KIA IS ON THE RIGHT TRACK WITH THE EV9

I’ve seen the Kia EV9 in pictures, but it’s still quite a sight when it’s standing right there in front of you. Angular and formidable, it looks slightly intimidating when you’re used to the tame, low-key Kias of the past. And that’s what my initial impression of the EV9 was: it certainly looked futuristic. 

The plan for the EV9 was to take it for a proper weekend spin down south to Asador Alfonso, Chef Chele Gonzalez’s destination restaurant located in the hills of Cavite. Right off the bat, I could tell the vehicle was a headturner. At every gas station, roadside diner, and tricycle-choked corner we passed, people glanced, and their gaze lingered. Kids waved and grown men nudged each other. Even a pedestrian walking by my street couldn’t help but remark just as I was about to drive off, "Sir, electric ba ‘yan?"

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That’s certainly something you can’t do with the Kia EV9—blend in. The bold front end features Kia’s "Digital Tiger Face" lighting signature, while the minimalist side and the 21-inch wheels capture attention. After reading some information about the EV9, I found out that it’s the Korean brand’s largest and most ambitious electric vehicle yet. It runs on Kia’s E-GMP (global modular platform) and carries, at least in the dual-motor AWD GT-Line variant, 379 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. It seats seven in a 2-2-3 configuration. 

One of the most striking features of the EV9 is its side mirror—or lack thereof. In their place are two digital side monitors, which, in essence are video screens inside the cabin that show live what cameras capture in place of the typical side mirror. I imagine it would take some getting used to for anybody unfamiliar with the system, but I was able to drive a Lexus ES equipped with these DSMs a couple of years ago in Madrid, Spain, and so it was not completely foreign to me. After a while your gaze just naturally lands on the screens instead of where the mirrors would be. I get why this system has caught on in more vehicles abroad (the Kia EV9 is the first vehicle I’ve driven here in the Philippines with this feature) as it’s supposed to be safer, helping reduce lane change crashes by as much as 14 percent according to studies.

When we were about 10 minutes away from Asador, I asked my friend to take the wheel while I moved over to the second row to sit in one of the captain’s chairs. I love to drive, but I couldn’t deny how comfortable it was to sit there as a passenger, feeling like a boss. The seats could also swivel 180-degrees, in case you’d like to sit face to face with your fellow passengers in the third row. It didn’t hurt that the car was attached to my Spotify and was cranking out my driving playlist. Other features I loved were the 12.3-inch screens with a five-inch climate control display, leather seats (that Kia says is actually vegan), and seatbacks in the third row that actually recline. Talk about the ultimate in comfort. 

At Asador, we were treated to a fine lunch that started out with freshly baked bread, croquetas with a creamy bechamel filling, mushroom paella with a quarter serving of its famous cochinillo and dessert, which included flan de Teresa (named after the chef-owner’s mother) and a chocolate mousse. Afterwards we had some time to tour the sprawling property before heading back down to Manila. 

The whole round trip—from Quezon City to Pasig (to pick my friend up) to Cavite and back—was about 180 kilometers. We occasionally pushed the EV9 to levels close to the speed limit, to make the most out of the electric torque, but all in all, by the time I was backing into my own driveway, I found that we only used up about 45 percent of the EV9’s 99.8 kWh battery. That’s about 270 kph left in the EV9’s promised range of 500 kilometers. I didn’t even need to charge it even after a couple more days of driving within the city. When it came time to hand the keys back to the Kia rep, after five days of real-world driving, it still had about 20 percent of juice left, with the indicator flashing that a charge was needed.

If you’re in the market for an EV that’s loaded with power, style, and sophistication, the EV9 is certainly a strong contender, and one that likely isn’t going to look dated after a few years. If this is the direction Kia is taking its brand in this new electrified world, there’s no question it’s on the right track.

The SRP of the Kia EV9 is P5.938 million. For more information, visit Kia Philippines.

2025-06-10T12:12:51Z