Kia EV9 outsold Toyota’s only EV in the US

Kia EV9, the new flagship SUV of the South Korean manufacturer, has been on sale in the USA for over a month now. In that time, it has outsold the Toyota bZ4X, the only all-electric Toyota SUV on sale in the USA. 

1,113 units of the Kia EV9 were sold in the USA in December 2023, a mere 444 units more than the 669 units of the bZ4X Toyota managed to sell. Sales of the Toyota e-SUV saw year-on-year growth of 9.6 per cent, while overall sales of Toyota grew by 22 per cent YoY. 

In contrast, Kia sold 18,879 units of the EV6 last year, which was down from 20,498 units it sold in 2022. Kia America CEO, Sean Yoon, said, “Groundbreaking vehicles like our new flagship EV9 EV three-row SUV showcase Kia’s unique ability to elevate expectations and push boundaries.”

The EV9 is Kia’s flagship product and has a very futuristic design language. It has a boxy stance and despite that, has a drag coefficient of 0.28 Cd. Kia claims a range of up to 563 km on a single charge and with a 350 kW DC fast charger, it can charge from 10 to 80 per cent in 24 minutes. 

Inside, the EV9 has dual 12.3-inch displays with one for the instrument cluster and the other for the infotainment system. It also has a 5-inch touchscreen for the HVAC controls sandwiched between the two larger screens.