Compare the2024 Kia EV9VS 2024 Jeep Wagoneer

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Kia EV9 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Jeep Wagoneer doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

Both the EV9 and Wagoneer have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The EV9 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Wagoneer’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The EV9 has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Wagoneer doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The EV9’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Wagoneer.

Both the EV9 and Wagoneer have rear cross-traffic warning, but the EV9 has Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Wagoneer’s Rear Cross Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the EV9 uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The Wagoneer uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the EV9 and the Wagoneer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.

The EV9 comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Wagoneer’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the EV9 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Jeep covers the Wagoneer. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Wagoneer ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 37 more problems per 100 vehicles, Jeep is ranked 19th, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in long-term dependability. With 3 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Jeep is rated lower.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Jeep vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Kia 16 places higher in reliability than Jeep.

The EV9 GT-Line’s electric motors produces 16 lbs.-ft. more torque (516 vs. 500) than the Grand Wagoneer’s optional 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the EV9 GT-Line electric motors is faster than the Jeep Wagoneer 3.0:

On the EPA test cycle the EV9 gets better mileage than the Wagoneer:

The EV9 can travel with zero emissions for 230 to 304 miles (dependent on model). The Wagoneer can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

Regardless of its engine, regenerative brakes improve the EV9’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. Jeep only offers a regenerative brake system on the Wagoneer 5.7 Hemi.

The EV9 stops much shorter than the Wagoneer:

The EV9’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Wagoneer’s standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the EV9 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Wagoneer.

The EV9’s drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Wagoneer doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The EV9 GT-Line AWD handles at .86 G’s, while the Wagoneer Series II 4x4 pulls only .73 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The EV9 GT-Line AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2 seconds quicker than the Wagoneer Series II 4x4 (26.4 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

The Kia EV9 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 600 to 750 pounds less than the Jeep Wagoneer.

The EV9 is 1 foot, 5.5 inches shorter than the Wagoneer, making the EV9 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The EV9 is 5.7 inches narrower than the Wagoneer, making the EV9 easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

Unibody construction lowers the EV9’s center of gravity significantly without reducing ground clearance. This contributes to better on the road handling and better off-road performance and stability. In addition, unibody construction makes the chassis stiffer, improving handling and reducing squeaks and rattles. The Wagoneer doesn’t use unibody construction, but a body-on-frame design.

The EV9 has .5 inches more front legroom, .1 inches more rear legroom and .5 inches more third row headroom than the Wagoneer.

The EV9’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Wagoneer’s standard power windows’ rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

On a hot day the EV9’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Wagoneer can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The EV9’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Wagoneer’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Kia EV9 has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Wireless charging costs extra on the Wagoneer.

The EV9 (except Light/Wind)’s optional Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Wagoneer’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.

The EV9 was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2024. The Wagoneer has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the EV9 as the 2024 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. The Wagoneer has never been chosen.