The Kia EV9 is an important step in the effort to move electric vehicles from the status symbols of the rich to everyday vehicles for mainstream Americans. And what could be more mainstream American than a three-row SUV?

That’s the market the Kia EV9 is trying to crack as the first non-luxury battery-electric dedicated three-row SUV to hit the American marketplace. It brings plenty of positives to its effort — expressive exterior design, roomy cabin, advanced driver assistance features, and several configurations. As guest co-host Matt DeLorenzo discovered, the Kia EV9 is also rewarding to drive. The GT-Line version of the EV9 has 379 horsepower and 516 lb.-ft. of torque. Its 0-to-60 mph acceleration time is under five seconds.

For those who like road trips as we do, the EV9 offers up to 300 miles on a charge in the long-range version of the Light trim. Kia says that with the use of ultrafast recharging on high-speed DC chargers, the EV9 can go from 10 to 80 percent state of charge in under 25 minutes. We’ll have more information on the 2024 Kia EV9 in the road test segment.

Host Jack Nerad details the 2023 Toyota Camry Hybrid Nightshade Edition in his portion of this week’s road tests. The Camry Hybrid Nightshade isn’t a sports car or even a sports sedan, but, as Nerad found out, it has a lot of fun-to-drive attributes, including good initial acceleration. Add its driving dynamics to a comfortable cabin and 50+ mpg fuel economy, and you have a real bargain.

Speaking of real bargains, the Hyundai Kona has made a name for itself as a strong SUV value. Now, there’s an all-new version of the vehicle, and this week’s special guest will tell us all about it. Ricky Lao is the director of product planning for Hyundai Motor America, and we’ll get his behind-the-scenes insight into the 2024 Kona.

In the news this week, the United States is heavily divided over many issues, and to that list, we can now add electric cars. Some states are moving forward quickly with the new EV technology, while others are taking the opposite stance. Details on where your state stands on EVs coming up.

A world-famous sports car manufacturer is gearing up to become a mainstream brand. We’ll tell you which brand that is and how they plan to gain your attention coming up.

And an executive for a major global automaker says batteries will have to change drastically before we see widespread electric car adoption. We’ll tell you how he thinks they must change in this segment, along with our comments.

America on the Road is brought to you by Driving Today.com, Mercury Insurance, YourTestDriver.com, and EMLandsea.com , the publisher of Nerad’s latest book, Dance in the Dark, which is available HERE on Amazon.com