Kia EV9 Leaked A Day Before Its Grand Unveiling

As is the norm, the all-new Kia EV9 leaked a day before its grand unveiling. The leaked images come via Instagram accounts wilcoblok and cochespias1, and are low resolution, but they do confirm what we've suspected all along. The production car is exceptionally close to the concept vehicle, which is extremely rare. There are subtle differences, however.

The individual LEDs in the bumper are gone and replaced with a headlight that mimics the concept's vision. Kia also replaced the side-mirror cameras with more traditional rearview mirrors, though this particular design element could be market specific. It's not allowed in the USA, but you can put them on a car in the UK. The taillights are the same shape but slightly larger, and even the radical alloy wheel design made it to production.

Sadly, we can also see the outline of a flush door handle on the rear door, which means the excellent suicide items didn't make it to production.

Kia also stuck with the concept's interior design but needed to add a few things. The concept's interior was bare and showed what could be done when minimalism is taken to the extreme. But a production car needs reasonable seats, cupholders, vents, a round steering wheel, and some buttons to control all the features.

The South Korean manufacturer retained the basic upper dashboard design, including the sizeable digital interface. We like the large armrest between the seats, which is also previewed in the concept. It's a bit more practical in the production car, boasting two cupholders, some buttons, and what appears to be a wireless charger. We can also see a large storage bin underneath and loads of legroom. With no transmission or drivetrain tunnel underneath the vehicle, the interior designers had room to play around more.