2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 U.S.-Spec Review: Middle-Class Fancy

Motor Trend

20-05-2025

Folks, it's time to start asking yourself the hard questions, starting with what's stopping you from buying an EV? What do you do with your vehicle that an EV couldn't handle? People buy big, seven-seat, three-row SUVs because they want a vehicle that can do everything, and the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV fits the bill perfectly.
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Name Your Concern
Let's run down the list. You need to fit post-growth-spurt teenagers in all three rows? Even the third row of the Ioniq 9 is comfortable for 6-footers. They'll be safe, too, because it comes with 10 airbags and is targeting top safety ratings from both NHTSA and IIHS.
You need all-wheel drive for bad weather and the annual family camping trip? Would you prefer regular or performance, because it offers both?
You need to tow the boat out to the lake this summer? Or take the trailer camping? Great, it pulls up to 5,000 pounds with all-wheel drive and 3,500 pounds with rear-wheel drive.
Road trips? It goes between 311 and 335 miles on a charge. You're concerned about charging on a road trip, with or without the trailer? No problem, it comes with a NACS charging port and works on Tesla Superchargers and has an adapter for every other brand of charger.
You like your tech? Great, it offers everything from a hands-on driver assistance system to over-the-air (OTA) update-capable systems to using your phone as your key. Hyundai has also signed up to offer Apple CarPlay Ultra in the near future.
Worried about fuel and maintenance prices? The mechanically similar Kia EV9 is estimated by the EPA to cost between $850 and $950 per year to charge. The most efficient Chevy Tahoe (the diesel) costs $2,200 to fuel, and the V-8s can cost as much as $3,600 per year by the same estimator. Even a more carlike Hyundai Palisade costs about $2200 per year to fuel. Not just cheaper, Hyundai even throws in your choice of a free home charger or $400 in public charging credits when you buy an Ioniq 9. With no oil to change, the Ioniq 9 will require fewer trips to the dealer for regular maintenance, as well.
It gets super cold where you live? New battery management tech allows it to hold 10 percent more energy than other EVs in extreme cold. Plus, you'll never be stranded because it's too cold to charge, as the battery heater activates the moment you plug in, even if the battery is dead.
It can also do things your Tahoe or Expedition or whatever can't. Bidirectional charging through a Hyundai Home charger allows you to power your house when the power goes out. Even if you don't want to spring for that upgrade (installation can get very pricey), you can plug into the interior outlets—including both three-prong 120-volt outlets and 100-watt USB-C ports capable of charging a laptop without the brick—and run your basic appliances and devices for days.
It's Not Perfect
While the Ioniq 9 will do everything you typically do with a three-row SUV, it's not a perfect one-to-one replacement. If you need to tow more than 5,000 pounds regularly and don't already own another tow vehicle, obviously that won't work.
Getting that range, which beats its Kia sibling by as much as 81 miles like for like, is the result of slightly better aerodynamics and a more efficient cabin cooling system, but mostly a larger battery. Filling the 110.3-kWh battery takes time, even at speeds up to 232 kW. On a 350-kW CCS charging station, getting from 10 to 80 percent takes 24 minutes. Nearly all Tesla stations out there right now are 400-volt units (the Ioniq 9 runs at 800 volts), which drags that time out to 40 minutes. Two or more short charging stops are recommended over one long stop, and plug-and-charge capability along with access to most charging networks through the Hyundai BlueLink app will help speed up each stop.
Speaking of, BlueLink is free to the original owner of the car, but future owners will have to pay. Likewise, the vehicle's cellular data connection is free for three months or 3 gigabytes, but after that, it's $25 per month.
Being physically larger than the Kia also nets it a bit more cargo space, but it comes with caveats. The tapering tail makes for a smaller rear hatch, so fitting large, bulky items will be more challenging than in a boxier SUV.
And while the Ioniq 9 finally adds a useful frunk to a Hyundai EV, it's already spoken for with the tire repair kit, portable charger, and charging adapters, which at least frees up the limited space under the rear cargo floor. The frunk gets bigger if you forgo all-wheel drive, but only the base model offers rear-wheel drive, so you're giving up a ton of features for the extra space.
