Compare the2024 Kia EV9VS 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

Both the EV9 and Grand Highlander 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 Grand Highlander’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 Grand Highlander 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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the EV9 has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the EV9 and the Grand Highlander 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, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Kia EV9 is safer than the Grand Highlander:

The Kia EV9 (Built after January 2024) achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Grand Highlander is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

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 Grand Highlander’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 Toyota covers the Grand Highlander. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Grand Highlander 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 Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia fourth in initial quality, above the industry average. With 29 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 17th.

The EV9 has more powerful engines than the Grand Highlander:

As tested in Motor Trend the EV9 GT-Line electric motors is faster than the Grand Highlander Hybrid Max 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid:

As tested in Motor Trend the EV9 GT-Line electric motors is faster than the Toyota Grand Highlander 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder:

As tested in Motor Trend the EV9 GT-Line electric motors is faster than the Grand Highlander Hybrid 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid:

On the EPA test cycle the EV9 gets better mileage than the Grand Highlander:

The EV9 can travel with zero emissions for 230 to 304 miles (dependent on model). The Grand Highlander 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. Toyota only offers a regenerative brake system on the Grand Highlander Hybrid.

The EV9, as a pure battery electric vehicle, has no need to “idle” its motors in traffic: they only burn power when moving. The EV9’s climate control systems still work completely when the vehicle is stopped. The Grand Highlander still runs its internal combustion engine whenever it’s stopped, burning excess fuel.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Kia EV9 higher (10 out of 10) than the Toyota Grand Highlander (7). This means the EV9 produces up to 11.8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Grand Highlander every 15,000 miles.

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

The EV9’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Grand Highlander are solid, not vented.

The EV9 stops much shorter than the Grand Highlander:

For better traction, the EV9 GT-Line’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Grand Highlander (285/45R21 vs. 255/65R18).

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 Grand Highlander XLE’s 65 series tires. The EV9 GT-Line’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the EV9 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Grand Highlander XLE. The EV9 GT-Line’s 21-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels on the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum.

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

The EV9 has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the EV9’s wheelbase is 5.9 inches longer than on the Grand Highlander (122 inches vs. 116.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the EV9 is 1.5 inches wider in the front and 1.9 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Grand Highlander.

The EV9 GT-Line AWD handles at .87 G’s, while the Grand Highlander Platinum AWD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The EV9 GT-Line AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.2 seconds quicker than the Grand Highlander XLE AWD (26.4 seconds @ .69 average G’s vs. 28.6 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

The EV9 is 4.2 inches shorter than the Grand Highlander, making the EV9 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the EV9 uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

As tested by Car and Driver, the interior of the EV9 GT-Line AWD is quieter than the Grand Highlander Platinum AWD:

The EV9 has 5.5 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Grand Highlander (158.8 vs. 153.3).

The EV9 has 2.9 inches more front hip room, 1.4 inches more front shoulder room, 3.3 inches more rear legroom, .9 inches more rear hip room, 1.2 inches more rear shoulder room and 2.3 inches more third row headroom than the Grand Highlander.

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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The EV9 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Grand Highlander uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The EV9 Land/GT-Line’s standard easy entry system raises the steering wheel and glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

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 Grand Highlander’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The EV9’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Grand Highlander’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The EV9’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Grand Highlander has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The EV9 GT-Line has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Grand Highlander.

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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its February 2024 issue and the Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD won out over the Toyota Grand Highlander Limited AWD.

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