u/megrimlockrocks

TL;DR: 2024 EV9 LLR, ~20k miles, good looking, low profile, most affordable true 3-row SUV, especially if you need to haul adults on the 3rd row; however, significant gaps on cargo space, technology, and weird design choices that make daily driving more effort than it should.

Needed to extend two more months and finally I will say goodbye to this great car tomorrow. Want to write down my experiences, hope it helps for prospective buyers.

1. PRICE & BUYING

• Most affordable (especially if you buy used) true 3-row EV SUV you can buy today, personally I do not consider Model Y L, Model X, EX 90 as true 3-row b/c the 3rd row has little leg and head room for an adult, okay for kids and pets though.
• Buying from dealership sucks, tons of time on shopping around and negotiation, then I spent almost a whole day at the dealership to finish all paperwork and drive the car home. Leasing or buying from Rivian, Lucid, Tesla is so efficient and smooth compared to dealership.

2. APPEARANCE

• Good looking, low profile, just a very normal boxy SUV. I would say the others (Gravity, R1S, ID Buzz, EX 90, Model Y/X) all look decent, except Ionic 9, the back looks incredibly ugly in my opinion.
• Decent ground clearance, and decent height for tall adults. I personally loved the height, but others thought the car is too high to get in.

3. SPACE (PASSENGER, CARGO)

• Amazing for 2nd row, 3rd row. Among all the 3-row EVs, this is the only one that two tall adults can sit comfortably on the 3rd row with enough leg room and head room.
• 6-seat configuration FTW! The aisle can also be used for bags and stuff. Glad R1S finally offers captain seats now.
• Cargo space is disappointing when you use both seats on the 3rd row. Can barely put a couple of luggages, which makes road trip of 6 stressful.
• Frunk is a bit small compared to others, but still useful: can fit a compact stroller along with other things.

4. DRIVING

• I mainly use Eco and Normal, very smooth on both local & highway. It is not super fast but the acceleration is good enough (note that LLR is like 200hp only).
• Fairly efficient and true to the mileage estimate.
• i-Pedal is annoying b/c you have to turn it on every time you drive forward, if you need to back then forward, it goes back to level-3. I tried auto mode but it is not close to true one pedal driving.
• Tried driving assist a few times on high ways, not bad nor good, I did not have the same level of trust compared to Tesla's self-driving so I ended up not using much.

5. INFORTAINMENT

• This is the first car I had comes with CarPlay. On Tesla that I still drive from time to time, I do not need CP at all. So CP for me is nice to have but not essential. There were quite a few times CP could not connect though.
• Steeling wheel blocks the climate control view, annoying but not a big deal.
• Why I have to press the start button to start the car and turn off the car? There were many times I forgot to turn off the car.
• Why I have to use passcode or fingerprint to log-in and it is so slow. Every time I am ready to drive, I need to do 4 steps: a) Push the start button; b) Use the fingerprint to log-in; c) Change to D; d) Turn on i-Pedal. Tesla is just one step (c).
• Why there is no auto-lock the car as you walk away is annoying.
• Google Map destination from phone to on-board navigation cannot be sent to the car directly, have to use the Kia app to send maps. But if using CP or AA, then that's fine (I still have the habit of using built-in nav instead of CP though).
• I have not seen any useful OTA updates for two years, most recent ones are for additional subscriptions like YouTube. If you come from traditional cars, this may not be a big deal, but for those who loves tech from Tesla, Rivian, this is very disappointing.

6. MISCS

• V2L in my opinion is must-have, it helped me in various situations already.
• Loved the free World Cup themes!
• Used up all the free 1000 kWh charging through EA. EA is not too bad, but ofc way behind Tesla's plug-n-charge in one step: you have to wait, click buttons, etc.
• It has this ball-ish light or sensor in the center of the dash, which is weird.

Overall I would say that if you need to constantly haul 6 people, this is a great car. I wish I went with GT or Land but I guess for leasing only 2 years, it does not make much sense money wise.

