Video: 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 Review: A Fitting EV Flagship

(gentle music) For this drive, I got behind the wheel of the top performance calligraphy design trim, which has the highest output dual motor all-wheel drive powertrain, which makes 422 horsepower and is estimated to have a very respectable 311 miles of total range. In fact, that's the lowest range estimate for the Ioniq 9 with the less performance dual motor and the single motor rear-wheel drive version having even more range. That's thanks in part to a 110.3 kilowatt hour battery pack, which is a little bit larger than the just under 100 kilowatt hour pack you can get in the Kia EV9. Unfortunately, because this is the top trim that also means it has a top trim price, and as tested, this Ioniq 9 is priced at around $78,090 including destination. And really, do you want to pay almost $80,000 for a Hyundai? After driving it, I gotta be honest, you might. I know I just said that the estimated range of this trim of the Ioniq 9 is 311 miles, but I will say when I got into it for the first time, the battery was at 96% and the range estimate was showing 352 miles with both a potential maximum range of 375 miles and a potential minimum range of 230, I guess if I kept it in sport mode and just drove flat out for as long as I could. The range estimates do seem accurate overall, at least in terms of miles driven versus miles ticking down on the range estimate. And as far as efficiency goes, I saw about two to three miles per kilowatt hour, which is expected and also what we've observed in our own Kia EV9. As for the rest of the driving experience, this is gonna sound like damning with faint praise, but I promise you, it's not. We love other Hyundai EVs, and really what this is, is the Ioniq 5 but big. It drives very well. It has plenty of power from a stop, especially with instant torque from the all-electric powertrain. That's also good because in this top trim, it weighs over three tons. You have enough power to hustle around town from stoplight to stoplight and enough power to get you going onto the highway, merge safely, and if you need it, a little bit in reserve to help you pass slower vehicles. I will say while the performance dual motor powertrain is rated at 422 horsepower and 516 pounds feet of torque, both of which are more than our EV9's 379 horsepower and 443 pounds feet of torque, there's not really much of a noticeable difference in terms of performance. I'm sure it would come out in measured acceleration testing, but seat of the pants, not really that different. Steering is perfectly big SUV comfortable. It's not numb, but it's not super communicative. The brake pedal feel is linear enough, but really around town, I prefer using the i-Pedal one-pedal driving system, which just like on other Hyundai EVs is incredibly easy to use, very easy to modulate. You can adjust the regenerative braking settings using the paddles on the steering wheel. As it is, you have really five levels of regenerative braking, levels zero through three, zero being none, three being the most without it being one-pedal driving and then you have the i-Pedal one-pedal driving. I also found that the Ioniq 9 had good ride quality and body control, at least for again, a three ton SUV. It did have larger 21 inch wheels, which could produce some harsh impacts, but this has the longest wheel base of any Hyundai EV at 123.2 inches. That's even longer than the Rivian R1S. And that long wheel base does help to create a comfortable ride. There was really only one disappointing part of the drive experience, and that was the lane centering steering behavior, which had us pinballing from side to side in the lane. Pretty annoying. Didn't feel as safe as I would like in that kind of situation. With over the air updates that feels like software that could be updated, we'll have to see. But on the whole, the safety systems do their job. You have the excellent blind spot camera monitor system, which I love. When you activate your turn signal, a little view appears in the instrument panel. I've loved it on every Hyundai that's had it. Not a surprise that I love it here. Part of the other problem of test driving an EV like this is that there are things we don't get a chance to do, so I have not had a chance to charge the Ioniq 9 at all. I'm confident that it will be a good experience because previous Hyundai EVs excel at charging. It's one of their strongest attributes, but we'll have to see. The Ioniq 9 does come with a standard NACS charge port, which means it has access to the Tesla Supercharger network, but that's not quite as fast right now as you can get on public DC fast charging from non-Tesla providers. Hyundai didn't provide any stats for V4 Superchargers, which are the newest Superchargers available, but on V3, they said that the Ioniq 9 charges at about 126 kilowatts, which takes you from 10% to 80% state of charge in around 40 minutes. Again, ideal conditions as well. If you go to something like a 350 kilowatt DC fast charger, the Ioniq 9 has an adapter, so you can use non-NACS connectors. Hyundai says you can charge at speeds of up to 237 kilowatts, which will get you from that same 10% to 80% in just 24 minutes. That's about as fast as we've seen from other Hyundai EVs and more than 15 minutes faster than you'll get at a Tesla Supercharger station. Though, you may be trading speed for reliability, given the reliability of various charging networks compared to Tesla Superchargers. Home charging speed tops out at 11 kilowatts, and it should take you about 10 hours overnight to go from 10% to 100% on a level 2 home charger. We think these are all estimates because again, we haven't had a chance to charge the Ioniq 9 at all. Inside, materials quality is excellent and the first and second row of the Ioniq 9 I tested had Hyundai's relaxation seats. It's the first time they've been applied to the second row of a vehicle. They debuted in the first row seats in the Ioniq 5. Very comfortable. The whole interior is incredibly roomy. It's almost minivan like. It feels roomier than our EV9, and I also had no problem accessing the second or third rows at 6 foot 1 and not a very small human being. You can get seating for either seven or six. The vehicle I tested had seating for six, so two in the front, two captain's chairs in the second row, and then the third row seats two as well. If you get a bench seat in the second row, that's how you get to seven. There are also a ton of useful interior features that we've seen in other Hyundais that you can find in the Ioniq 9. The center console slides fore and aft for easier access. The cover of the center console is also hinged on both sides, so front passengers and second row passengers can open it up with ease. There's a bin under the center console for the second row passengers. Tech is also really great in the Ioniq 9, but it's not new. We've seen the dual 12.3 inch screens before, one for the instrument panel and one for the touchscreen in other Hyundais, and it works great. The graphics are great. The user interface is very intuitive, very easy to use. You get wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, works fantastic. You get physical audio controls and buttons for things like the NAV system. And below that, what I really appreciate are the dedicated climate controls, but I do wish they were physical buttons and not a touch sensitive panel. The Ioniq 9 is on sale now. Pricing starts at $60,555 for the base S model, going all the way up to $78,090 for the performance calligraphy design model that I tested. Good adjacent news though is that the Ioniq 9 is likely still eligible for the full $7,500 federal EV tax credit for as long as that federal EV tax credit continues to last. Reports say, it might be phased out by the end of this year, so if that's something that's affecting your shopping decision, you might want to get on it sooner rather than later. We still have a lot to test in the Ioniq 9. Stay tuned for things like charging tests, cargo tests. We'll see how child seats fit in the Ioniq 9. We also are really looking forward to doing an in-depth comparison with our long-term Kia EV9 and seeing which one we prefer. For now though, I'll say that the Ioniq 9 was every bit as good as I expected it to be. I only had a brief time behind the wheel, so these aren't the most detailed thoughts just yet, but I can't wait to get the Ioniq 9 back in our home office for more thorough testing, and you can find that and my full review at cars.com/news. (gentle bright music)