Hyundai Ioniq 9 Review & Prices

The Ioniq 9 is Hyundai’s largest electric car, an enormous seven-seater SUV that’s mechanically similar to the Kia EV9 - a car so good it won the Outstanding EV category of the 2024 Carwow Car of the Year Awards. The Ioniq 9 has a lot going for it to make it stand out on its own, as it’s hugely practical and comfortable, but it’s not quite as easy on the eye.

It’s a bit like Serena Williams. It’s come along later than its sister car, and they’re both very impressive, but the Ioniq 9 is actually better in some ways.

And much like the world of tennis, there’s a handful of highly capable alternatives vying for that space on the top-court. The Volvo EX90 and Peugeot E-5008 bring two very distinct doses of European style to the game, while the Ioniq 9 might be subject to some sibling rivalry with the hybrid and petrol-powered Santa Fe - our 2025 Car of the Year Award winner.

It looks as unique as any of its alternatives though, and where the Santa Fe is all square-corners and bluff sides, the Ioniq 9 looks like it’s been smoothed off with some sandpaper. The front end is still tall, but the pixelated headlights and running lights are rounded in this case, swooping backwards. The rear wraparound light bar is an interesting touch, but overall the Ioniq 9 is less cohesively styled than the EV9.

Hyundai Ioniq 9: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 372 - 389 miles
Efficiency: 3.0 - 3.1mi/kWh
Battery size: 110.3kWh
Max charge speed: 210kW
Charge time AC: 10hrs (10-100%, 11kW)
Charge time DC: 24mins (10-100%, 350kW)
Charge port location: Rear right side
Power outputs: 218hp, 307hp, 427hp

The interior isn’t as head-turning as the outside, with a fairly simple dashboard layout dominated by an ultra-widescreen dual-display setup. The infotainment system is fairly responsive to the touch; both it and the driver’s display are customisable, but there are far too many menus and sub-menus to navigate.

A separate switch panel for the climate control does simplify things somewhat, because it’s much less distracting than delving into the touchscreen, but the haptic buttons aren’t as intuitive as physical buttons. Still, the physical controls that do exist are pleasant to the touch, and feel expensive.

The Ioniq 9 feels like it’s got more space inside than a solar system, with light years of room across all three rows. There are copious amounts of storage space up front, with big door bins, two cubbies under the dash, a decent glovebox, deep centre console storage, wide cupholders and ample spaces for odds and ends in the back, too.

You can easily fit six or seven six-footers in the Ioniq 9, with lots of legroom and headroom across all three rows, and a frankly enormous boot; over 900 litres of space with the third row folded, and enough room for six small suitcases with all three rows up.

The downside of having all this space is you need an enormous car to accommodate it all in, and the Ioniq 9 comes in at over five metres long. You’re well aware of its size when navigating tight roads, but excellent all-round visibility and a slew of cameras make it easier to place than you might expect.

Motorways are where the Ioniq 9 thrives, as it’s a consummate cruiser, both quiet and comfortable. Unfortunately, it’s not particularly efficient, with our dual-motor test car only managing a poor 2.5miles per kWh, meaning a max range of 270 miles against the claimed 370 miles.

Country lanes are best taken at a steady cruise, and if you do then you’re in for a civilised journey; unexciting, but then again do you really want to take six passengers for a thrill ride in a heavily laden SUV?

Hyundai has cooked up a storm with the Ioniq 9, and it should be right up there on your list of family cars to consider - if you can stomach the price. You can find Hyundai Ioniq 9 deals on Carwow, as well as Hyundai Ioniq 9 lease deals. There are other used Hyundais available through our network of trusted dealers, and Carwow can even help you sell your car when you decide to switch.

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 starts from just under £65,000, making it £1,000 cheaper than the Kia EV9 and over £15,000 cheaper than the Volvo EX90. The Peugeot E-5008 is still the most budget-friendly seven-seater EV, starting at under £50,000.

