2024 Kia EV9 Land First Test: Forget the GT-Line Version

If it feels a bit like Kia’s car-naming team just stumbled on a trove of old reruns of Captain Planet, you’re not alone. Case in point, the 2024 Kia EV9. The company offers customers its newest three-row SUV in four trims: Light, Wind, Land, and the outlier GT-Line. True to the brand, each of these trims builds on the previous one with limited additional options. Previously, our only experience with the new EV9 was in the top-spec GT-Line. That changed when a Land model found its way into our hands. And we couldn’t be happier it did.

What Sets Land Apart?
Being the third model in a lineup of four, the 2024 Kia EV9 Land gets the lion’s share of amenities standard. The driver, front passenger, and second-row riders are all treated to heated and ventilated seats. The driver also benefits from Relaxation Mode, which offers a power-extending leg rest. The six-seat interior is covered in SynTex leatherette material that features an upscale stitching pattern. In fact, the upholstery is so soft with the designs so well executed that the Kia EV9 Land easily fooled several luxury car owners who happily commented on niceness of its leather.

The EV9’s floating center console is another interesting conversation piece. The adjustable cupholders offer great functionality, along with a retractable cover. This is also where the wireless-charging pad is found, along with buttons for functions such as activating the cameras, hill descent control, and auto hold. The console storage cubby is quite small, but this is to make room for the pop-out bin and tray table offered to second-row passengers.

When it comes to tech, the EV9 Land boasts a premium 14-speaker Meridian audio system, a camera-based digital rearview mirror, blind-spot monitoring cameras, and a 360-degree camera system. The interior also gains adjustable multicolor ambient lighting.

On the outside, 2024 Kia EV9 Land models receive cube-projection LED headlamps with the company’s innovative digital-pattern grille lighting. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to experience the grille since opting for a matte paint color, such as the Ivory Silver Matte ($995), removes the digital-pattern grille. Also unique to Land models are triangular-styled 20-inch wheels that are funky yet somehow stylish.

Less Torque but Equally Quick
The Kia EV9 GT-Line is the most powerful of the bunch, offering 379 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. Land models, however, deliver the same 379 hp but drop 73 lb-ft to 443. Despite this, the 2024 Kia EV9 Land delivers a 4.4-second 0–60 time and will run through the quarter mile in 13.2 seconds, breaking the beams at 101.9 mph. Although this is impressive for a large, six-passenger, three-row SUV, the story gets far more interesting.

When we last tested the more powerful, top-of-the-line Kia EV9 GT-Line, we discovered it performed the same 0–60 sprint in 4.5 seconds. Similarly, the vehicle’s quarter-mile time was 13.3 seconds at 101.6 mph. You’re seeing that correctly—the EV9 Land is ever so slightly quicker than the more powerful GT-Line.

How can this be? For starters, the 5,795-pound EV9 Land is 90 pounds lighter than the 5,885-pound GT-Line. There’s also a difference in rotational inertia between the GT-Line’s larger 21-inch wheels and Hankook Ion Evo AS SUV tires and the Land’s 20-inch wheels with Kumho Crugen EV HS71 tires. The 21-inch tires alone add about 1.5 pounds per corner with the wheels adding a couple more to that figure. Additionally, the heavier 21-inch tires are also a half-inch wider, providing a larger contact patch and more friction with the road.

Horsepower being equal, the GT-Line utilizes its additional torque to overcome the added resistance off the line, with both models hitting 30 mph in 1.6 seconds. From that point forward, though, the EV9 Land benefits from its weight advantage to maintain a tenth-of-a-second lead through the quarter mile.

Meanwhile, the results are a near wash when it comes to handling. Both the EV9 Land and GT-Line stopped from 60 mph in just 118 feet, with the GT-Line’s added heft canceled out by its grippier tires. The same holds when it comes to skidpad performance, with the GT-Line managing a slightly better result of 0.86 g (average) compared to Land’s 0.83 g. In our figure-eight test, the GT-Line lapped the course in 26.4 seconds versus the Land’s time of 26.6.

Go Farther, Charge Faster
It’s not just the torque difference that sets the EV9 Land apart from the GT-Line; it also goes farther on a charge. Both models use a 99.8-kWh battery, but the Land comes with an EPA-estimated range of 280 miles versus the GT-Line’s 270 miles. A 10-mile increase isn’t significant in the grand scheme, but every little bit eventually adds up. More impressive is how the EV9 Land performed in our MT Road-Trip Range test.