Kia EV9 Will Get The Full-Fat GT Treatment In 2025

Kia is officially working on a go-faster version of the recently unveiledEV9, which will wear the GT badge.

Kia finally revealed thepower output and performance figuresfor the highly-anticipated EV9 and they left us slightly underwhelmed. The most potent model only has 380 horsepower and 443 lb-ft on tap, which is good for a six-second 0-62 mph sprint. Kia will eventually sell an additional 74 lb-ft power boost via its new Kia Connect Store, which drops the sprint time to 5.3 seconds. While 0-60 mph times are meaningless, humans like quantifying things using numbers. And that means the EV9 might be considered less than its main rival (Tesla Model X) that can reach 60 mph in less than four seconds.

Kia is on top of the problem, however. "We are aware of the growing demand for high-performance vehicles in the electric era," Kia's president and CEO, Ho Sung Song told us in a media roundtable.

"Building on the success of the Kia EV6 GT, we are happy to announce that we are currently developing a high-performance version of the EV9, which will aim to redefine what performance means in an electric SUV. We plan to release the GT version of the EV9 in early 2025," said Song.

Kia mentioned a GT-line model during the EV9's unveiling, but it's more of a design package than anything else. We're talking about afull-fat GT model like the Kia EV6 GT. The latter has a dual-motor setup producing 576 hp and 545 lb-ft, suitable for a 0 to 60 mph sprint time of 3.4 seconds. It also comes standard with Hidden Drift Mode and Hidden Drift Mode +.

By the time the EV9 GT is introduced, Kia will likely have even more fun technology at its disposal. The Hyundai Mothership is hard at work finding new ways to make electric vehicles more engaging.