2) Pick-up/Power: ALL EVs are way faster and more powerful than ICE vehicles. The electric drive train has INSTANT torque. If you had floored it, you would have been floored and crushed into the back of your seat!
Good review. Fyi you wouldn't normally charge over 80% on road trips. It slows a lot past 80% and is considered rude to hold up a charger for it. Much faster to just use 10 to 80% ish. As for another electric to try on a road trip, try a tesla to see that charging experience, it should be much easier for longer trips
Interesting take....BUT that you didn't mention 220 volt charging at home is a huge omission.. Most homes have higher voltage for ovens or electric dryers and an outlet can be installed without too much trouble or expense. If you are buying an EV it would be a must to have one installed.
When road tripping unless you don't care about time you don't want to be charging to more than 80% because the charging rate slows down considerably after 80%. The EV9 on an 800v charger is one of the fastest charging cars you can get but it can take longer to get from 80%-100% than from 20%-80%, you also don't want to be charging to 100% all the time and leaving the car at 100% for long periods as it is not good for the battery.
Good review! It's interesting that you expected the car to be 'wimpy', as basically every EV has quite a bit more instant go than a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle - even basic cars like the Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf are quick off the mark and boast impressive 0-60 km/h times.
So if an ev costs you about $50 to fully charge, how much does gas cost you roughly near empty? I know Canada is more expensive but $50 to charge doesn’t sound like a lot of savings for us in the U.S.
@@ErinLawrenceTV ok i should clarify - mine is, i have a hyundai kona, but hyundai and kia have a lot of things in common. If the charger has a screen with a number - maybe 8 - if its plugged in? hold down teh button below the screen until the number flashes, then press the button several times to cycle through possible settings and pick the highest one - i forget if you have to long-hold again to choose it? probably?
On paper this is a great vehicle but in reality I have serious concerns. We bought this vehicle 10 days ago and it has spent almost all this time as a $90K brick stuck in our garage. It is non functional and won’t drive at all. This is our fourth EV and I believe the technology is unfortunately half baked. Kia has no idea what is wrong with our EV9 and their dealership service is terrible and Kia Canada customer service is only slightly better. We have applied for a vehicle buy back from Kia Canada 🤞.
Good intro for EV neophytes like you. If you do decide to get one, just install a Level 2 station in your garage and you'll be set. It's so great to arrive home at the end of the day, plug it in, and by the next morning… you've got a full "tank"! Even better, install some solar panels on your roof, and you'll be driving on clean, green, free sunshine. Can't beat that!
Definitely. I just hope our electric grid handle extra low over the coming years.
It's fine, it's about the same as everyone buying a new deep freezer give or take. 😊@@ErinLawrenceTV
@@ErinLawrenceTV I cannot speak for your grid directly in Canada but I speak and liaise with electric employees and officials in my area in the US and they are handling everything out there now and are moving plans to be ready for future EV use. They do not expect everyone overnight to switch to EVs, so it will take time to get there for mass adoption and it gives them time to build for future growth. Talk to your local utility reps and see how they feel, but I would not be surprised if they tell you they are not concerned and have plans to handle the growth of EV use.
The majority of us charge overnight when rates are lowest, at least in Ontario. So grid usage is also way lower then too . @@ErinLawrenceTV
Thanks for the review! We're thinking about this as our next vehicle. A comment about long distance road trips, my wife and I are experienced EV owners (in Canada) and have taken family road trips of over 800km each way and charging was never an issue. We stop for washroom and food breaks while charging, so it doesn't really delay our trip by much if at all. It does take time to get used to the charging mindset, but it quickly becomes a non-issue. The best thing though is home charging, it's like having a full tank every morning without the inconvenience of a gas station and at a fraction of the cost of gas. A 240V (level 2) charger at home is important, but isn't a big expense (usually $500 - $1000).
Thanks for adding your thoughts here. It's good to hear from people with experience.
Just a note, it's an EV9 "GT-Line", not a full GT. The GT-Line is a trim level for the standard car, where the full GT will be a different beast altogether with nearly double the horsepower when it is released. For example the smaller EV6 GT-Line has 320hp where the full GT version has a sportier suspension, bigger brakes, and nearly 600hp.
Most people with an EV will have a level 2 charger at home, where you plug in when you get home and have a full charge the next time you need it. At ~$0.12/kWh for residential power you're normally spending under $10 for a full charge.
Right! Thank you!
Great review! One of your best ones yet!
Oh thank you so much!! :)
The Electrified G80 from Genesis is a good road tripper.
I'd LOVE to check out a Genesis. Such a hot brand.
Thanks Erin, great review - the EV9 is good for towing a caravan or trailer too, and when you get you your campsite you can use it as a source of "mains" electricity.
Great tip! How long have you had one?
Loved this walk through. I have an EV9 and its a head turner.
Nice!
