2026 Kia EV9 gets a price cut if you don't mind the slow lane

Regular readers will recall my rant about the "major asterisk" attached to the Kia EV9's maximum range. Specifically, if you wanted the top 304-mile range estimate in the EV9's first two years of production, you had to accept the slowest EV acceleration on the market.

I wish I were writing today to report that the asterisk can been removed for 2026, but it is unfortunately as relevant as ever. The EV9's Light Long Range RWD trim will soldier on with its 201-horsepower motor, which must now tug around 5,326 pounds of EV9, a 13-pound increase.

Instead, the big news out of Kia HQ is that the 2026 EV9 Light Long Range RWD gets a $2,000 price cut, dropping its base MSRP to $57,900.

I doubt that'll be enough to move more metal, but it does suggest that EV shoppers have been voting hard against the Light Long Range RWD with their wallets. You can't blame them, really, for wanting significantly better performance from a $60,000 SUV.

Wait, how slow is the EV9 Light Long Range RWD?

I'm glad you asked, because this has become one of my favorite EV subjects. When people say things like "All EVs are fast," you obviously want to have some ammunition ready for your rebuttal, and I'm about to give it to you.

It's certainly true that most EVs are significantly faster than their gas-powered counterparts, but boy, is the Light Long Range RWD an exception. Check it out, and keep in mind that the Kia Telluride gets the job done in less than 7 seconds for around $40,000:

Now, in addition to the $2k discount, eagle-eyed observers will notice that the 2026 Light Long Range RWD has gained exactly one mile of range compared to last year, according to Kia's estimates. But the 201-hp output is unchanged — remaining, oddly enough, 14 horses shy of the standard-range RWD model — and that, combined with the inevitably chunky weight of a three-row SUV with a big battery, is a recipe for losing every race.

As I noted yesterday, the new Hyundai Ioniq 9 RWD has a very similar problem, but it's incrementally less bad. Hyundai says the sprint to 60 mph takes 8.4 seconds with that configuration.

To be as fair as possible, I should point out that the Fiat 500e still exists, and its 8.5-second dash to 60 mph puts it a hair behind the Hyundai.

But you'll be hard-pressed to find any other new electric cars or SUVs that need more than 8 seconds to do the deed, let alone nearly 9 seconds. That means the EV9 Light Long Range RWD will probably continue to be the slowest EV on our shores for 2026, a dubious distinction that makes you wonder if it's worth Kia's while to continue selling this variant at all.

What else is new about the 2026 EV9?

Not much. There's a Nightfall Edition package that adds some gloss-black bits here and there, but it's only available on the EV9 Land AWD, which starts at a hefty $68,900.

Also, if you were thinking that the EV9 AWD's range estimate looked a little different in the table above, you were right. Kia has found three more miles of peak range for the 2026 AWD version, so the gap between the Light Long Range RWD and the non-GT Line AWD trims has narrowed to a fairly inconsequential 22 miles.

As for the GT Line, which was rated at 270 miles of range for 2025, Kia says it'll now do 280 miles despite carrying over its unique 21-inch wheels and tires, which seemed the likely culprit for last year's deficit. Time will tell whether the EPA agrees, but if Kia's putting it out there now, I'd say there's something to it.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for 2026 EV9 distinctions that might make a difference. We're still talking about fundamentally the same rig that debuted for the 2024 model year, which is generally a good thing for our fifth-ranked Large 3-Row Electric SUV — just not when it comes to the Light Long Range RWD.

MotorDonkey says

I would be significantly less than shocked to see the EV9 Light Long Range RWD disappear from the roster altogether within the next year or two. Even with an extra $2,000 on the hood, I can't imagine many shoppers plunking down what is still a serious chunk of change for a power-deprived model that doesn't really impress in the range column, either.

If anything, I bet people who might otherwise consider the Light Long Range RWD will end up at the Hyundai dealer, because the Ioniq 9 RWD only costs an extra grand or so, and it gives you 30 more miles of range plus the abovementioned 0.4-second acceleration edge.

But the bottom line is, if you're prepared to shell out for an SUV that costs around $60,000, you can find a little extra cash if it gets you a lot more car with hardly any compromise. That's the almost irresistible argument for the EV9 AWD, and I suspect it'll take more than the 2026 Long Range RWD's $2,000 price cut to make shoppers reconsider. ⛐ md