Kia released business results for the first quarter of 2024, full of the usual sales and financial jargon. But with that press release, the company also published a recording of its CEO's Investor Day speech that took place earlier this month. And in it we discovered some juicy details about upcoming product.
The EV9 GT will break cover in January 2025 with "enormous power" from an upgraded dual-motor setup. Kia says it'll do 0 to 62 mph in less than four seconds, which is impressive given the large SUV’s heft, weighing nearly 6,000 pounds. We’re expecting a major power boost over the 379 horsepower and 516 pound-feet offered by the most potent version on sale today. The additional oomph will help the GT version shave off more than one second from the sprint time.
Unless Kia plans to improve the battery chemistry, the range will probably to take a hit. That's what usually happens when an EV gets the performance treatment at the expense of efficiency. The EV9 GT-Line available today does 270 miles on a single charge, per EPA. Kia mentions the full-fat GT model is getting a beefier suspension setup and upgraded brakes.
This isn't the only electric Kia SUV about to spawn a GT version. Although not mentioned during the CEO Investor Day, the EV5 GT (pictured below) has already made an early appearance in China. It was recently homologated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, with images showing up on MIIT's website.
Later during the presentation, which we've attached below, a product roadmap was displayed in the background. An updated EV6 is scheduled for a market launch in the second quarter of this year. The sporty EV6 GT will follow in early Q4. Kia also plans to tweak the popular Sportage in the final quarter of the year. Elsewhere, the first-ever EV3 and new K4 are coming in Q3 when the large K8 sedan unavailable in the United States is bound to get a mid-cycle facelift.
But first, a five-door hatchback version of the also-not-for-America K3 compact sedan is coming soon.
