Compare the2024 Kia EV9VS 2023 Mercedes EQB

Both the EV9 and EQB 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 EQB’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.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the EV9 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The EQB doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 EQB doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The EV9 Land/GT-Line has standard Parking Collision-Avoidance Reverse that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The EQB doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

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 EQB.

Both the EV9 and the EQB have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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, driver alert monitors 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 EQB’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the EV9 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than Mercedes covers the EQB. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the EQB ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 2 times as many Kia dealers as there are Mercedes dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the EV9’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in initial quality. With 31 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia first in reliability, above the industry average. With 50 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is ranked 18th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Kia 19 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

The EV9 has more powerful engines than the EQB:

As tested in Motor Trend the EV9 GT-Line electric motors is faster than the EQB 350:

The EV9 can travel longer on a full charge than the EQB on a full charge:

For better stopping power the EV9’s brake rotors are larger than those on the EQB:

The EV9 stops much shorter than the EQB:

For better traction, the EV9 has larger standard tires than the EQB (255/60R19 vs. 235/50R19). The EV9 GT-Line’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the EQB (285/45R21 vs. 235/50R19).

The EV9 GT-Line’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the EQB’s optional 50 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the EV9 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the EQB. The EV9 GT-Line’s 21-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels optional on the EQB.

The EV9 offers an optional automatic rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The EQB doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the EV9’s wheelbase is 10.7 inches longer than on the EQB (122 inches vs. 111.3 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the EV9 is 4.4 inches wider in the front and 4.9 inches wider in the rear than the track on the EQB.

The EV9 GT-Line AWD handles at .86 G’s, while the EQB 350 4MATIC pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The EV9 GT-Line AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the EQB 350 4MATIC (26.4 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 27.4 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

The EV9 has .5 inches more front headroom, .3 inches more front legroom, 5.7 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 4.7 inches more rear legroom, 5.1 inches more rear shoulder room, 4.7 inches more third row headroom, 1.7 inches more third row legroom and 11.2 inches more third row shoulder room than the EQB.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the EV9’s middle and third row seats recline. The EQB’s third row seats don’t recline.

The EV9’s cargo area provides more volume than the EQB.

Pressing a switch automatically lowers or raises the EV9’s optional second and third row seats, to make changing between cargo and passengers easier. The EQB doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Standard Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) on the EV9 uses the Electronic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The EQB doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the EV9 has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the EQB only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the EV9 has standard extendable sun visors. The EQB doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the EV9 to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The EQB doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The EV9 has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the EQB. The EV9 Land/GT-Line also has standard heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the EQB.

The EV9 has standard front air conditioned seats and the EV9 Land/GT-Line also has them in the second row. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The EQB doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

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 EQB.

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 EQB’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 EQB 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 EQB has never been chosen.