With 300 miles of vary in each mannequin and US-built, Hyundai’s largest EV takes it upmarket.
On Wednesday, simply earlier than the Los Angeles auto present, the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 battery-electric crossover made its world debut. The premiere was held on the Goldstein Residence, an early Nineteen Sixties residence with expansive views set right into a hillside in LA’s Beverly Crest neighborhood. The home has been a design icon because it opened, and its use underscored the upscale market focused by the electrical three-row SUV from one of many world’s most formidable carmakers.
With greater than 300 miles of vary from each model, house for as much as seven passengers, and the NACS charging port from Day One, the Ioniq 9 may change into Hyundai’s halo EV. It’s a sq. however design-forward three-row utility car with high-design interiors and the model’s mixture of user-friendly interfaces and superior tech.
Rivals embrace the 2025 Kia EV9, Rivian R1S, and Tesla Mannequin X now on sale, and the upcoming Cadillac Vistiq, amongst others. The 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 will go on sale in Spring 2025. It’s constructed within the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Bryan County, Georgia, that now assembles the refreshed 2025 Ioniq 5 five-seat hatchback—and it’s anticipated to qualify for the complete $7,500 federal buy incentives, if it nonetheless exists when the car goes on sale.
Costs and remaining trim specs will likely be launched nearer to its on-sale date.
Boxy however surprisingly smooth
The Ioniq 9 adapts the upright, boxy design language of the novel and well-received 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe crossover utility car to an EV that, by necessity, has to slide via the air as effectively as potential.
Hyundai calls it “daring and chic,” and the horizontal entrance gentle bar just under the rounded entrance fringe of the hood stresses the horizontal line that draw the attention to the perimeters of this tall, relatively slab-sided car. Arches over the wheel wells and a 3rd facet window that angles up disguise a facet crease that droops behind the rear facet doorways.
Not like utility automobiles that attempt to disguise a fastback form with a protracted roof spoiler, the Ioniq 9 has a defiantly upright tailgate—identical to the Santa Fe—outlined by vertical taillights made up of its “parametric pixel” sq. lights. The impact is much like that of a Cadillac Escalade.
Regardless of its boxy stance, Hyundai claims a drag coefficient of 0.27 for the Ioniq 9—reflecting 1000’s of hours of wind tunnel time to remove turbulence, scale back drag, and let the slab-sided SUV slip via the air utilizing as little battery vitality as potential. (Word drag coefficients from totally different makers can’t be straight in contrast as a result of there’s no single set of testing standards.)
Consumers can select amongst 19-, 20-, and 21-inch wheels; Hyundai notes the EPA projected vary of 335 miles is measured on a Lengthy-Vary RWD mannequin with the smallest 19-inch wheel/tire mixture.
Capacious, premium
Dimensionally, the Ioniq 9’s 123-inch wheelbase is longer than its Rivian R1S (121 inches) or Tesla Mannequin X (117 inches) opponents, but it’s inside a tenth of an inch of the Tesla’s 199-inch general size and nearly 2 inches shorter than the R1S.
Headroom and legroom in each the second and third rows examine favorably as effectively, although dimensions can deceive—and testing all three in particular person would be the solely technique to see should you and your loved ones really match comfortably. Cargo quantity is 21.9 cubic toes behind the third row, and 46.7 cu ft with the third row folded away. Once more, these figures match or beat the R1S and Mannequin X.
Behind the wheel, the motive force and entrance passenger face a large, low rectangular curved panoramic show over a door-to-door horizontal sprint rail that comes with slim air vents. Rest Seats within the first and second rows recline totally, which Hyundai suggests will let as much as 4 occupants relaxation and loosen up throughout charging stops.
Hyundai’s Common Island 2.0 middle console slides on tracks, giving the power to stroll between the entrance seats in its rear place. The armrest door opens from each entrance and rear for entry to its higher and decrease trays.
Each six- and seven-seat configurations are supplied, with elective Swiveling Seats within the second row so passengers within the second and third rows can discuss to one another (when not engrossed of their units). Different normal or elective options embrace a powered second row that strikes for third-row entry with a single contact, and a powered folding third row.
300 miles, as much as 422 hp, 800 volts
The 2026 Ioniq 9 is constructed on the 800-volt e-GMP structure Hyundai shares with siblings Kia and Genesis, however it goals larger on vary and energy than the Kia EV9 with comparable dimensions. Hyundai says it’s concentrating on at the very least 300 miles of EPA-rated vary for each mannequin.
All of them may have a big 110.3-kilowatt-hour battery pack, and all are powered by a 160-kilowatt (215-horsepower) motor on the rear axle. Each Ioniq 9 comes with a NACS charging plug from Day One—as do the Ioniq 5s already in manufacturing on the Metaplant. Quick-charging time from 10 to 80 p.c of battery capability at a 350-kW charging station is quoted “underneath optimum situations” at 24 minutes.
The bottom Lengthy Vary mannequin of the Ioniq 9 is rear-wheel-drive solely, whereas the Lengthy Vary AWD mannequin provides a 70-kW motor up entrance, boosting whole energy to 303 hp—and the Ioniq 9 Efficiency AWD mannequin enlarges the entrance motor to match the rear, at 160 kW, for a complete of 422 hp. Quoted acceleration from 0 to 60 mph is 8.4 seconds, 6.2 seconds, and 4.9 seconds respectively.
Towing capability of the rear-wheel-drive mannequin is rated at 3,500 kilos, with AWD variations at 5,000 kilos. As all the time, towing will eat considerably into rated vary—and you could find plenty of movies on-line that take a look at that very concern.
Tech that prospects say they need
Hyundai stated its analysis exhibits that EV consumers worth superior know-how options of their automobiles, and pays for them. Accordingly, the Ioniq 9 consists of over-the-air updates that may add options even after buy, and Options on Demand retailer that may let house owners purchase digital upgrades from the web retailer that embrace dynamic lighting patterns and such content material streaming choices as Amazon Music and Soundcloud.
Different tech options embrace Hyundai Digital Key 2 to let customers unlock and activate the automotive with their smartphones, and even Hyundai Pay constructed into the automotive—permitting the automotive to pay for charging, tolls, and different prices in future. The same old suite of lively and passive digital security options is current, although Hyundai stated little about anticipated security scores.
Hyundai offered airfare, lodging, and meals to allow Charged to deliver you this first-person report.
