Best Family Car To Buy 2024

Kia has done it again, but for an entirely new reason. The new Kia EV9 usurps the Kia Telluride as our Best Family Car To Buy 2024. 

The all-new electric three-row crossover follows a familiar format as the the three-row Telluride that has won our Best Family Car To Buy award for the past three years since it launched new in 2020. Striking style, a spacious cabin, and a relative value welcome the Kia EV9 to market, but it’s also something the Telluride can’t be: a tailpipe-emission free option for the next generation of family cars. 

It’s the only electric three-row crossover SUV priced at around $60,000 and not marketed as a luxury vehicle. The all-electric EV9 boasts a 304-mile range with a 99.8-kwh battery pack fitted on Light Long Range models for about $61,000. The base Light model costs only $56,395—about $1,900 more than a loaded 2024 Kia Telluride—but it has a smaller 76.1-kwh pack and a range of 230 miles.

As a daily family gofer—as in, “go for this” and “go for that”—that base model could be more than enough for most family’s needs. The rear-wheel-drive base model seats seven passengers with a second-row bench, and it comes with convenience features such as twin 12.3-inch screens with wireless smartphone connectivity, a wireless smartphone charger, synthetic leather seating, 8-way power front seats that are heated and cooled, a smart key, two USB ports in each row, and all the cupholders. 

Kia insures it with a 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty and 10-year/100,000-mile electric powertrain warranty, and packs it with standard driver-assist features that include automatic emergency braking front and rear, active lane control, blind-spot monitors, and adaptive cruise control.

Sized like the Telluride, the Kia EV9 stretches out on a wheelbase that’s nearly eight inches longer, which makes it roomier for the reclining second-row captain’s chairs to seat six passengers total. Two teens can fit in the third row but tall or leggy adults will need to negotiate with mid-row passengers for suitable seating positions. Up front, a floating two-tiered center console leaves the floor open, but the space below the armrest pulls out into a drawer for second-row passengers to access.

Cargo room measures out to 20.2 cubic feet behind the last row of seats, but power-fold down the second row and flip the third row down for up to 81.9 cubic feet of storage. There’s also a small front trunk to stow the charge cord. 

Most EV9 intenders will likely pick the larger battery pack, and the choice of dual-motor all-wheel drive adds $5,000 while dropping the range to 280 miles on Wind and Land trims. The range-topping GT-Line gets a boost in torque from 443 lb-ft to 516 lb-ft, dropping its 0-60 mph time to 5.0 seconds but also dropping range to 270 miles. It’s no screamer, but its soft suspension damps out road hits and its soft, quiet ride suits the family mission. It handles much smaller than it seems, with a low center of gravity keeping it more planted than other three-row SUVs.

It tops out at $75,395, which is still less than three-row electric crossovers such as the Rivian R1S (our Best Luxury Car To Buy 2024), Tesla Model X, and Mercedes EQS SUV. The EV9 will likely cost less than the next crop of electric three-rows in the forthcoming Volvo EX90 and two Cadillac models. 

Another point of electric distinction for the EV9: it’s the only electric three-row SUV built on an 800-volt architecture. This enables DC fast-charging from 10-80% in less than 25 minutes, enough time for the family to stretch their legs on the road trip without complaining about sitting around. Dual-motor models include a heat pump to preserve range in cold weather use as well as to precondition it to charge quickly. It also comes with bidirectional charging to backup the home or another electric car or to charge outdoor gear. 

There are no other three-row crossover SUVs on the market that take the next-generation propulsion systems with the open floor plan of an EV platform and marry it with practical, family-friendly value. The Kia EV9 is a winner, and like the Telluride, it’s poised to lead the family into the future. 

Read about the segment winners of The Car Connection’s Best Car To Buy 2024 awards, and find out which vehicles took home top honors from our sister sites, Motor Authority and Green Car Reports.