Behrad Torabi

Recently purchased an EV9. So far the car has been great. Will post my opinions about the disadvantages and advantages of the Kia EV9 vs the Mercedes after our weekend road trip to the mountains.

eqs5804matic

any update on your comparison?

Behrad Torabi

So here is my opinion after about 28000 miles driving an EQS 580 SUV and 1500 Miles on the Kia EV9 GT Line

PROS For the Mercedes

• MATERIALS AND INTERIOR AMBIENT LIGHTING. Mercedes is a premium product and you can definitely tell that the EQS has higher quality materials throughout the use of the cabin. The Kia has a lot of recycled materials and plastics throughout the cabin which in my opinion should not be in a $80k car
• Turning Radius. The Mercedes feels much smaller in its size compared to the EV9 when navigating in tight spots and around the city thanks to the rear wheel steering, despite both being about the same size.
• INFOTAINMENT & HEADS UP DISPLAY. While the Kia also has Heads up Display, the one in the Mercedes is much better quality and larger display. The 12 inch driver cluster also is a lot more customizable on the Mercedes than it is on the Kia
• Interior dash look with the Hyperscreen

Pros For the Kia

• As optioned, the Kia is about $60k cheaper than the Mercedes. While the Mercedes is more of a premium feeling product, $60k is quite a bit of money and hard to justify outside of name brand value
• Captains chairs. The Kia is way more comfortable in the second and third row thanks to the captains chairs. Even with the Pinnacle package, the 2nd row seats in the Mercedes do not recline as much, and they don't offer ventilated, only heated. The Kia even has power ottomans, and honestly for family road trips the KIA would be my preference every time.
• Exterior design, The Kia looks more like an SUV, while the EQS looks more like a Station Wagon. I like that the Kia is taller, boxier, makes the vehicle feel a lot more spacious on the inside.
• FRUNK. The Kia has a frunk unlike the Mercedes. While it is small compared to other EVs, it is still useful and Mercedes really dropped the ball by not offering some kind of frunk.
• Brakes!, The Kia allows for true 1 pedal driving and it is adjustable. The EQS 1 pedal driving is not that great, and the brake feel is terrible compared to the Kia.
• Cargo room! With the EQS I have to frequently fold the third row when we go grocery shopping, however with the Kia there is plenty of space behind the third row with it up. I haven't really found the need to fold the third row in the Kia yet. Not to mention the Kia has straps on the third row that make it easier to pull up as opposed to the EQS where you have to climb into the trunk to pull the third row back up.
• Highway assisted driving. Shockingly the Kia requires less input on automatic cruise and I find it to actually stay in the lane better and keep a distance from the car in front much better than the Mercedes.

Both vehicles are about as quiet as each other on the highway. I feel like the pedestrian sound device on the Kia is louder when driving in the City and it kind of protrudes into the cabin at lower speeds which is annoying. I'd also say the acceleration on both vehicles seems about the same. While the Mercedes is theoretically rated to give slightly better range (285 miles vs 270) the lack of a heat pump in my 2023 means that the range in the winter is actually worse than the Kia from what I have experienced. Id say as the temperatures have gone up, the range for both vehicles is about the same.

Crito

Unfortunately the route planning for Hyundai/KIA/Genesis EVs is just as horrendous as the route planning for their ICE vehicles. Customers have been complaining for years but nobody is listening. And if you think that's harsh Kyle wasn't nearly as nice about it (30 mintues into video):