2026 Kia EV9: Manahawkin Buyers Guide

What actually changed for 2026

The EV9 isn't a redesign this year — it's the same three-row electric SUV that launched to strong reviews, carried into its third model year with a handful of real upgrades. The biggest is under the charge door: every 2026 EV9 switches to the NACS charging port (the same plug Tesla popularized) as standard equipment, with a CCS adapter included so owners can still use CCS-style fast chargers during the transition. Kia also added a Nightfall Edition package to the Land trim at no extra cost — 20-inch gloss-black wheels, black badging, and an exclusive Roadrider Brown paint color — and gave the GT-Line two new two-tone roof combinations. Every all-wheel-drive trim now gets a Terrain Mode with Snow, Mud, and Sand settings, which matters more on a sandy Long Beach Island access road than the spec sheet lets on.

Range, power, and the trim ladder

The EV9 splits cleanly by drivetrain. Light and Light Long Range are rear-wheel drive only; Wind, Land, and GT-Line are all-wheel drive only, with a shared 379-horsepower dual-motor setup and an available Boost mode for quicker launches. Battery size is the other axis: the base Light rides on a smaller 76.1-kWh pack good for an EPA-estimated 230 miles, while every other trim steps up to the 99.8-kWh pack. That bigger battery stretches the Light Long Range to an EPA-estimated 305 miles — the longest range in the lineup — even though, a little counterintuitively, its single motor actually makes slightly less horsepower than the base Light's. Wind and Land share an EPA-estimated 283 miles; GT-Line's sportier tuning and equipment trim that to 280. DC fast charging tops out around 230 kW on Kia's 800-volt architecture, quick enough to add roughly 100 miles in about 13 minutes at a compatible charger.

Pick your 2026 EV9

What buyers say about this store

Manahawkin Kia holds a 4.8-star average across more than 2,800 Google reviews, and EV9 owners are among the most vocal. One buyer who made the switch to electric here: "I recently purchased a brand new EV9 from Manahawkin Kia, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the entire experience. From start to finish, Cono, my salesman, went above and beyond to make sure everything went smoothly... Jon, the manager, also played a huge role in helping make the deal happen." Another, coming out of a gas Porsche SUV into an EV9 lease: "It's refreshing to work with professionals that know the product (Chandler - sales), can run all the numbers transparently and fairly (Dirk - manager)... The EV9 is a stellar SUV and they made the transition super comfortable." That pattern — a low-pressure team that takes the time to actually explain an unfamiliar electric SUV — shows up across years of reviews, not just the EV9-specific ones.

Owning one at the shore

An electric SUV changes the maintenance conversation more than most buyers expect, and the EV9 service & repair guide covers what that means day to day — no oil changes, but real questions about winter range, salt-air care, and where to charge on Long Beach Island runs. The money side — what the trims cost with New Jersey's 6.625% sales tax, the current state of EV incentives, and the lease-versus-buy question for an electric SUV — lives in the pricing & leasing guide.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the 2026 Kia EV9?

Orderable trims run $54,900 to $71,900 MSRP before the $1,645 destination charge, New Jersey's 6.625% sales tax, and fees. That's Light through GT-Line; the announced GT performance trim has no price because Kia has paused it before launch.

Will the Kia EV9 be discontinued?

No — the EV9 continues into its third model year for 2026 with real updates (NACS charging, the Nightfall Edition, new GT-Line colors). The only trim in question is the high-performance GT, which was announced and then postponed; the core Light-through-GT-Line lineup is very much alive.

Is the EV9 bigger than the Telluride?

They're close, and both seat up to seven or eight depending on configuration, but the EV9 is built on Kia's dedicated electric platform rather than the Telluride's gas architecture. The honest way to settle it for your family is a back-to-back look at both — Manahawkin Kia stocks both a few steps apart on the lot.

What's the difference between the 2025 and 2026 EV9?

The 2026 model carries over the same core SUV with a switch to the NACS charging port as standard (with a CCS adapter included), the new no-cost Nightfall Edition package on Land, fresh two-tone paint on GT-Line, and a Terrain Mode added across all-wheel-drive trims. It's a refinement year, not a redesign.

Why is the EV9 so expensive?

Three rows, a large battery, and Kia's fastest DC charging architecture all cost real money to build. Against other three-row electric SUVs the EV9 is priced competitively, and the base Light trim exists specifically to give shoppers a lower entry point without the bigger battery.

Six trims, one lot to compare them on

The guides that follow break down each trim's case in detail, but nothing beats sitting in a Light and a GT-Line ten minutes apart. The store keeps the EV9 lineup alongside its gas and hybrid Kias, and the same family has been putting Ocean County drivers in cars from this corner of Stafford Township for the better part of seventy years.