Will the 2024 Kia EV9 be the first truly off-road capable electric car? | Analysis

Kia's EV9 looks all set for a late 2023 launch in Australia, and there's been a rapid build-up of hype and excitement about it.

And for good reason because the EV9 is the first proper large SUV that’s also an electric car.

With AWD versions having seven-seats, a 99.8kWh battery, an 800-volt electrical system and, in dual-motor GT-line guise, a total combined output of 283kW and 600N, the flagship EV9 could be the model that finally appeals to off-road enthusiasts.

But is Kia's EV9 the first truly off-road capable EV? There are some crucial factors working against it.

AWD system

Kia officials have said that the EV9 has been tested on “rough terrain tracks”, a “4WD climbing hill” and been out through “deep-water wading” challenges.

But their idea of “rough”, “hill” and “deep-water” may be very different to yours and mine.

Whether the EV9 can be regarded as truly off-road capable hinges on its all-wheel-drive system and also your idea of what constitutes “off-road”.

The EV9 is the first proper large SUV that’s also an electric car.

Perhaps the EV9 has been engineered as a light-duty off-roader, so it’s aimed at tackling, at most, well-maintained dirt tracks in dry weather. (I reckon so.)

Or maybe it’s been set up to take on rutted tracks in wet weather, as well as very shallow mudholes and creek crossings. (There’s a slight possibility…)

Or maybe Kia is going all-in and the AWD-equipped EV9 will be capable of hardcore rock-crawling alongside modified 4WDs. (I think not.)

Time will tell.

The EV9 has the kind of dimensions that can be great for relaxed open-road cruising on sealed surfaces and even well-maintained dirt tracks.

Size and weight

Size certainly does matter, and it can sometimes be a hindrance for off-road vehicles, but sheer size hasn’t stopped big 4WDs like the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series or the Nissan Patrol from ruling the off-road roost, has it?

The EV9 is reportedly 5010mm long (with a 3100mm wheelbase), 1980mm wide and 1755mm high. For reference, the 300 Series Sahara ZX is 5015mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1980mm wide, and 1950mm high, and the Patrol Ti-L is 5175mm long (with a 3075mm wheelbase), 1995mm wide, and 1995mm high.

The EV9 has the kind of dimensions that can be great for relaxed open-road cruising on sealed surfaces and even well-maintained dirt tracks, but the bigger the vehicle, the larger its turning circle is, and the more difficult it is to drive on highly technical off-road routes.

That’s not to say you can’t take a vehicle of the EV9’s size off-road – of course you can because Cruisers, Patrols and the like have been doing it for donkey’s years – but the driver’s training, knowledge and experience play massive roles in that.

The EV9 will carry its body weight low – that’s the nature of BEVs – and that will affect the way it can be driven over really tough terrain.

With such a long wheelbase (3100mm), the EV9 will need to incorporate some form of auto adjustable suspension to help get it over the bigger lumps and bumps any semi-serious off-road enthusiast will throw it at. The operation of that kind of tech – similar to the 300 Series GR Sport’s Electronic-Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, or the Patrol’s Hydraulic Body Motion Control suspension – will surely impact the EV9’s power consumption.

Size certainly does matter, and it can sometimes be a hindrance for off-road vehicles, but sheer size hasn’t stopped big 4WDs like the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series or the Nissan Patrol from ruling the off-road roost, has it?

Vehicle weight is something that 4WDers should take very seriously.

For one, inadvertent overloading is a real problem, for example, people going over their car’s gross vehicle mass (GVM), or towing too heavy a boat/camper-trailer/caravan (exceeding gross combined mass).

Best-case scenario? The driver cops a fine. Worst-case scenario: The driver loses control of the car and a motor vehicle accident is the result.

The Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series GR Sport has a listed kerb weight of 2630kg and a GVM of 3280kg, so, theoretically you can load 650kg into it before you’re on the verge of breaking the law.

So, there’s not a lot of wiggle room in terms of what you can fit to your vehicle (for instance, aftermarket accessories) and how much you can actually load into your vehicle, once you factor people, gear and pets into the equation.

Tipping the scales at a reported 3000kg or so, the EV9 is a big beast.

If that weight is accurate, that means the EV9 is heavier than the heaviest of the LandCruiser 300 Series line-up (2630kg for the VX, Sahara and GR Sport grades), and the Nissan Patrol Ti-L at a listed kerb weight of 2861kg.

