2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

“Good” design is inherently subjective, and from time to time that presents some challenges. Take the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9. Many onlookers will appreciate this new electric crossover’s distinctive design. Others will recoil. Hyundai’s design team claims many sources of inspiration when talking about the Ioniq 9’s curved sheet metal, from smooth pebbles to midcentury modern sofas, but it seems clear the mission was first and foremost to produce a slippery, aerodynamic shape that could comfortably house seven passengers.

And, by the numbers, the team succeeded. The Ioniq 9 is 5,060 millimetres long and rides on a 3,130 mm wheelbase. For reference, that puts it at just barely shorter in length than a Honda Pilot, yet its wheelbase stretches longer than a Chevy Tahoe. These dimensions, made possible by Hyundai’s EV architecture, result in terrific interior volume. However, despite the Ioniq 9’s size, it manages a 0.27 drag coefficient, making it much more aerodynamic than a big Rivian SUV.

Although the Ioniq 9’s design is clearly effective in terms of efficient space, it’s tough to classify this as a truly beautiful car. The swooping roofline is offset by a dramatically stubby rear end — Hyundai claims a ship’s stern as the inspiration here — and horizontal character lines above each wheel well add further dissonance to the Ioniq 9’s styling. The rear view of the Ioniq 9 is definitely the most recognizable angle, with LED taillights wrapping around nearly 75 percent of the tail’s circumference.

Hyundai offers the 2026 Ioniq 9 in seven paint colours in Canada, although many are trim-specific. The base Essential RWD trim defaults to Sunset Brown, while the Preferred AWD opens options up to black, white, and grey. Add the Luxury package to the latter to access Biophilic Blue and Ionosphere Green as well as an extra gloss grey and a matte grey finish. Preferred AWD+ reverts to Sunset Brown, while adding the Ultimate Calligraphy package to the latter restores the full palette of colour options.

Wheels range from 19 to 21 inches, with the Preferred AWD+, Preferred AWD with Luxury Package, and Preferred AWD+ with Ultimate Calligraphy Package receiving their own unique designs. Our test car, the U.S. equivalent of Canada’s Preferred AWD+ Ultimate Calligraphy, came with matte paint, and we particularly liked its jet-turbine-inspired 21-inch wheels.

Inside, the Ioniq 9 is a spacious and airy masterpiece. As with the Ioniq 5, the Ioniq 9’s EV platform allows for flat floors in the front and back, and Hyundai doesn’t clutter the space with unnecessarily large consoles. The dashboard offers multiple cubbies, the doors have a nicely scalloped shape, and on the Luxury and Ultimate Calligraphy packages, a panoramic sunroof stretches nearly the entire length of the roof. The centre console slides forward and backward as well.

Hyundai sells the Essential and Preferred AWD+ trim levels with cloth upholstery in black and grey. The other configurations upgrade to leatherette, which is black by default but can be black and grey in the Luxury and Ultimate Calligraphy packages at no extra cost.

The Ioniq 9’s interior does feature quite a bit of plastic, but it is at least high quality. A dashboard insert ahead of the front passenger seat in our test vehicle had a hammered aluminum look, but it felt a bit underwhelming, almost as if it was an applied decal. Similarly, the Ioniq 9’s seats are soft but not overly supportive; they particularly lack thigh support.

Every 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 comes equipped with a 110.3-kWh battery pack, mounted in the skateboard style on the company’s lauded e-GMP platform. This is a bigger battery than you’ll find in the otherwise similar Kia EV9 and the Tesla Model X, but it’s significantly smaller than the massive batteries used by Rivian and GM.

The base Essential trim is offered with rear-wheel drive (RWD) only thanks to a single, rear-mounted 160-kW electric motor, which translates to 215 horsepower. Every other trim receives a dual-motor all-wheel-drive (AWD) system, although power output depends on trim level. The Preferred AWD makes 303 hp, while the Preferred AWD+ powertrain generates 422 hp.

Despite driving the most powerful iteration, we saw impressive energy efficiency during our first drive, with the trip computer regularly reporting more remaining range than what Natural Resources Canada’s 500-kilometre estimate for this powertrain would suggest. Consider us impressed.

EVs are heavy vehicles — batteries weigh a lot — and the Ioniq 9’s chassis is very softly sprung, which leads to a smooth and pillowy ride on most roads. Unfortunately, the combination of the vehicle’s weight and the soft suspension make the Ioniq 9 an unsophisticated corner carver. Although it looks the part of a futuristic SUV, it corners more like a minivan. Luckily, most shoppers will be happy to trade some dexterity for an ultra-smooth ride. In the same vein, the Ioniq 9 is astonishingly quiet. Even at highway speeds, the top trim’s active noise cancellation, sound-absorbing tires, and first- and second-row acoustic glass do a terrific job of quieting down any wind and road noise from creeping into the cabin.

Hyundai claims 1,587 kilograms (3,500 pounds) of towing capacity on the RWD Ioniq 9 Essential, while AWD models can tow 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pounds). Note that the driving range will drop when towing, however. When it does come time to charge the Ioniq 9’s batteries, owners can use either the Tesla-style NACS superchargers or, via an included adapter, other CCS-port Level 3 chargers, such as those found from Electrify Canada or Flo. Hyundai claims charging the battery from 10 to 80% on a NACS V3 Supercharger will take 40 minutes, or 24 minutes on a 350-kW CCS-port DC Fast Charger (if you can find one). Plug your Ioniq 9 into an AC Level 2 (240-volt) home charging port, and it should go from 10 to 100% in 9 hours 40 minutes.