When you do eventually road trip, what most EV drivers do is you start at 100% when you leave home and you plan your route with either routing apps like PlugShare or A Better Route Planner or you can use the EV nav to route you (some of the EVs are great at this, some not so. EV9 is actually pretty terrible at route planning). When you actually drive out, you only charge at the fast charging stations up to 80% and then move on. That is typically more than enough range to make it to the next station and it takes about 20 minutes from 20% to get that range back at a proper fast charging station. It will take an hour to get to 100% and you are only gaining maybe an additional 20-40 miles for all that extra wasted time. It really is very easy once you've done it once or twice. It's just a change in mentality from gas and filling up the tank that is hardest for most to get used to. This is a very good video to see from someone very new to EVs, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching and sharing these tips!
Hey Erin, this was a great review. I love both your presentation style and analysis. It's appreciated how you stayed away from the tech specs and focused on the practical livability of the car. My one suggestion is that if you wish to do future EV reviews, that you guys invest into a home wall charger so that your review better matches the daily ownership experience of someone who buys an EV and thus never thinks about charging. Thanks!
Thank you so much! Great suggestion, since I'd love to do more car reviews.
Top marks Erin , well done
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
A great review Erin. Some very nice features that all vehicles should have going forward. I have charging anxiety with my cell phone, so I can only imagine how I would be with an all electric vehicle. Other than that, I think KIA did a great job with this model.
hahaha. Truth.
GV70 from Genesis starts after the reader.
Close to reaching end of our 10-year 100,000 miles bumper-to-bumper extended warranty this December on our 2015 Kia Sedona. Our daily commuter was switched to Tesla Model 3 ~6 years ago and its been great not having to waste time going to gas stations to fill up with the ability to charge conveniently in home parking garage, so we know our future family vehicle replacement would also be EV, but haven't seen a viable 6-7 passenger EV until this Kia EV9.
Awesome Erin! I am glad you enjoyed it. I know you not use to the technology but it’s just helpful in a few ways. Take care Erin! 👍🏻👍🏻☕️☕️
Thanks! You too!
Thank You Everybody for supporting Electric Vehicles and for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste
🙏🏻 😊 ✌ ☮ ❤
Congratulations! KIA is a great Korean brand
Well, it takes long to charge the whole battery with a household plug, but if your daily commute is under say 50 km, it should be able to keep up if you charge every night.
Good to know!
Wou went into this thinking that EV's were "slow and had no pick up"? Im excited for you to try that.
Nice review. I had a whole thing written up about not mentioning faster charging options at home, but you snuck it in at the end! Not many people will drive 400 km in a typical day, but you can do it every day with this for just a few dollars if you put some forethought into your home charging strategy.
Thanks so much for watching it all the way through. So much to learn and understand about electric vehicles.
Just so you know, the GT won’t come out until next year. The one you tested was a GT-Line.
Right! Thank you.
Hi Erin, very interesting! I got my driver's license in 1968. My first car was a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. I find it amusing that many cars today have indeed become "tech gadgets". 😀 (BTW, I currently have a 2017 Toyota Camry LE. This vehicle is definitely *not" a tech gadget, and that is fine w/ me!) RogerC 96/24
haha, thanks Roger! Pretty soon our cars will be smarter than we are!
Well done. It is good to have some first impressions from a none BEV person. You chose a nice model for a first one. It is a very capable road trip car due to 800V architecture of the battery pack. For you to be comfortable to do a road trip you need to get a bit geeked. There are levels within the 3 levels [level one is 110V with 15 or 20 amps, 20 is faster but not typical]. Level 2 is 220V based and can be 30, 50 or 80 amp. Base price varies by area but most often hear $4000 US to $5000 for the charger [$400-800], then parts, wire and labor. This is an expense any home owner needs to be aware of going in. Better to get a quote on your situation.
It takes a bit of a different mind set when it comes to road tripping and it starts with how to charge based on how batteries are by nature. The first 80% of charging any battery is generally pretty fast, the last 20 is slow. The battery type [NMC] you have in that vehicle in normal daily use, should only be charged to 80%. Unless you want maximum range when starting a trip. The next 20% will take just as long as charging from 20% to 80%. This is referred to as the charging curve when tested by geeks. If you want to know more about that and all the things the EV9 can do I suggest Out of Spec Reviews. They had one like yours for 6 months, the software you tested is better but this model gets over the air updates. They can also teach you how to plan your stops! This a skill you will need to road trip successfully and not panic if plan A fails. You also need to know how climate affects range, hot and cold, for a specific model.
Hyundai will be releasing their version soon of a 3 row SUV BEV. It will have the same electronics. But may have some tweaks and a different style? That might be a good comparison for you to look at. Then do a test drive of one of their sedans that is a long range design before you venture to other brands.
Great information, thank you so much for sharing!