Unfortunately, none of EV9, R1S, Gravity have all the features I want (if they combine into one, then we are talking!) so I will continue to lease as a way to try new cars and wait for the "perfect" one to buy. I wish US can import Chinese EVs, a lot of them are 3-row luxury SUVs that check all the boxes. Anyway, I am moving to Gravity next to experience driving a minivan, excited but will miss the captain seats and the height.

Is this stackable with other incentives? Is it limited to certain state (e.g. CA)? Someone was nice to share their code but it does not seem to work per the guide. Thanks.

I recently visited Beijing, an amazing city btw, and despite all the news I read about cars here, seeing it in person makes me realize how advanced they are truly.

At least half of the cars on the road, including all buses, are EVs. You can easily tell by the color of the license plate. A lot of Teslas, but even more variety of different brands. Interestingly, I didn’t see Kia or Hyundai.

I visited a gigantic shopping mall and there is one floor consists of 10+ EV showrooms. Choosing a car can be difficult here because there are too many options. I was impressed by the options of 3-row SUVs, mostly 6 seaters, all luxurious, which makes Tesla, Rivian look really cheap. Some crazy features I saw:
- You can voice control from OUTSIDE like “open the hood”
- You can customize and design LEGO alike scenes as panel in front of the passenger seat
- You can display words on the tail lights like “you are too close to me!”

I didn’t have much time, so I didn’t try everything out, but in my brief experience with a few cars, the creativity and innovation are simply amazing.

If US allows imports, even with 100% tax, I think they still have competitive advantages, especially high-end SUVs. I am likely going to pick up a Gravity next week, and I feel sad for what my options are in the U.S.

I bought this phone off Amazon for an international trip as it is unlocked and supports duo SIMs.

I deleted and disabled everything I could find as I only need 3-4 apps (one of them is WeChat)
\- Android 15
\- Disabled animations under developer settings
\- Set extended memory to be 4GB so total of 8
\- Deleted and disabled all apps I don’t use

The phone is still very slow, the sluggish is annoying while using those apps especially WeChat, launching it is sluggish and operating within is sluggish too.

I feel like I did everything I could and seeking help to see if it is normal. I know it’s a 100 dollar phone but for a 2024 base model with only a few apps, it should be fast right? Thanks in advance.

Finally finished the game and I have some idea but no idea what happened really. More questions than answers.

Anyway I am deep into this DLC to hunt down Hartman. Finished left and right map. Then going to the north. I had to leave the game at that point but when I started again after a few days, I take the elevator down but it’s stuck. Using the light but there is NO black ooze AT ALL as shown in other’s video. Tried reloading the game, going to a different sector, no help, and cannot proceed.

My house has a design flaw that the exterior dryer vent is right on top of a window, so the heat and moisture will come out and cloud the window, especially during winter times. I am looking for suggestions that are easy to install. Currently I’m thinking getting an awning on top of the window. Any ideas? Thank you!

I got a PS5 pro several months ago, along with a few games, and bought Elden Ring because it was on sale (<$20). And until today this is the only game I played on the console.

I was hesitated because at the beginning the art style and monsters type were not my thing. Stated as a mage because I suck at close combat and dodging.

After many deaths, 120 hours or so, level 210, I finally beat the Eden Beast after about 10 tries. Used Mimic instead of Tiche, and got lucky too (I was out of flasks and half bar of health).

This game is absolute nuts when I think about it now. The world is massive, tons of places to explore, many build options, many weapons, tons of magics, I still don’t understand the story, lots of times I had no idea what happened nor what was next. It’s just an area to explore after another, kill one enemy at a time. The combat and enemy intelligence are amazing. Graphics look great! I am sure if it may take 10+ tries for me to just beat Milena and Eden Beast again.

I don’t know how to describe my feeling now. I guess finally time to play another game?! I think the next game I am gonna feel like this would be GTA6…