Will Hyundai's monster electric car work at this price? 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV priced in South Korea, but will it have what it takes to fend off the Kia EV9 and XPeng G9?

Hyundai’s Ioniq 9 is already priced in its home market of South Korea, but will the upcoming upper-large electric SUV work in Australia if its pricing is reflective of local specs?

Riding on the same large-format E-GMP underpinnings as Kia’s dramatically styled EV9, the Ioniq 9 wears a more curvy visage topped and tailed by the Ioniq sub-brand’s signature pixel-style LED lights.

Hyundai has previously indicated to Australian media the Ioniq 9 will kick off from under $100,000 when it arrives locally around the middle of 2025, although with Korean pricing and specs we might have a better idea of what exactly that might look like.

The Ioniq 9 is available in three grades in its home market, the base Exclusive, which starts from the equivalent of $76,733, the mid-grade Prestige which starts from $83,580, and top-spec Calligraphy which starts from $89,036.

However, all grades in Korea start with the basic rear-wheel-drive motor option (160kW/350Nm) and it is more likely that higher grades in Australia will be dual-motor all-wheel drive (226kW/605Nm), which for the Korean market adds an additional $4000 to the price. And there are many optional equipment items on Korean-delivered vehicles which may be packaged up as standard on Australian versions, adding additional numbers to the price, and likely pushing at least the Calligraphy variant over the $100,000 mark.

For reference, the Kia EV9 range spans from $97,000 to $121,000 before on-road costs in Australia.

Either Ioniq 9 drivetrain gets a large, 110kWh battery providing a combined driving range of 532km for 2WD versions or 503km for AWD versions, according to the Korean measuring standard. By comparison, the long-range Kia EV9 is currently capable of 512km, although this is to the more internationally recognised WLTP standard.

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 9

Luggage space is a massive 620 litres (although this is to the more lenient SAE standard compared to the more widely accepted in Australia VDA standard), which expands to 1323L when the third row is folded flat. Towing capacity to Korean standards is 2500kg.

Like other Ioniq products, the Ioniq 9 comes with vehicle-to-load technology as standard, and it can top up from 10-80 per cent in a claimed 24 minutes when connected to an ultra-fast 350kW DC charging pylon.

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 9

Some features standard on Korean versions we might expect to see in the Australian market include a power tailgate, recycled plastic yarn rooflining, and heated seats for the first two rows. Higher grades get cooling for the front seats, a premium Bose sound system, remote parking and the top-spec Calligraphy grade even gets self-levelling suspension, two-tone interior colour schemes with suede headlining, and a digital reversing mirror.

Speaking to CarsGuide at an international preview event for the Ioniq 9, the brand said the Hyundai three-row EV would separate itself from the EV9 thanks to a focus on increasing interior space and aerodynamic efficiency, although the objective was to benchmark premium SUV rivals rather than beat-out its sister brand’s large EV offering.

Expect to learn more about the Australian versions of the Ioniq 9 closer to its mid-year launch window.