Kia EV9 Pickup.
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This is quite a peculiar development… The photos above appear to show a pickup version of the new Kia EV9.
As you can see, this is not Kia’s upcoming pickup truck, the Tasman. The Tasman truck will be sold in many countries, but not the US.
Because of the antiquated “Chicken tax”, it would be burdened with a huge 25% tariff unless it was built in the US. The EV9 SUV will start production in Georgia this month, and after the batteries start production in Georgia as well next year, the EV9 will qualify for the full federal tax credit. This also means a Georgia-built pickup version would avoid the 25% tariff.
While I have seen a few totally unrealistic illustrations of a possible EV9 pickup, I had never seen anything close to real about it, until today. It also seems the truck is almost ready. This will mean Kia is seriously going after Rivian with an electric 3-row SUV and pickup, at a much lower price point.
The EV9 is not my cup of tea, at least visually, but it has been getting very good reviews so far. And has been pretty popular for Kia already with over 4000 units sold over the first 3 months of the year. And 1,572 units in April alone.
For now, at least, the Kia EV9 has the “almost affordable 3-row EV SUV” market to itself. That will change soon with the arrival of its closely related cousin, the Hyundai Ioniq 9, which has the potential to be even more popular, with its less polarizing design. As well as at least 2 new 3-row SUVs coming from Toyota next year and in 2026. By that time the new Ford 3-row SUV will also be available.
And many more…
This is very clearly a mule. It has an EV9 front and a Santa Cruz rear. In Kia’s EV roadmap through 2030 (announced two years ago in May 2022) they included an EV pickup launching in 2026.