At five metres long, 1.75 metres high and 2.2 metres wide, SUV's don’t come much bigger. These are the dimensions of Kia’s new EV 9, the company’s competitor for the likes of Audi’s E-Tron Q8, the Mercedes EQE and the Tesla Model X.

It’s one of the few big EV’s with an option of six or seven seats and that should make it attractive for some buyers for whom the extra row of seats are a requirement.

There’s no getting round the fact that it is a very big vehicle, however, and its sheer bulk may be an off-putting consideration, the extra row of seats notwithstanding. It has all the design language of Kia’s new generation of EV’s - three new ones of various sizes are due to be launched in the next two years and the company will have 15 battery electric models by 2027.

The bulk of the EV 9 does create space, lots of its. The flat floor and long wheelbase make it feel as large as an average living room.

In the six-seat version, there’s a swivel function for the second row of seats to add to that "lounge" feeling. Incidentally, both the six and seven-seat options are the same price.

Starting at €77,500 for the Earth version and €85,500 for the GT, the price is hefty. The battery is a very hefty one. It has a large capacity 99kWh and Kia is claiming a range of up to 563 km’s for the Earth version and 512 km’s for the GT, which has full-time four wheel drive. These, however, are ideal test conditions figures so we’ll wait and see how the battery delivers in real-world conditions.

Despite its big and boxy profile, Kia seen to have been working some magic on the aerodynamics and the vehicle has quite a low drag factor of 0.28, which is comparable to much smaller cars. This has been achieved in part by cleverly smoothing out the air flow beneath the car and the use of vents to enable that flow.

The interior is the big feature of the car. Apart from space, it has some 30" of screen space to accommodate all functions and infotainment. There’s a clever rear view mirror that can be switched from normal to a digital perspective.

The EV9 is packed with technology and safety features - including smart-assisted parking and sound insulated glass - and, in fairness, there is little you could need that doesn’t come as standard. Kia is also working on a very clever initiative with the private charging company, Ionity, to allow the driver to simply connect the car to a charger without having to tap into an account. The charger identifies the car automatically and accumulates the required data.

The boot space is a generous 838 litres but if you opt for seven seats fully up, this is reduced by over half.

The EV 9 won’t be selling in big numbers - based on its size and price. It will likely be more an image builder for Kia and its smaller, more affordable cars.