10 Biggest News Stories of the Week: Kia EV9 Gets Owned by Hyundai Ioniq 6, Tesla Model 3
If electric vehicles are fully and genuinely going to integrate into American life, they’re going to have to accommodate American life. The most direct way an EV can achieve this in today’s market, first and foremost, is to be an SUV — that’s a no-brainer. But more specifically, it should be versatile in seating and cargo space, enable owners to drive far enough on a single charge to be both practical and to curb range anxiety, and maybe even tow the occasional pop-up camper or U-Haul trailer. All that makes the 2024 Kia EV9 a promising candidate to entice would-be buyers to take the plug-in plunge — boasting three rows of seating, 280 miles of EPA-estimated range and a 5,000-pound towing capacity — and Cars.com editors will put it to the test over a year of ownership as we’ve added the three-row all-electric SUV to our fleet of long-term review cars.
Related: 10 Biggest News Stories of the Month: ‘Cheapest’ Kia Soul, Nissan Kicks Take Toll on Toyota Camry
In one of Cars.com’s most popular news articles of the past week, we reveal our purchase of a new EV9 in its second-to-highest Land trim level, which officially starts at over $74,000, for a price of just under $44,500 — a nearly 40% discount. Not bad, eh? Well, make no mistake, the plot thickens as the price descends. After dead-end negotiations with a dealer who had inadvisably marked up an EV9 Land, we were able to combine cash incentives and a trade-in on the 2021 Tesla Model Y exiting our long-term test fleet (albeit for significantly less than half of what we’d paid for it) for our much more palatable out-the-door price on a comparably equipped vehicle.
For the full rundown on the 2024 Kia EV9 we bought, how it’s equipped and what we intend to do with it while we have it — as well as a recounting of our final-price negotiations and trade-in talks — follow the link below to the No. 7 news story of the week.
If the very thought of the EV9’s $74,000-plus MSRP takes the spark right outta your EV-ownership aspirations, head further up this week’s countdown of most-read stories to see if our newly updated list of the cheapest EVs you can buy right now charges you back up. Ranging in starting price from just over $29,000 to just under 44 grand (including destination fees), these more modestly priced models even comprise a number of SUVs. From cheapest to least-cheapest, the list includes 2024 models of the Nissan Leaf, Mini Cooper SE Hardtop, Hyundai Kona Electric, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Fisker Ocean, Tesla Model 3, Kia Niro EV, Volkswagen ID.4, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6.
For full details on each of these affordable EVs — including specs, equipment, features and estimated all-electric driving range — follow the link below to the No. 2 news story of the week.
Beyond all that, we’ve got headlines on the Tesla Model X and Model Y, Toyota Tacoma, Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past week:
1. Here Are the 10 Cheapest New Cars You Can Buy Right Now
2. Here Are the 11 Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy
3. What Does the ‘Auto’ Button for My Air Conditioning Actually Do?
4. Which Electric Cars Are Still Eligible for the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit?
5. Tesla Slashes Full Self-Driving Cost by a Third, Drops Prices for Model X and Y
6. 2024 Lotus Emira Review: Why Haven’t You Ordered Yours Yet?
8. What Are the Best Used Cars for $15,000?
9. Towing With the 2024 Toyota Tacoma Turbo Four: Better Than the V-6?
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
