Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, July 13 (Xinhua) Kia is expanding its only American plant to make room for its first electric three-row SUV.

According to reports, Kia EV9 will be the first pure electric model produced and assembled by the car company in North America. Assembly will begin next year at a factory in West Point, Georgia.

On Wednesday, local time, Kia announced that it would invest more than $200m (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 1.434 billion yuan) in expansion and would create nearly 200 new jobs in the region.

The Kia EV9 will be the fifth model the company assembles at its Georgia plant, but it is the first all-electric model. Sean Yoon, president and CEO of Kia North America, said: "EV9 has the potential to become another game changer for Kia."

This will be one of the most complex vehicles we have ever built and will stand out in the electric car market. Most importantly, it will be assembled at West Point, Georgia.

The Kia EV9, launched in March this year, is by far the largest electric vehicle in Kia and the first three-row electric SUV in Kia.

The model, based on Hyundai's 800V E-GMP platform (IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6 and EV6), can be recharged from 10 to 80 per cent and add 148 miles (238.18 km) in 25 minutes.

EV9 uses some of the latest automotive technologies, such as Kia's state-of-the-art highway driving navigation, OTA updates, on-board generator function (V2L) and digital car keys based on UWB ultra-wideband.

The EV9 is said to provide "true SUV capabilities", including a 7.8inch ground clearance, 81.9cubic feet of cargo space at the back of the first row, up to 5000 pounds of traction and available torque vector dual-motor all-wheel drive.

The EV9 standard comes with 76.1 kWh battery (fourth generation) and 215 hp (160 kW) motors; you can also choose a 99.8 kWh battery model with a range of up to 300 miles, or a dual motor 379hp vector all-wheel drive with 516lb-ft of torque.

Although Kia has not yet released prices for the US market, the long-lasting version of the EV9 starts at about $65000 to $70000 based on European prices, and the standard model starts at about $60000 (currently about 430000 yuan).

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