We Downloaded More Torque and New Features for Our Kia EV9. Was It Worth the Cost?

It’s not exactly Doc Brown’s DeLorean, but the Kia EV9 can show you the future. During the first three months with our yearlong review electric three-row SUV, we’ve been constantly reminded that the cars of tomorrow will use software as much as hardware to shape the ownership and driving experience. We’re speeding toward a day when using a phone as a car key, receiving weekly over-the-air updates, and downloading new features at the tap of a button are the norm. For Kia EV9 drivers like us, that future is today’s reality.

Kia currently offers four downloads and two service subscriptions for the EV9 that range in cost from a $900 one-time fee to a $25 recurring monthly payment. If a car with never-ending monthly payments sounds like yet another horror of late-stage capitalism, we hear you. The good news is that automakers are still trying to figure out what drivers will pay for today. Today’s new-car buyers are voting with their wallets on what the future of car ownership looks like.

To figure out which of these digital downloads and services are worth your money and which should be buried in the graveyard of bad business ideas, we’ve been living with all six digital features for more than a month. Here’s what we’ve learned.

See All 19 Photos19

Boost

Cost: $900, lifetime

What It Does: Boost mode reshapes the EV9 Land’s torque curve into a taller and wider plateau. All the action happens at the front motor, where peak twist rises from 184 lb-ft between zero and 2,200 rpm to 258 lb-ft from zero to 3,800 rpm. That lifts the overall torque maximum from a stump-tugging 443 lb-ft to a stump-yanking 516 lb-ft. Like all Kia Connect lifetime purchases, there’s a seven-day refund window that allows buyers to take a risk-free test drive, and the feature stays with the EV9 it’s originally installed on even when the vehicle is sold to a new owner.

Is It Worth It?: If you like the sensation of being pinned in your seat as you speed away from a stop, Boost is an awesome upgrade. We installed the software at the Michigan proving grounds where we test, and in less than a minute, we had chopped the EV9’s 0–60-mph time from 5.1 to 4.6 seconds and the quarter-mile run from 13.7 to 13.4 seconds. It’s a difference you can feel, as well, with a noticeably stronger pull between 10 and 50 mph. In an internal combustion vehicle, you’d spend thousands of dollars and weeks of wrenching to realize these kinds of gains. In an EV, it takes just seconds to flash the software. That’s neat.

See All 19 Photos19

Lighting Patterns

Cost: $250, lifetime

What It Does: The signature lights on the EV9 Land and GT-Line are among the cooler design details on a car that’s rife with cool design details. The light “pixels” shine through a body-colored translucent plastic panel that hides the lights when they’re off. Lighting Patterns takes advantage of that disappearing act, switching individual elements on and off to create slick light animations as you approach the vehicle. The price includes five different patterns named Efficient, Active, Technical, Solid, and Elegant, that join the standard Complete design.

Is It Worth It? That depends on who you’re trying to impress. I had Lighting Patterns enabled for a full month and saw them exactly one time up until I created the GIF you see above. Unless you’re one of those drivers who backs into every parking space, chances are you usually approach your car from the side or the rear. And even when I do walk up from the front, our EV9 has an annoying tendency of only recognizing the key fob when it’s within a couple feet of a front door, by which point I’m well past the front lights. It’s literally hard to see what you get for your $250 with the Lighting Patterns download.

See All 19 Photos19

Remote Smart Parking Assist 2

Cost: $600, lifetime

What It Does: The headline feature here is the EV9’s ability to automatically park itself in parallel, perpendicular, or angled parking spaces with the driver inside or outside of the EV9. After activating Remote Smart Parking Assist 2 and identifying an open parking spot, the driver can exit the vehicle and hold the forward or backward button on the key fob to initiate the parking maneuver. When you return to the car, RSPA 2 can also drive the vehicle out of a parking space, again from inside the vehicle or in the case of perpendicular and angled spaces, standing next to the EV9.

Is It Worth It? The EV9 is large enough that it can be a tight squeeze to slide through a sliver of a door opening in small parking spots. Twice now I’ve been scolded by another EV driver for parking too close to their car at an Electrify America station (in both cases, the offended driver had parked on or over the yellow line, natch). Using remote parking probably wouldn’t have alleviated their anxiety, but it would have made getting out of the car much easier for me.

