Coast2Coast: These EVs met the Kia EV9 in the USA

"Kia and friends" could be the title of this chapter. In fact, the EV car market in the USA is significantly stagnating: Throughout the entire trip, we actually did not see a single Ford F-150 Lightning, a few tired Mustang Mach-Es, a couple of VW ID.4s, Hyundai Ioniq5s, and many Teslas. We even counted more Cybertrucks than Ford F-150s - at least three in everyday use, two of which were wrapped in white! It seems not everyone is a fan of the stainless-steel look.

As recently as 2022, US dealers were eagerly awaiting EVs...

However, the outcome is sobering: Even in 2022 (!) car sellers in Palm Springs, according to our random dealer survey, could not get the EVs fast enough. Now, only a few individuals are daring to go ahead, but they mostly do not undertake long journeys with the EVs. At the charging points, we mostly encountered regional license plates, at most from neighboring states, but only if they were no more than 200 miles away.

In fact, we must say: Objectively, 19 charging stops over 3,000 kilometers take up a lot of extra time. And since the public charging network in rural areas is still sparse, the Kia encountered few of its kind. Nevertheless, even with large charges from 20 to 95%, it never lingered over 40 minutes at the station – which gave us a good opportunity for a nap during our night stints...