Entry-level Premium-spec Ioniq 9s are fitted with 19-inch wheels, cloth interior upholstery, heat pump, active cruise control and the twin 12.3-inch widescreen as standard. Mid-level Ultimate cars get larger 20-inch alloys, matrix LED headlights, a head-up display and Bose surround sound, while top-spec Calligraphy models come with 21-inch wheels, leather trim, and a two-tone leather steering wheel with electric adjustment, as well as body-colour wheel arches.

The price varies wildly between trim levels and option packs, most notably if you want your Ioniq 9 in six- or seven-seat configuration, as only the top-spec models can be had with individual middle-row seats.

The Ioniq 9 makes for a comfortable, quiet family SUV, but it won’t get your pulse racing

In town

As a family car to thread through narrow streets and fit in small parking spaces, the Ioniq 9 is not the one. At over five metres long and a hair under two-metres wide, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s simply massive.

That being said, you do have a commanding view of the road ahead of you thanks to the high seating position, and excellent all-round visibility through its massive windows. A suite of cameras helps when you do reach a narrow section of road, but make sure you don’t waste your money on the door-mounted rear view cameras, and stick to normal mirrors instead.

The rear-view cameras really limit your field of view, and you can’t tip them down to look at your rear wheels when parallel parking either. The optional central camera is worth having though, especially if you tend to load the boot up enough to block the rear window.

The Ioniq 9 does a good job of smoothing out potholes and speed bumps, and while it may not be a BMW iX with its trick air suspension, it’s also a far more affordable proposition.

On the motorway

The Ioniq 9 feels completely at home on the motorway, as Hyundai’s engineers have put in a lot of graft to make the cabin as quiet as possible when on a fast cruise. Every nook and cranny around the wheels has been stuffed with sound deadening foam - keeping tyre roar at bay - while the laminated glass and active noise cancelling eliminate wind noise.

Standard-fit active cruise takes the strain out of long-distance journeys too, and Hyundai’s trick blind-spot cameras combined with excellent over-the-shoulder visibility put your mind at ease when making lane changes in such a large car.

On a twisty road

You shouldn’t expect a seven-seater SUV weighing in at over two-tons to corner like a sports car - and it doesn’t, but that's fine. The Ioniq 9’s huge tyres and massive footprint mean it feels stable on a country lane, though its size can be off-putting when carrying speed around tight bends.

A BMW iX feels much more lively on a good road, but so long as you take it easy on a winding road, the Ioniq 9 is a perfectly pleasant car to drive.

One of the most spacious SUVs on sale, the Ioniq 9 can carry seven passengers with ease, but the six-seater isn’t quite as handy for hauling cargo

This is where the Ioniq 9 really shines, because it’s positively cavernous inside. Passengers up front not only have acres of legroom and headroom, but a multitude of options for storing - and inevitably forgetting - loose items in.

There are two cubbies underneath the dashboard - one of which has a built in UV-steriliser on top-spec cars - as well as an enormous hidden cubby underneath the central armrest. The central cupholders are big enough to fit litre bottles, as are the huge door bins, and there’s a wireless phone charging pad between the seats too.

You don’t get as much steering wheel adjustment as you might need to get truly comfortable, but the front seats are highly adjustable - and there’s even a button to recline the seats and extend front footrests in one sweeping motion on mid-spec cars and above; handy when you’re charging the car.

Space in the back

Middle row passengers are spoiled for room in the Ioniq 9, especially in six-seater guise, where they get two independent, highly adjustable armchairs to sink into. There’s enough legroom and headroom for passengers well over six-feet tall to get comfortable, even with the middle row bench slid forwards for adults in the back.

Another benefit to the six-seater model is easy access to the rear chairs via a gap in the middle of the cabin, but the bench folds far forwards enough to make entry and egress a breeze - even when loading in a child seat. The rear door bins are large, and there’s even a pull-out drawer to keep small items in.