In less confined environments, though, it’s tedious and time consuming. The car moves at a slower-than-walking pace, and even the largest spaces require three-point maneuvers, if not five-point turns. For parallel spaces, the RSPA 2 augments the EV9’s cameras and ultrasonic sensors with the tried-and-true park-by-feel method, gently rolling into the curb during every single back-and-forth maneuver. The tire sidewalls have so far protected the wheels from being curbed, but we still get heart palpitations watching it in action. If you find yourself in a crowded parking garage or downtown surface lot as part of your regular routine, Remote Smart Parking Assist 2 might be useful, but it won’t be worth most people’s time or money.

See All 19 Photos19

NBA Display Themes

Cost: $40 per team, lifetime (requires active Kia Connect subscription)

What It Does: After years of seeing the Kia logo inside NBA arenas, you can now see NBA logos inside your Kia. A Display Theme reskins the EV9’s digital gauge cluster and infotainment screen using the colors and logos of your chosen NBA team plus some generic basketball graphics. I grabbed the Los Angeles Lakers theme in a nod to Motortrend's hometown team, but it’s the sound of a crowd cheering every time I power the ignition on or off that’s brought me genuine joy. Now every time I drive the EV9, I’m nostalgic for my middle school days playing NBA Jam on Super Nintendo.

Is It Worth It? If you think of a Display Theme as a cheaper and less permanent alternative to getting a Lakers tattoo, $40 doesn’t sound unreasonable. If we’re honest, though, Kia’s asking a lot for what amounts to a digital wallpaper, and that’s before you factor in the lifetime-purchase paradox. The one-time charge buys the skin for the life of the vehicle, but a Display Theme can only be used if you have a Kia Connect subscription. That almost seems as absurd as NFTs. Almost.

See All 19 Photos19

Kia Connect

Cost: $6-$20/month or $59-$199/year after a three-year free trial

What It Does: A Kia Connect subscription allows you to remotely access and control your vehicle through Kia’s phone app or online portal. There are three different price points, with the most expensive Ultimate plan offering a long list of useful features including the ability to use your phone as a key, remotely activate the climate control and the heated or ventilated seats, and take a snapshot of the car’s surroundings using its 360-degree camera system. You can keep an eye on a new teen driver with curfew, speed, and geofence alerts and manage the battery by setting a charging schedule, initiating preconditioning, or remotely stopping and starting charging. Kia Connect service also unlocks real-time traffic data, the ability to search for points of interest online, and regular map updates for the EV9’s native navigation system, plus a host of OnStar-like services including automatic 911 crash notification, vehicle health reports, maintenance reminders, and stolen vehicle recovery.

Is It Worth It? The great thing about Kia Connect is that you get to try before you buy thanks to the three-year trial included with a new vehicle. In our first three months with the car, we’ve relied on the app for everything from checking the battery state of charge to keeping the cabin cool for a dog during a road-trip dinner stop. There’s enough functionality baked into these connectivity features that we could justify paying for the service, although we could just as easily adapt to living without them.

See All 19 Photos19

Premium Data Services

Cost: $25/month

What It Does: Using Verizon’s 4G LTE network, Premium Data Services turns your EV9 into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five devices and allows you to stream Amazon Music through the infotainment system without relying on a paired phone.

Is It Worth It? This is a hard sell considering most of us have mobile hotspots built into our phones. Kia might have a more compelling pitch if you could access additional streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music or if you could watch YouTube videos on the infotainment screen while you charged. Using the standard wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay offers far more options without the added monthly cost. Plus, you can’t use wireless phone mirroring while the EV9’s hotspot is active. If you need a mobile hotspot on the go, your cellular provider almost certainly has a better solution.

See All 19 Photos19

The Big Takeaway

Automakers face an uphill battle when they try to charge for features that have been commoditized by cell phones. That’s not likely to change any time soon since cell phones will always offer more portability than a 6,000-pound car. Why would you pay for a service that can only be used in the car when the same feature is available (usually for a cheaper price) in a device that travels everywhere you do?

The opportunity for automakers and drivers lies in merging the worlds of software and automotive hardware to offer new ways to customize our cars. Kia’s Boost, Lighting Patterns, and Remote Smart Parking Assist 2 give buyers the chance to choose which features matter to them—features that no app maker can replicate. The future of the car might rely heavily on software, but automakers need to remember that it’s their hardware that makes driving such a unique experience in the digital era.

For More on Our Long-Term 2024 Kia EV9 Land:

• Can the 2024 Kia EV9 Electric SUV Replace a Gas-Powered Family Hauler?

Portable charger doesn’t work with 240-volt outlets