There’s a strong family-SUV focus with the Ioniq 9, which is evident given the interior’s practical dimensions. Most configurations seat seven thanks to a middle-row bench seat, while the Preferred AWD+ with the Ultimate Calligraphy Package trades the bench for ventilated captain’s chairs and seating for six. This package also adds Hyundai’s sliding centre console, which can be opened from the front seats and the second row. It slides forward and aft to improve access for the middle-row passengers.

1,086 millimetres of legroom in the middle row is superb, although 813 mm in the third row did feel a bit tight for adults. These figures put the Ioniq 9’s interior passenger space on par with the Hyundai Palisade. We were particularly impressed by the ease of access and the headroom, though. The rear doors are massive and swing out wide, creating a huge entryway. Loading and unloading children from the second-row or third-row seats will be nearly as easy in an Ioniq 9 as it would be in a minivan with sliding doors.

Dual-zone climate control comes standard, and there are air vents in all three rows. A heat pump is also standard, which should help negate energy loss during colder months. Heated front seats are standard, but a heated steering wheel doesn’t come in until the Preferred AWD grade. To get heated second-row seats, you’ll need to add either the Luxury or Ultimate Calligraphy package.

We found it difficult to position the driver’s seat into a comfortable position, leading us to wish the Ioniq 9’s seats were available with more than eight-way adjustability. Additionally, the glove compartment is mounted strangely low, and it’ll bang into your front passenger’s shins if they’re not careful when opening it.

Behind the third row, the Ioniq 9 offers 620 litres of cargo space, which expands to 1,323 and 2,462 litres when the third and second rows are folded, respectively. This is as much as you can hope to expect in a unibody crossover, but don’t expect to squeeze much into the small front trunk. That space is best utilized as storage for the charging cable and CCS adapter.

Hyundai has installed a familiar infotainment interface in the Ioniq 9. Made up of dual curved 12.3-inch displays, it’s the same setup you’ll find in higher-level Hyundai Tucsons and the Hyundai Santa Fe. The screens look good and work well, although they collect fingerprints easily and can reflect a pretty significant amount of glare when the sun is positioned just so.

SiriusXM Satellite Radio capability is standard fare in the Ioniq 9, as are wireless Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay. A wireless charging pad comes standard as well, but we found it couldn’t keep up with our Google Pixel 9 phone’s battery demands while projecting Android Auto. The charging pad also isn’t ventilated, and as a result our phone got awfully toasty while driving on a hot day.

However, don’t worry about devices running out of juice when you’re in an Ioniq 9. Every trim comes standard with six USB-C ports capable of pumping out 100 watts of power — enough to charge a laptop, given the proper cable.

Our test car came with a 14-speaker Bose audio system (standard with the Luxury package and all Preferred AWD+ configurations), which provided an unexpectedly crisp soundstage with such balanced tones that we could pick out individual instruments in a variety of music. Bose stereos don’t always get the same level of appreciation that Harmon Kardon or McIntosh systems do — let alone high-end stereos from Bang and Olufson or Burmester — but we found the optional system in the Ioniq 9 very impressive.

Crash-test ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have not yet been compiled.

Hyundai does include an impressive array of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as standard equipment. In addition to collision avoidance and lane-guidance technologies now standard on most new vehicles, the Ioniq 9 includes a driver attention warning, safe-exit assist, and the company’s Highway Driving Assist 2 on every trim level. HDA 2 essentially pairs lane-keeping assist with adaptive cruise control to provide supervised hands-free driving. It’s not as sophisticated as Ford’s BlueCruise or GM’s SuperCruise, but it doesn’t require a subscription, either.

The Preferred AWD’s Luxury package and all versions of the Preferred AWD+ receive a helpful surround-view monitor, plus the terrific blind-spot view monitor that shows a camera feed of the vehicle’s blind spots when you flick the corresponding turn signal. Additional parking aids are equipped on Preferred AWD+ as well.

At $62,779 (including a $2,050 destination charge and other fees) for the base Essential RWD trim, the Ioniq 9’s starting MSRP sits on par with the Kia EV9. However, the base Ioniq 9 offers significantly more driving range.

Prices rise to $67,779 for either the Preferred AWD or the Preferred AWD+. Adding the Luxury package to the former raises the price by $11,500 for a total of $79,665, while the Ultimate Calligraphy package adds $16,500 to the Preferred AWD+ for a total of $84,665.

At the top end, these prices make the 2026 Ioniq 9 the most expensive Hyundai ever produced, at least for North America. However, even the most expensive Ioniq 9 is still priced well below the Canadian average in the three-row crossover EV market. A Rivian R1S, for example, opens at $140,990. A Model X starts at $149,990, and a Cadillac Escalade IQ — admittedly a much larger and more luxurious vehicle — has a starting price north of $160,000. In fact, the Ioniq 9 is the only vehicle among these priced affordably enough to qualify for provincial and territorial EV rebates where they still exist.

Truthfully, the only vehicle in the Ioniq 9’s ballpark is the Kia EV9, and the top-level GT-Line trim of that car costs only a couple thousand dollars less than the Ioniq 9 Preferred AWD+ Ultimate Calligraphy.

Given the Ioniq 9’s impressive battery capacity, energy efficiency, advanced tech, and comfortable interior, we view it as an impressive value in the continuously evolving three-row EV space. Particularly if you’re shopping with a family in mind, it’s worth a test drive.