Passengers in the third row have just as much space as they do in the middle, with a pair of properly comfortable seats that provide as much support as in the rest of the car. You get plenty of foot space thanks to cutouts under the seats in the middle row, and the huge windows mean it doesn’t feel dark in the back either.

Boot space

Even with all three rows of seats up, there’s an impressive 338 litres of cargo space - enough for six small suitcases, if you don’t mind blocking the rear window a touch. You can’t have the parcel shield in place with the rearmost seats up, but there’s a handy bit of storage space for it under the boot floor.

Fold the sixth and seventh seats down, and the boot space increases drastically to an enormous 1,323 litres. That puts it well ahead of the Peugeot E-5008 at 915 litres, and the Kia EV9 at 828 litres. With the middle row of seats stowed away there’s a van-like 2,419 litres to fill with cargo, but six-seater cars have a gap between the second-row which items can fall into, or get caught in.

The Ioniq 9’s interior looks swish and the infotainment screen is crisp, but some of the texture choices are odd and there are too many menus to navigate in the touchscreen

There’s a clear resemblance between the Ioniq 9’s dashboard and the one in the Kia EV9, but the big Hyundai has a bit more of a futuristic look to it; the inverse of their exterior designs.

Twin 12.9-inch displays are set into one curved panel on top of the 3D-looking dash. It really dominates the cabin as it’s so wide, but the infotainment doesn’t have the easiest operating system to wrap your head around. You can set shortcuts and choose what appears on the homescreen, but even then there are a few too many menus to fiddle through until you get to where you’re trying to.

The driver’s display is a similar story, with lovely graphics and a lot of data figures for you to scroll through. It’s handy, but it can be slightly overwhelming.

Other than that, the interior is very clear to use; the drive select knob is easy to understand and well placed, and having a separate panel for the climate controls - rather than them being in the touchscreen - means they’re far easier to use than if they were buried in a menu somewhere.

Middle-seat passengers are treated to USB-C charging cables, a control panel on the side of the front passenger to adjust legroom if necessary, heated and even ventilated seats on the top-spec Calligraphy trim level.

There’s only one battery option available for the Ioniq 9, and that’s a 110.3kWh whopper of a unit. There are three motor options to go with that enormous battery, with the 218hp Long-Range RWD model offering up to 385 miles to a charge. The 307hp Long Range AWD and 427hp Performance AWD models offer 372 miles, but our AWD test car only managed to muster enough efficiency for a maximum range of 270 miles - so be warned. To be fair, its efficiency is about the same as you’ll see in other massive electric SUVs, such as the Kia EV9.

If you can find a 350kw charger, you’ll be able to top the Ioniq 9 up from 10-100% in a sprightly 24 minutes, while a 50kw fast charger will take an hour and 49 minutes. If you have an 11kW home charger, it’ll take 10 hours, making the Ioniq 9 a viable option for regular long distance trips with cheap overnight charging.

Being an EV, the Ioniq 9 is only subject to the lowest rate of Vehicle Excise Duty, but its mighty starting price means you’ll be paying the luxury car supplement from years two to six. You also get the benefit of the Ioniq 9 sitting in the lowest band of Benefit in Kind tax, so it’s a great option for company car drivers.

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is too new to have been tested by Euro NCAP, and as such it doesn’t have a crash safety score yet. The mechanically similar Kia EV9 scored five stars though, as has every Hyundai Ioniq model that’s come before it, which is promising for the Ioniq 9.

It comes equipped with a wide range of safety systems, including airbags in the double digits, automatic emergency braking, a driver attention warning system (which is infuriating, but easy to disengage), active lane assist and blind spot camera system when indicating.

Again, the Hyundai Ioniq 9 is too new for any horror stories to have come up, but we’ll let you know if any do. Hyundai came 20th out of 31 manufacturers entered into the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction, which isn’t a hugely confidence-inspiring result.

Nonetheless, Hyundai offers an impressive five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty on all of its cars, and the Ioniq 9 gets an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty on its battery, should it lose enough of its performance during your ownership.