the two key introductions at the new york international auto show which began friday were both electric and both really really big the kia ev9 a telluridesized threerow electric suv and the ram 1500 rev pickup given americans’ love of outsized vehicles—and their growing affinity for evs—both should sell quite well let’s start with the ev9 which is expected to sell in the upper us40000 to midus60000 range it is likely to be the country’s first affordable threerow suv though other manufacturers including rivian the r1s and mercedesbenz eqs also make them if the ev9 really is priced in that range it could help erase the idea of electric cars being expensive—the starting price would be right around the average transaction for americans now us48763 according to kelley blue book making its north american debut the ev9 will go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year and will be built in west point georgia starting next year the ev9 mostly designed in the us makes no pretense to be anything other than an suv—it’s quite boxy looking as if it could even be a bodyonframe model it isn’t it may look like other sport utilities but as vice president for interior design jochen paesen points out the electric car’s flat floor and compact packaging “has literally changed how we do our work” allowing much more creative use of interior space the ev9 which has a 78inch longer wheelbase than the telluride but is basically the same size feels very big inside providing good leg and headroom to both second and thirdrow passengers there is 82 cubic feet of storage with the second and third row of seats folded the top ev9 trim will offer dual electric motors and put out 379 horsepower and 516 poundfeet of torque that’s paired to a big 998kilowatthour battery pack as big and heavy as it is that combination still enables a fivesecond zero to 60 time towing capacity is 5000 pounds consumers can also choose a version with a single rearmounted electric motor and the same 998kilowatthour pack it should be good for 300 miles of range the base version with a 761kilowatthour pack will have 215 horsepower and no range estimate yet kia is looking to highlight sustainability with its evs and so leather is being phased out in favor of recycled plastics—including from used fishing nets the company hopes to be using 20recycled plastics globally by 2030 sean yoon president and ceo of kia north america said on introducing the car that it “combines the best of our evs with the best of our suvs” the same bestofbothworlds approach could be said of the ram 1500 rev from stellantis which follows the ford f150 lightning and chevrolet silverado ev into the marketplace “we’re delivering it when we should be delivering it” said mike koval ram brand ceo on stage as he introduced the truck “being first isn’t necessarily best” the company could be said to have learned range lessons from those other automakers the ram making its world debut in new york claims as much as 500 miles of range from a gigantic 229kilowatthour pack but is that enough “they can’t headline range without realworld use” says alain nanasinkam senior vice president of business development at truecar what he means is that towing will cut range maybe in half and so will cold weather so 500 miles becomes a realworld 150 or so to address that ram plans an xr version of the rev will have some kind of rangeextender—likely a small gas motor—that will yield “classshattering range” the 2025 ram will be able to tow up to 14000 pounds and carry 2700pound payloads with 800volt dc fast charging at up to 350 kilowatts it can add 110 miles in 10 minutes a big plus no gaspowered truck can claim is 15 cubic feet of storage in a front “frunk” it will have zero to 60 times of 44 seconds and offer as much as 654 horsepower with 620 poundfeet of torque it will be able to ford 24 inches of water koval says that under the global stellantis banner ram has strong overseas sales potential a point emphasized by ceo carlos tavares who helped introduce the ram in recent discussions christian meunier brand ceo showed the 2024 wrangler and highlighted the company’s strong position with its 4xe plugin hybrid models number one and two in us phev sales the 2024 sport s 4xe will be a cheaper variant of the wrangler 4xe coming in 2025 are battery electric versions of the wagoneer s and the recon by 2030 half of all us jeep sales will be battery electric there’s also a new 2024 hyundai kona which has a 260mile electric variant even the cars without plugin power will look like battery cars without a standard radiator grille ford’s tom somerville says that the mustang mache electric has a new nite pony blackout package and some central display improvements owners can watch youtube or nbc while charging subaru showed a crosstrek wilderness edition and lamborghini had the 1001horsepower revuelto plugin hybrid in new york but across town at the lamborghini lounge not at the show“we wanted to provide the naturally aspirated v12 with more performance and keep its emotional quality” says rouven mohr lamborghini’s chief technical officer the team rejected the idea of adding turbocharging to the engine or increasing its displacement three electric motors provided the answer full electrification will come with a battery urus around 2029