The desert is an arid landscape, but more alive than meets the eye. For decades, California’s Death Valley has been the testing ground for cars in extreme weather conditions.
Kia Corporation’s new EV9 three-row battery electric SUV is no exception. Despite testing around the world ahead of its market launch, the Kia team sought to customize the car for North American customers.
This means extending the smoothness of ride, ensuring that the driving dynamics are suitable for U. S. buyers, and managing the vehicle’s functionality when towing a heavy load.
Kia invited Newsweek to its last review circular ahead of the SUV’s belated arrival at dealerships last year.
Departing from Las Vegas, an organization made up of numerous workers from Kia’s research and progression team and a Newsweek team climbed into new vehicles, adding, in disguise, the modern Kia Carnival minivan.
The exterior of the control EV9 looked a lot like those on the road today. Despite being equipped with specialized control equipment, the SUV was in a position to perform intensive checks.
The EV9 was towed from Las Vegas to Bullhead City, Arizona, where the famous Davis Dam is located. The site is known in the automotive industry as one of the key control sites for towing testing thanks to its undulating ascents and descents with steep inclines.
Before conducting a test, the electric SUV had to absorb heat. That’s exactly what it looks like. The EV9 remained parked in the desert sun, with temperatures well above 100 degrees, for hours while the team served a relaxing lunch.
The pickup truck’s trailer then loaded with tons of cargo before traveling down the Davis Dam road several times, as the heat of the sun receded, relentlessly.
Team Kia on a mission. They had to make sure that the SUV’s air-conditioning formula could keep passengers cool while the EV9’s battery was under maximum charge. They also had to verify that the trailer wasn’t so heavy that it affected the dynamics by making the styling heavier.
Pleased with the results, Kia engineers called a few hours later to qualify the SUV and return to the company’s test facility in California.
Eileen Falkenberg-Hull leads the Auto team at Newsweek. She has written extensively about the automotive sector for U. S. News.