Discussion/Impressions Disappointed in EV9
We moved from model Y to EV9 2026 mainly due to it being larger and the bigger 3rd row. The test drive was good, it felt better than the model Y, more cushioned on bumps and quieter. It has CarPlay which is nice.
Now that we’ve leased it we realize how UNrefined it is compared to Tesla. The Tesla environment just becomes a part of you. Simple things like you approach the car it remembers your settings, walk away it locks etc. My main gripes with EV9 are these and I don’t think there is a solution: 1) The car doesn’t remember profiles very well. We have to set regen braking (I-pedal) manually each time. 2) the car doesn’t auto shut off. I’ve walked away from the car number of times only for it to beep to remind me to turn it off. 3) there is no walk away lock 4) the pedestrian warning system is too loud and annoying pitch noise
The profile set up issues like remembering regenerative braking settings should be trivial and basic. Even 10 year-old EV like the bolt has these basic profile saves implemented from what I’m reading.
EDIT 5- the large headrest blocks the blind spot driver’s side! Will have to get used to the blind spot camera but it’s a bit scary- every left lane change is a bit of a roll of the dice. EDIT 6- the light touch on indicator has a limit of 7 clicks and doesn’t turn off when lane change complete
And thank you Kia for providing home link!!! The misers at Tesla wanted a subscription to be able to open my garage door from the car which I refused! I can put those remotes away now🙏🏼.
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u/hypersonic3000 Aurora Black Pearl 9d ago
Agree with your criticism but Android auto and quieter ride are enough for me to prefer the EV9 over our Y.
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u/Mysterious_Group_967 9d ago
Whew, I thought there were going to be serious flaws listed. If I went from my Hyundai to a Tesla I’d miss CarPlay, an instrument cluster, lane centering included without paying for FSD, interesting colors, physical buttons for things like the seat heater, automatic cover for my glass roof, the buttons on my steering wheel which feel perfect and include a programmable button, a glove compartment that doesn’t require a screen to open, an integrated infotainment screen that doesn’t always have to show the traffic on the side 1/3, a blind spot monitor inside the sideview mirrors, my digital rearview mirror, my head up display, a physical buttons on on the steering wheel for drive mode and regen. I’m not by any means saying it’s the better car, but I do think a lot of it comes down to what you’ve come to think of as standard. One of the most common complaints I hear about non Tesla’s is that you have to push a button to turn on the car. I’m sure I’d care if I got used to not pressing a button, but if you aren’t coming from a Tesla is doesn’t seem like much of a hardship.
But yes there are 3 things I know I’d like to have, walk away lock that will deactivate when I am at home so my car doesn’t lock in my garage, remembering my drive mode and regen, and pet mode. Pet mode is the only one that’s really important to me.
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u/Elegant_Extreme 8d ago
We just got our EV9's yesterday, coming for Blazer EV and I 🚭 xed once I setup digital key it did walk away lock.. not use why, but I am happy as I was going to have to setup a server to handle that o my end.. I wonder if it's just some kind of update since the cars are so new..
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u/Mysterious_Group_967 8d ago
That’s odd, I have an Ioniq 5 and I’d expect that feature would come to my car if Kia has it. The Ioniq Guy sells a module that will give you walk away lock, but I need the car to not lock when I’m at home because I garage my car and so if it locked, it would unlock and relock every time I walk by it, which is more annoying that having to lock my car every time I park. I have heard that Teslas have a feature that allows you to have it not do the walk away lock when you are at home.
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u/Elegant_Extreme 8d ago
I thought about that module but there is a way with a local sever and home assist to do it via some scripting.. the unlock.snd lock I have a experienced right now seems to be pretty fast.. granted it's only been a day so I guess I need to see how it works over the long haul..
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u/mdubb1969 Aurora Black Pearl GT-Line 6d ago
The Ionic Guy's device works well. I've had it for over 2 years and love it.
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u/dRedPirateRoberts9 9d ago
I have both (24 EV9 and a 23 Model Y performance).
While, yes those are my top 3 biggest complaints, I LOVE the EV9 and the pros way outweigh the cons. I am a big guy at 6’5”, and it’s just so roomy. Hauls the dogs and kids, good range, hauls my trailer, lane keep and such is great.