But what will the EV9’s GVM and GCM (Gross Combined Mass) be? And how much more weight do you want to add to a 3000kg SUV for a road trip before you start to feel like you’re steering a road-train?

The EV9 in GT-Line spec may have a dual-motor with total outputs of 283kW and 600N, but it still has to move a lot of weight. Again, for reference, the 300 Series’ 3.3-litre V6 twin turbo-diesel engine produces 227kW and 700Nm, and the Patrol’s 5.6-litre petrol V8 produces 298kW and 560Nm. Sure, EV9 owners will be able to unlock a torque boost (to 700Nm) via Kia’s over-the-air software updates, but even then, off-roading is still putting massive demands on the EV9’s powertrain.

Not to mention how much that weight affects the cumulative power consumption and, as a result, the effective driving range of an EV.

That’s coming up next…

Kia’s EV9 seems like a big step in the right direction.

Range

Yep, that ol’ chestnut: driving range. This remains a real sticking point for EV enthusiasts, no matter how much they love their EVs.

At time of writing Kia hasn’t yet released any details about the AWD EV9’s energy consumption or driving range, but the EV9 RWD Long Range has the line-up’s greatest driving range at a Kia-listed 541km on a single charge.

However, the driving range claims of EV manufacturers are one thing, real-world use is another.

For example, Rivian has claimed that its “all-time all-wheel drive” R1T electric ute has a touring range of 643km – that sounds impressive, but I bet it wouldn’t do anywhere near that distance fully loaded and driving over rough terrain.

I’d like to see how much power an EV off-roader uses while traversing a few hundred of the Simpson Desert’s 1100 or so dunes on an east-west crossing. Or how an EV would perform on a heavily corrugated dirt track in far western Queensland. Or even how much power it’d use on a lengthy drive along a soft-sand beach.

Off-roading, even light-duty stuff, can place a huge amount of stress and strain on a vehicle over sustained periods. And it also, of course, impacts fuel use, or power use in an EV’s case.

Vehicle weight is something that 4WDers should take very seriously.

Driving on the wide variety of surfaces that an adventure-travel vehicle will tackle in its lifetime – gravel, corrugations, sand, mud – is a whole lot different to driving on a sealed surface.

And the EV9 is a heavy vehicle – it’s 3000kg without any people, gear or pets onboard – and any extra kilos will place an even greater demand on it, in terms of energy usage, as well as increased general wear and tear on components.

The EV9 has a listed towing capacity of 2500kg.

If you've done any sort of towing, you know the tremendous stresses that it places on a vehicle. And how much the towed weight affects your vehicle's fuel consumption. Those stresses and demands and elevated rate of fuel consumption – won’t magically disappear when you use an EV to tow – the only difference is that in an EV you’ll be using up your battery charge.

Case in point: a few years back CarsGuide did a tow test with a Tesla Model X Long Range to tow a 17-foot 1746kg Avida Wave Tourer Electric Pop-Top single-axle caravan from Parramatta to Bathurst (162km) and back (a different 163km route). We also did the same loop but unladen in the Tesla to compare results. On the first leg, the Tesla used 24.9kWh/100km when unladen and 48.1kWh/100km when towing, so it almost doubled its energy consumption. When averaged over the two legs, the Model X's driving range was effectively cut in half when it towed the caravan.

I'd like to see how an EV would cope with towing a fully-loaded box trailer, or a boat and trailer, or a camper-trailer, or a caravan over difficult terrain – beach sand, rocky hill-climbs, creek-crossings – while also carrying people and equipment.

The flagship EV9 could be the model that finally appeals to off-road enthusiasts.

What I reckon

Kia’s EV9 seems like a big step in the right direction.

There are plenty of dirt-curious EV enthusiasts in Australia that would love to own an all-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive EV – and perhaps the EV9 will provide at least a glimpse into that world via some light-duty off-roading.

But the EV9 is heavy, expensive (at an anticipated circa-$135,000 for the GT-Line AWD), and will likely offer little appeal in terms of driving range, especially when load and unsealed roads are factored in.

I’ll have to see it in the metal – and, more importantly, drive it off-road – before I make any informed judgements about its off-road capability.