Kia EV9 review - Reliability & safety

Take a look at our 2024 Driver Power results, and there are lots of positive signs that the EV9 will be reliable and go down a storm with customers, thanks to the brand’s third place overall. It should also be very safe, not only thanks to its size, but also as a result of Kia throwing the kitchen sink at its flagship model.

Kia had a strong showing in the latest Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, thanks in part to its Kia Sportage and Picanto coming in 14th and 15th place overall, followed by the Stonic in 30th out of the top 50 models.

In our 2023 results, owners were full of praise for the Kia EV6’ electric motors and transmission, scoring the EV6 sixth in this category, while it came eighth for practicality and boot space – an area where the seven-seat EV9 should do even better. The EV6 also came 26th for overall quality, while reliability was ranked 63rd.
 

How safe is the Kia EV9?

The Kia EV9 was crash-tested and awarded a five-star rating by Euro NCAP in December 2023. It scored well in all areas, but particularly high was its rating for child occupant protection, so that should offer peace of mind if you're driving with your kids in the back seats. A comprehensive suite of safety kit also meant the EV9 scored well in the ‘safety assist’ category, which should mean you’re less likely to get into an accident in the first place.

The Kia EV9 is the brand’s first model to be equipped with Level 3 autonomous driving features, including Highway Driving Pilot that can centre the car in its lane, even if the driver lets go of the steering wheel – in countries where it’s permitted. If an “imminent risk” is detected, the system can even perform an emergency manoeuvre to help avoid a collision. There’s also a blind spot camera that feeds an image to the gauge cluster when turning, adaptive headlights and a driver attention warning system.

What are the Kia EV9 service intervals?

Kia recommends getting your EV9 serviced every 20,000 miles or 24 months. That’s pretty much half as often as an equivalent petrol-powered SUV would need to be serviced, because the electric powertrain has fewer parts that require regular maintenance.

What is the warranty on the Kia EV9?

Kia is famed for its very competitive seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, which is longer than most rivals provide as standard. Toyota offers an enticing warranty of up to 10 years or 100,000 miles on its cars, so long as you have them serviced by a main dealer every year or 10,000 miles.