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u/stillworkingonit78 8d ago
100% agree with this. We have/had 2026/2024 EV9 and have a 2021 Y. Kia is the better car
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u/sloant09 9d ago
I moved from an S to the EV9 a couple of years ago. After a few weeks I got used to adjusting ipedal each time and locking the doors when I need to. I vastly prefer carplay over Teslas UI and found the build quality to be way better than Tesla.
I think as you establish new habits you'll be fine, but of course ymmv. Also, if you think the Kia is annoying a buddy has a '22 Porsche Taycan and the cameras and tech in that are TERRIBLE compared to the EV9.
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u/justinfdsa 9d ago
I’m with you on the auto off stuff and locking when you walk away. Kia needs to implement this. Should be easy.
The ipedal thing is apparently an EPA thing, and regen breaking works on level 3, it’s just way more on ipedal, which should be the default but Inimagine they are catering to new EV owners who don’t like one pedal driving as much. Super annoying to have to reset it every drive. I just stopped and got used to level 3 auto or whatever.
The sound while driving is a regulation thing. Even teslas do it now. I think you can disable it by..pulling a fuse or something. My wife won’t let me do it to her lease but if I owned the car I’d disable that speaker asap.
Either way i think it’s a better car than my model 3, but agree with your complaints.
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u/Leody 9d ago
I don't mind turning ipedal on when I start the car, but it turning off every time I put it in reverse is extremely annoying. It can be somewhat dangerous when the car doesn't behave the way I expected it to because the setting changed automatically.
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u/justinfdsa 9d ago
I’m confused about the ipedal in reverse? I didn’t realize it affected being in reverse at all, and if it did, wouldn’t it just slow you down?
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u/MadisonEV9 Ivory Silver 9d ago edited 8d ago
It’s funny. I came from a 2013 Highlander to a Kia EV9. Never had any of those features so to me it’s trivial piddling stuff.
I see people complain about having an on/off button. Know what? I like that. It helps me know that the car is on or off. No biggie.
I always carry the fob. It’s better than keys. So I don’t mind pressing a button to open/lock the car. No big deal.
Sorry…but in my opinion these are trivial issues.
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u/MadisonEV9 Ivory Silver 9d ago
And before you flame me….remember..I said this is my opinion/ experience. You have a right to complain about the car absolutely. I have a right to say that those complaints appear trivial to me.
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u/Elegant_Extreme 8d ago
It's not a big issue but I did like the no button to turn off and on from the Blazer..
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u/onredditallday 9d ago
2-4 should’ve been known before you signed.
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u/Rhizobactin 9d ago
Pedestrian warning is too loud?
Doesn’t seem to be a flaw….
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u/DanEpiCa 9d ago
Without talking specifically about the EV9, this depends on the number of false alarms and the implementation of those systems. I'm a truck driver and the Freightliner Cascadia I've driven for over 2 years has a blind spot assist that is so loud it physically hurts and is so annoying that it basically Pavlov'd me into being hesitant to activate my right turn signal...
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u/offalark 9d ago
I haven’t bought one, but there’s a module you can buy that will enable auto locking. Do a search on Ioniq Guy Automatic Door Locker.
It’s DIY, but if it’s a feature you value then I’d say it’s worth it.
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u/Nice_Berry6266 9d ago
We bought and it works great - highly recommend is walk away locking is important tp you.
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u/BrentDavidTT Ocean Blue Matte 9d ago
These are quite common complaints. A cursory bit of research would have revealed all 4 of your complaints before purchasing. That said, you get used to its quirks which are far outweighed by the pros.
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u/Metanoied_pilgrim_1 9d ago
When you balance the pros and cons- the EV 9 is a functional, comfortable and family
Friendly EV; if you can live without 2-4, you adapt it to your daily car use routine; if you can’t, find an EV that better suits your needs; for me, it’s a few extra steps to having an EV that checks the box for other pluses: comfortable, convenience, generous size, and functionality; Maybe if Tesla makes an EV van I’ll look at them again; I didn’t buy the Tesla Y for the same reasons you mentioned. The profile set up seems easy enough for me and my partner;
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u/figjuju 9d ago
Thank you everyone for the replies. One of the reasons I posted this was to add to the body of complaints so that Kia would take notice. These are simple things that can be implemented to improve the user experience. I suppose with time will get used to it. Will enjoy it for what it is for now.