You didn’t mention you can install a Level 2 charger at home (either on a NEMA 14-50 or hardwired) so you can charge the vehicle fully overnight rather than Level 1 granny charger.
If you have a Level 2 charger at home it only takes seconds to charge if you plug in at the end of the day and no more trips to gas station and if you take a road trip you use other level 2 trips or level 3 fast DC chargers
You can also have a Level 2 NEMA 14-50 to take to a lot of camping sites.
Like I said at the end, if you're going to get an EV, you should absolutely set aside part of your budget for proper charging at home. It would make life much simpler.
@@ErinLawrenceTV yeah saw that end but was commenting as you went over this and would have been more useful to people to mention at that point in time options for home instead of wall outlet so people are not turned off by having to find an L2 or DC (“Level 3”) charger for day to day. Good review otherwise
You got me inching closer to getting one of these…
Kia is really dropping prices on these to get them to sell. EV9's here at dealers in Oklahoma are going for almost $20,000 off MSRP. Gas is around $2.50 a gallon, so it will take a huge discount to get folks to move away from combustion cars with these cheap gas prices. Watching that self-parking feature shows that most people wouldn't bother with that and just park the car myself.
I want it
Important clarifications on your 2 main concerns:
1) Charging: Although I used a super slow level 1 charger for over 2 year with zero problems because I do not drive a lot any my car sits in my garage a lot, most people with EVs get a level 2 charger, and in many ways it only takes 10 seconds to charge your car. You pull into your garage/driveway, plug it an and go in your house. The next time you want to get back in the car (likely hours later or the next day), it will be fully charged. It is super convenient and no need to go to a gas station ever again. And it is CHEAP!!! You talked about the price of charging at a level 3 charger which is WAY more expensive than public level 2 charger and charging at home. A full charge (0% to 100%, which is never actually done) of my ioniq5 at home (in QC) would cost me about $6.
2) Pick-up/Power: ALL EVs are way faster and more powerful than ICE vehicles. The electric drive train has INSTANT torque. If you had floored it, you would have been floored and crushed into the back of your seat!
Much appreciated, thank you!
Good review. Fyi you wouldn't normally charge over 80% on road trips. It slows a lot past 80% and is considered rude to hold up a charger for it. Much faster to just use 10 to 80% ish. As for another electric to try on a road trip, try a tesla to see that charging experience, it should be much easier for longer trips
Great to know, thank you!
Interesting take....BUT that you didn't mention 220 volt charging at home is a huge omission.. Most homes have higher voltage for ovens or electric dryers and an outlet can be installed without too much trouble or expense. If you are buying an EV it would be a must to have one installed.
Thanks!
When road tripping unless you don't care about time you don't want to be charging to more than 80% because the charging rate slows down considerably after 80%. The EV9 on an 800v charger is one of the fastest charging cars you can get but it can take longer to get from 80%-100% than from 20%-80%, you also don't want to be charging to 100% all the time and leaving the car at 100% for long periods as it is not good for the battery.
Thanks for the tips!
Good review! It's interesting that you expected the car to be 'wimpy', as basically every EV has quite a bit more instant go than a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle - even basic cars like the Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf are quick off the mark and boast impressive 0-60 km/h times.
That was one of the big surprises for me. But I'm so glad to see it.
So if an ev costs you about $50 to fully charge, how much does gas cost you roughly near empty? I know Canada is more expensive but $50 to charge doesn’t sound like a lot of savings for us in the U.S.
A full tank of gas in an SUV can be $80-100. Depends on the day.
Thanks Erin.
You are so welcome!
I like this review format! I can get the nerdy stuff elsewhere.
LOL, thank you!
I wish the GT Line came with 7 seats.
Your level 1 charger is adjustable, you may have had it at the lowest rate.
Interesting... how so?
@@ErinLawrenceTV ok i should clarify - mine is, i have a hyundai kona, but hyundai and kia have a lot of things in common. If the charger has a screen with a number - maybe 8 - if its plugged in? hold down teh button below the screen until the number flashes, then press the button several times to cycle through possible settings and pick the highest one - i forget if you have to long-hold again to choose it? probably?
If you buy an electric car of this size you would be crazy to not install a level 2 charger in your garage or somewhere near where you park.
I think a level two charger at home would be an absolute must for anyone who's buying a fully electric vehicle, like I said at the end of the video.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
GT line
Steering wheel is on the wrong side. :)
LOL
On paper this is a great vehicle but in reality I have serious concerns. We bought this vehicle 10 days ago and it has spent almost all this time as a $90K brick stuck in our garage. It is non functional and won’t drive at all. This is our fourth EV and I believe the technology is unfortunately half baked. Kia has no idea what is wrong with our EV9 and their dealership service is terrible and Kia Canada customer service is only slightly better. We have applied for a vehicle buy back from Kia Canada 🤞.
Oh wow, I appreciate you sharing your experience, good luck!
i love you