Kia EV9 - Reliability and safety

Safety experts Euro NCAP awarded the Kia EV9 the maximum five-star rating when tested in 2023. Regarding similarly priced large electric SUVs tested around the same time, the Lexus RZ achieved better results in adult, child, and vulnerable road user protection, but the EV9 outperformed it in the safety assistance category.

The Kia EV9 comes stacked with safety technology as standards, such as autonomous emergency braking to help prevent or mitigate low-speed collisions with other vehicles and vulnerable road users in town. It also has a lane keep system to help keep you within your lane on the motorway and a driver monitoring system to let you know when to take a break. A traffic sign recognition system also lets you know important information, such as speed limits.

All EV9s come with blindspot monitoring to warn you of any cars that are along side when you go to change lanes, plus a 360-degree camera system with front and rear parking sensors to help when parking. Both of those are handy for such a large car, and are welcome standard features – especially when many rivals (often more expensive ones) make you pay extra for such features.

The Kia brand recorded a six-place finish in the 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which should reassure owners that their car is less likely to let them down and should provide a less demanding ownership experience than rival brands, such as Lexus, Land Rover, BMW, and Mercedes, all of whom performed worse in the manufacturer’s category.

Warranty

You’ll be getting one of the longest manufacturer warranties around with an EV9, because it’s backed up by the brand’s seven-year/100,000 miles policy. That’s longer than most manufacturers, except for Lexus and Toyota, where you can get up to 10 years or 100,000 miles of cover – provided you get an annual service at a franchised dealer. 

The 12 months of roadside assistance provided by Kia is a little stingy when plenty of manufacturers can cover up to three years.

Servicing

Electric cars don’t need an oil change like a traditional petrol, diesel, or hybrid-powered vehicle, so the EV9 has a longer service interval of two years or 20,000 miles, whichever comes first.