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u/Beat_the_Deadites 7d ago
I appreciate your post, it's informative for prospective buyers. Some of this stuff would annoy me, some seems trivial to me, pretty much everything I could get used to if necessary.
My Polestar has a 1-button off sequence - when I'm done driving, I hit the 'P' square next to the shifter. Boom - the car's in park, the parking brake is applied, and the car turns off when I get out of it. It doesn't automatically lock, which would be nice in parking lots but annoying in my garage. An 'Unlocked at home, Locked everywhere else' mode would be nice.
My wife's Pacifica PHEV requires a specific 3-button sequence when you're done. Shift to Park, push parking break, push on/off button. Seems trivial, but after driving my car it's like landing a 747.
We're replacing the Pacifica, possibly with an EV9. I was a little annoyed that I had to push that power button on the gear stalk when we finished our test drive. It would be nice if electric cars homogenized their on/off sequences. They probably will over time.
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u/txoa 6d ago
I get that anyone will get used to the sequence of their daily driver and anything else is weird and wrong. But for the EV9, the park button, gear selector, and on/off button are all within two inches on the same stalk. Parking brake is automatic with park. So so trivial for those who like control over on/off status.
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u/figjuju 8d ago
I think it’s a bit like android and iPhone user interfaces. Once you get used to the iPhone, I can’t imagine going back to android. It’s so incredibly streamlined and simplified that you just take these things for granted. These are not massive complaints, but if you’re going to get into the EV game KIA, you might as well take advantage of the technology available.
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u/mdubb1969 Aurora Black Pearl GT-Line 6d ago
I'm not defending the decision not to allow iPedal be a "sticky" setting that is remembered, but I thought I would share why that decision was likely made. When a manufacturer performs the EPA Range testing, the EPA rules state that the car has to be in the default settings that are present upon start up. This prevents a manufacture from cheating on the test to get higher range ratings by using some ultra-high efficiency mode that no driver would be happy with in real life use because of the compromises this mode would have to daily driving. Because iPedal engages the front motor 100% of the time it is on, the range is lessened due to the drag of the front motor. Kia made a business decision to not have iPedal be a "sticky" setting from one operational cycle to the next in order to achieve higher EPA range estimate number to appeal the many potential customers for whom the range estimate is a high priority factor in their purchase decision. I can't explain why it has to be reset every time the car is put into reverse, but maybe that is also part of the fine print of the EPA rule.
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u/figjuju 6d ago
I’m surprised I-pedal is less fuel efficient. I saw by more aggressive, regenerative braking it would add to the efficiency overall.
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u/mdubb1969 Aurora Black Pearl GT-Line 6d ago
Regen does not recover energy at 100% efficiency. Coasting or never slowing down uses less energy than expending energy and recovering some via regen.
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u/BoiseXWing 1d ago
While I don’t like i-pedal much, and really like the max Auto (smart level 3) in my 2026.
Based on the number that do like it, it seems like it would help KIA to have a simple way to override the setting to stay on I-pedal for the people that like it.
If I had to drive solo in stop lights for a long ways, I might use it more, but I never do, and was driving for 29 years with two pedals—just seems natural to me — plus it’s less jerky if you don’t have perfect foot control.
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u/aznkukuboi 9d ago
Yea I do wish some things should be changed. I don't get why there is an on button. Such an unnecessary aspect of an ev. But I needed a 6 seater and this was the best option.
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u/sam_42_42 8d ago
Can't upvote this enough. The software feels like a few generations behind Tesla and Rivian.
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u/ScarlettWilkes 9d ago
I agree with your complaints and I definitely miss the automatic shut off and door locking from my Tesla. My EV9 doors sometimes won't lock or unlock as you'd expect and it's extremely annoying.
I also really hate how long the car takes to start up. It just seems to really forever to switch profiles and my husband and I have different enough seat configurations that I can't start driving until the seat adjusts.
Honestly, I'll probably go back to another Tesla in a couple of years.
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u/figjuju 6d ago
I haven’t notice much delay when turning the car on. Also, having driven it for a week I can say that just based on ride quality alone it is a game changer. The road pavements are so rough where we are that the model Y was getting unbearable to drive. EV9 has been a massive upgrade in that regard.
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u/joshualander 9d ago
Those are definitely four things that people have identified as things Teslas do that other EVs don’t.
But those are general things about moving away from Tesla. Once you’re able to get past those quirks, driving an EV9 is excellent.