Kia Canada sells out second round of reservations for the EV9, overwhelmed by unanticipated traffic

Kia’s EV9 is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated EVs in Canada. The automaker opened reservations for the second time this week, only to be overwhelmed again by a notably high number of reservation attempts.

It appears Kia has twice misjudged the level of interest in its upcoming flagship SUV, the EV9, in Canada. When reservations opened for the first time on July 31st, Kia had to apologize on Twitter for the unexpectedly high traffic leading to frustration as the reservation website experienced long waiting times, also crashing for many would-be customers. The company promised another round of reservations.

“We know some of you were trying to access the Kia EV9 reservation event happening on our website on July 31, 2023. Unfortunately, we experienced higher than anticipated traffic and as a result, some of your requests could not be processed and you experienced long waiting times.”

We know some of you were trying to access the Kia EV9 reservation event happening on our website on July 31, 2023. Unfortunately, we experienced higher than anticipated traffic and as a result, some of your requests could not be processed and you experienced long waiting times. pic.twitter.com/NxEqtTILUD

— Kia Canada (@KiaCanada) July 31, 2023

More than 55,000 people attempted to snap up only 527 units.

When Kia opened the second round of reservations today, it was the same oversubscription story. The Korean carmaker allocated only 480 units of the EV9 to Canada this time. However, thousands of people swamped the website to try again to grab a unit, leading once again to higher-than-anticipated traffic and another round of frustration for buyers.

It is puzzling that Kia will allocate small number of the EV9 for Canada, given that it sold nearly 70,000 cars in the country last year. If Kia wanted to build up hype for the car, there is no doubt it has succeeded.

The Kia EV9 is a 7-seater offering about 300 miles of driving range. It is based on Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP platform. The entry level will cost $55,000 in the US.