• I put the 2024 Kia EV9 GT-Line’s fast-charging functionality to the check and got here away impressed. 
• It recharged from 18% to 80% in 22 minutes once I hooked it as much as a 350-kilowatt Electrify America charger. 
• The EV9 piles on the miles extra shortly than many different EVs because of its 800-volt structure. 

“Whoa! It’s charging so quick!” my spouse blurted out just some minutes after we plugged the Kia EV9 right into a 350-kilowatt charger. It takes a lot to wow an individual who does not care a lot about EVs, however will get quite a lot of seat time in them anyway by advantage of their partner’s job. Think about if a baker was married to somebody with a gluten intolerance. It’s sort of like that. “Wow, one other sort of bread. Fascinating…”

The EV9’s wickedly fast charging efficiency was sufficient to impress us each, although.

I’ll provide the key numbers up the entrance, then get into the small print of this explicit charging expertise and what I noticed. The underside line is that the EV9 recharged from 18% to 80% in a speedy 22 minutes, letting us get again on the street a lot faster than most rivals will permit. Multiply the 62% gained by 270 miles (the EV9 AWD’s whole EPA-estimated vary) and also you’re left with 167.4 miles. That’s roughly how a lot of driving varies the EV9 gained in that fast caseloads for at the very least a few hours of freeway driving.

My expertise tracked properly with Kia’s personal estimate of 10%-80% in 24 minutes. And I believe I may’ve seen even sooner charging efficiency for one key purpose I’ll clarify beneath.

After plugging right into a 350-kW Electrify America unit at a Financial institution of America in Northern California, the EV9 started sucking in roughly 200 kW of charging energy virtually instantly. It stayed at or above that degree for a lot of the charging session. The extra kilowatts an automobile is designed to deal with, the faster its battery pack can be recharged. The EV9—together with fellow Hyundai Motor Group automobiles constructed on the identical platform, just like the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5—excels in that regard.

Their huge benefit is that they use an 800-volt class structure, versus the 400-volt-class architectures that the majority of different EVs use. Be aware that these are simplifications: EV9s like this with the 99.8-kWh battery possibility have an actual nominal voltage of around 552 volts. Smaller-battery HMG vehicles just like the Kia EV6 have voltages nearer to 700 volts, and most “400-volt” vehicles have nominal voltages within the 330-360 vary. However,r even with “solely” a 552-volt system, the long-range EV9 is a charging champ.

The miles and state of cost piled on shortlyWithinde 2.5 minutes, the EV9 displayed 25%. In a hair over 3 minutes, it hit 30%. In round 7 minutes, the EV9 hit 40% whereas chugging alongside at 207 kW. It reached 44% in a little bit over 8 minutes while pulling 209 kW. Then my superb charging session came to an abrupt halt.

It wasn’t the Kia’s fault. One other EV proprietor pulled up on the opposite facet of the stall I used to be utilizing and tried to skeepthe charger’s second plug in his personal automotive. The station didn’t like that and killed the ability.

I bought going once more fairly shortly, and as soon as once more the ability swiftly shot up above 200 kW. It peaked at 216 kW within the ballpark of 55% and descended step by step from there. At around 60%, the EV9 was pulling 201 kW. At 70%, itlearnsn 180 kW, nonetheless considerably greater than most different EVs peak at. Then issues dropped extra precipitously, to 103 kW at an 80% state of cost.

Add up the overall time plugged in and charging—in different phrases, excluding the time when the session was interrupted—and we get 22 minutes for 18%-80%. However, er the pause possibly had an influence because the EV9 didn’t ramp again as much as 209 kW the moment it began charging once more. I’d guess a smoother do-over would shave off a minute or so.

Regardless of the hiccup, the expertise was spectacular. And refreshing. The Cadillac Lyriq I reviewed just lately peaks at 190 kW in principle, however, I didn’t see near that observation. It took a sluggish 40 minutes to recharge from 20%-80%. The Lyriq indeed has a bigger battery pack and barely extra vary than the EV9, so that session added 184 miles. However even if you evaluate apples to apples, the EV9 wound up beating that point by a protracted shot.

I saved the EV9 plugged in the previous 80%, figuring out fully effectively that charging speeds would drop considerably, as occurs in any EV. After hitting 87% in one other 6 minutes, I am known as it. In sum, the EV9 went from 18% to 87%—an achievement of 186.3 EPA-estimated miles—in 28 minutes.

No, that’s not as fast as getting fuel. The EV9’s bulk hamstrings its charging functionality barely; it is a huge, three-row SUV that by its very nature, requires additional vitality to go a given distance. However,r I believe that is the sort of easy expertise that’s going to transform Peoplintoto EVs—even these cussed ones who are principally bored by the entire concept.

Contact the writer: tim.levin@insideevs.com