Categories: Cars

2024 Kia EV9 earns top safety ratings

Changes to the headlight aim helped the Kia EV9 earn a Top Safety Pick
The EV9 is one of only two three-row electric SUVs to earn a TSP
It has not completed the new crash test to earn a TSP+

The 2024 Kia EV9 protects families as well as it transports them, based on the latest safety results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Meeting more stringent crash criteria, the all-new electric three-row SUV earned a Top Safety Pick award, the IIHS announced Tuesday.

The Top Safety Pick acknowledgement only applies to EV9s built after January, however. EV9 Land and GT-Line trims built before then had headlights that caused too much glare, earning a “Poor” rating that disqualified it from consideration for what is widely regarded as the industry’s toughest and most comprehensive independent safety criteria. The NHTSA’s five-star safety rating system, which often lags in timeliness and in covering items like driver-assist features and headlights, has yet to weigh in on the new EV9.

The insurance-industry funded non-profit works with automakers to help make vehicles safer for consumers. In this case, Kia adjusted the headlight aim on models made after January to qualify for a TSP. It earned top “Good” ratings in the updated side-impact tests as well as in front crash tests.

It did not earn the industry’s highest safety rating—a Top Safety Pick+ award—because it has not yet undergone an updated front crash test that measures the impact on second-row passengers in a head-on collision. When that “updated moderate front overlap test” was introduced in 2022, most midsize and three-row crossover SUVs failed the test.

2024 Kia EV9 crash-test results from the IIHS

The IIHS typically raises the safety bar when most vehicles tested have met criteria. In working with automakers, the IIHS gives new criterion a year or so to be adjusted by automakers before it becomes part of its Top Safety Pick rating system. In 2022, more than 101 vehicles tested earned a TSP or TSP+; in 2023, in response to new testing methodology, the number dropped to 48. For 2024, 85 vehicles tested have earned either award.

One of only four electric three-row SUVs on sale right now and the most affordable, the EV9 joins the Rivian R1S on the IIHS’ coveted safety award list.

Three-row SUVs earning a 2024 TSP+ are: