When Kia announced power figures for the EV9 three-row electric crossover, we were surprised. The all-wheel-drive version has 380 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque, which should be plenty, but the rear-drive, long-range version only makes 201 hp and takes more than nine seconds to hit 60 mph. If you have the money, though, Kia also plans to add a high-performance EV9 GT to the lineup.
In case you missed it:
- These Are Your Dream Daily-Drivers
- Study Explores How Long Electric Vehicle Batteries Really Last
- Fordlandia: Henry Ford’s Abandoned Company Town in the Amazon Rainforest
CarBuzz reports that in a roundtable with journalists, Kia’s president and CEO Ho Sung Song said, “We are aware of the growing demand for high-performance vehicles in the electric era. Building on the success of the Kia EV6 GT, we are happy to announce that we are currently developing a high-performance version of the EV9, which will aim to redefine what performance means in an electric SUV. We plan to release the GT version of the EV9 in early 2025.”
So if the all-wheel-drive EV9's 380 hp isn’t enough for you, you’ll just have to wait until 2025 to get your hands on a version that’s much more powerful. Exactly how much power it will make is still up in the air, though. Considering the fact that the EV6 GT electric sport sedan makes 576 hp and 545 lb-ft of torque, it’s probably safe to assume that the bigger, heavier EV9 GT will make at least that much power.
Does anybody actually need a 600, 700 or 800 hp electric SUV? Nope. It would be much more beneficial to most buyers for Kia to make the base version more powerful. But we’re not going to pretend we’re not interested in driving the upcoming EV9 GT. It’ll probably be a blast. There’s also a chance Kia will offer even more power via an over-the-air update to customers who are willing to pay for it. After all, the Korean automaker has already announced that you can buy more torque for your all-wheel-drive EV9 if you pay for boost mode.