The electric Kia EV9 has achieved an ANCAP five-star safety rating, assessed against the latest 2023 to 2025 criteria, based on testing of left-hand drive models by Euro NCAP. The rating applies to all variants.
ADULT OCCUPANT PROTECTION
The EV9’s passenger compartment remained stable in the frontal offset (MPDB) test. Protection of the driver chest and lower legs was adequate, with protection of the front passenger chest rated adequate. Protection was good for all other critical body regions of the driver and front passenger.
The front structure presented a moderate risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle in the MPDB test (which evaluates vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility), and a 3.50-point penalty (out of eight points) was applied.
In the full width frontal test, protection was adequate for the chest of the driver and marginal for the chest of the rear passenger, with good protection of all other critical body areas.
In the side impact test, protection offered to all critical body regions of the driver was good, while in the oblique pole test, protection was marginal for the chest of the driver and good for all other critical body regions.
The EV9 is equipped with a centre airbag to protect against occupant-to-occupant interaction in side impact crashes and it provided good protection for the head of both front seat occupants.
Prevention of excursion (movement towards the other side of the vehicle) in the far side impact tests was assessed as good for the vehicle-to-vehicle impact scenario, and adequate in the vehicle-to-pole scenario.
A rescue sheet, providing information for first responders in the event of a crash is available, and a multi-collision braking system is fitted. It was demonstrated that if the car entered water, the doors would remain functional for the minimum required time period, though window opening functionality was not demonstrated.
CHILD OCCUPANT PROTECTION
In the frontal offset and side impact tests, protection of the 10-year and six-year dummies was good for all critical body regions, and the vehicle scored maximum points in these tests.
The EV9 is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats in the second and third rows, and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
An indirect child presence detection system, which provides an alert when a child may have been left in the vehicle, is standard for all rear passenger seats.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, though one of the selected Type A convertible seats in rearward facing mode and both of the selected Type B in forward facing mode could not be correctly installed using the ISOFix anchorages in the third row of seats.
VULNERABLE ROAD USER PROTECTION
The bonnet provided good or adequate protection to the head of a struck pedestrian over most of its surface. Marginal and poor results were recorded along the front of the bonnet, at the base of the windscreen and on the stiff windscreen pillars.
Protection of the pelvis was mixed, with areas of good and poor performance while protection of the femurs and lower legs was good at all test locations.
The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system is capable of detecting and reacting to vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, including turning scenarios. Testing of this system showed good performance in pedestrian test scenarios, with collisions avoided or mitigated in most tests. An AEB system in reverse (AEB back over) is available but was not standard on the tested vehicle, so tests were not conducted.
Good performance was seen in cyclist test scenarios with collisions avoided or mitigated at all test speeds, including the turning and ‘dooring’ scenarios. The vehicle provides a warning if a door is opened while a bicycle is approaching from behind.
Good performance was also seen in the motorcyclist tests, including the turning and overtaking scenarios.
SAFETY ASSIST
In addition to AEB, the EV9 is fitted with a lane support system with lane keep assist and emergency lane keeping functionality, along with blind spot monitoring.
Tests of the AEB (car-to-car) system showed good performance with collisions avoided or mitigated in most test scenarios, including in AEB junction scenarios where the vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across or into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The AEB system also avoided impact in some of the crossing scenarios, with a marginal score awarded in these tests. Tests of the AEB head-on function showed good performance with mitigation in the travelling straight and lane change test scenarios.
Tests of lane support system functionality showed some good performance, including the more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios.
A speed assistance system with speed limit information function and intelligent adaptive cruise control is standard, informing the driver of the local speed limit and automatically changing the set speed.
The EV9 is fitted with a seatbelt reminder system for all front and rear seating positions, but occupant detection is not available for the centre seating position in the second-row seat.
A direct driver monitoring system capable of detecting driver distraction and drowsiness is fitted as standard.