Nice Place to Drive
Built on Hyundai Motor Group's flexible E-GMP platform, the Ioniq 9 shares a lot of behavioral traits with existing Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis EVs, which are all generally excellent. With 422 hp and 512-lb-ft available on our Calligraphy specification test vehicle, the big SUV charges up the interstate onramp in a way most three-row SUVs could only dream of.
Hyundai quotes 4.9 seconds to 60 mph with the performance all-wheel-drive powertrain, 6.2 seconds with regular AWD, and 8.4 seconds with rear drive, all of which are perfectly reasonable or better.
The steering, meanwhile, has appropriate heft for casual driving, and the low center of gravity inherent to EVs allows it to take a cloverleaf ramp with far more poise than most gas-powered full-size SUVs. The ride quality isn't quite as supple as in a Genesis, but it's far better than its gas-fed competition and better than most non-luxury EVs.
Serious work has gone into making the interior as quiet as possible, including borrowing noise-cancelling technology from Genesis, and it mostly works. The big wheels on our high-spec vehicle did occasionally get a bit noisy over rougher pavement.
Hyundai's had plenty of time to perfect EV brakes, and it shows. The brake pedal is pleasingly firm and betrays no transition between mechanical and regenerative braking. The regen can be ramped up to full one-pedal driving, and it, too, works brilliantly even if it doesn't remember your setting after it's been parked.
We noted earlier the rear hatch opening is smallish, and although that could've been an issue for rearward visibility, Hyundai designed and engineered around it. The near-vertical rear glass allows for a reasonably sized view when the third-row headrests are down, and a camera mode in the rearview mirror exists for when they're not.
Nice Place to Be
In addition to being quiet and spacious, Hyundai has tried hard to make the interior a nice place to be. Go high enough up the trim ladder, and you can get power captain's chairs in the first and second rows each with a footrest and deep-reclining Relax mode. Also available at higher trims are nice-to-haves such as a two-tone dashboard and power third-row seats that can be controlled from the touchscreen up front.
Equally useful is Universal Island 2.0, the sliding console between the front seats. Able to be adjusted fore and aft, you can put the controls and armrests exactly where you want them, make space for purses or other cargo between the front footwells, make the rear climate control screen easier to reach in the second row, and even transfer small items to the rear and back. Thanks to a double-hinged lid, a removable partition below it, and a sliding drawer below that, you no longer need to dislocate your shoulder to hand something back. Drop it in the console and slide it back.
Also easy to access is the third row. The powered second-row seats on higher trims motor out of the way (or back) in about six seconds and leave a decently large gap for an adult to climb through. Thanks to the flat floor, it's also easy enough to simply walk between the second-row chairs, if equipped.
It the way back, the extra length compared to the Kia version makes for a deeper cargo area with the third row up. At 21.9 cubic feet, it's only 2.6 cubic feet smaller than a Chevy Tahoe's despite being a foot shorter in exterior length and roughly 6 inches shorter in exterior height—and therefore easier to fit in your garage.
Not Cheap, Not That Expensive
Three-row SUVs aren't cheap, and that goes especially for EVs. Even still, the Ioniq 9 rings in only slightly higher than its smaller, shorter-range Kia sibling at $60,555 to start. That puts it right on top of a Tahoe and Expedition, too, with cheaper refueling costs.
You could save money stepping down in comfort, power, and class by going with the smaller, gas-powered Hyundai Palisade, but you won't get the same experience. Even the Tahoe gets thousands of dollars more expensive on the top end, pushing well into the low $80Ks where the Ioniq 9 tops out at $78,090.
Likewise, trying to go up a class to a 'premium' brand like Volvo or Acura gets expensive quickly, never mind full-on luxury brands. It's a pricey Hyundai, no doubt, but compared to other vehicles playing in the same space, it's competitively priced.
Knowing what you do now, we're back to the original question: What's keeping you from buying an EV like the Ioniq 9?