South Korean automaker Kia has teased a silhouette image of its Concept EV9, a bulky-looking seven-seat all-electric SUV prototype that is expected to be formally unveiled later this week and which will herald one of the seven new EVs Kia has promised to deliver before 2027.
The Kia Concept EV9 will be unveiled on Thursday in a livestream at 8am (GMT), or around 7pm summer time in Sydney and Melbourne. Kia shared a vague silhouette image on its social media accounts of the Concept EV9.
Kia announced its near-term electrification strategy at the beginning of the year, promising to release seven dedicated EV models by 2027. The 2027 target also falls within the company’s larger Plan S strategy which is targeting electric sales of 25% by 2029.
Expected to be acclaimed as a future flagship model of Kia’s all-electric line-up, the Kia Concept EV9 promises to be a monster of a vehicle, measuring in as larger than the Sorento and possibly even the same size as the Telluride.
Kia hinted at the first of its seven new EVs back in March when it released a similar teaser image of the EV6, the company’s first EV to be built on the dedicated E-GMP (electric global modular platform) architecture, developed by Kia and parent company Hyundai Motor.
The EV6 was unveiled not long afterwards, a crossover-style EV aerodynamic lines and styling that sets it apart from its sister model, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5.
In October, Kia clarified that Australians will get a chance to experience the EV6, with the EV expected to arrive on our shores in the first half of 2022.
Meanwhile, the Concept EV9, which was previously rumoured to bear the EV7 or EV8 nameplate, is expected to launch in the United States sometime next year and will arrive as a sister model to the Hyundai Ioniq 7, which was similarly teased recently.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.