BMW iX vs Kia EV9

The BMW iX costs £11,760 more than the Kia EV9. For that premium it adds 77 miles more WLTP range, 167 litres more boot space and 250 kW more power. The Kia EV9 is not just cheaper - it also offers 2 more seats (7 versus 5). On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the BMW iX comes out ahead overall.

The Kia EV9 is £11,760 cheaper to buy. The BMW iX is cheaper to charge, roughly £152 a year versus £192 for the Kia EV9, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Kia EV9 comes out roughly £11,560 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 355 miles for the BMW iX and 291 miles for the Kia EV9 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The BMW iX goes roughly 65 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 35 minutes in the BMW iX and 24 in the Kia EV9, so the Kia EV9 loses less time at each stop. So the BMW iX stops less often while the Kia EV9 stops for less time - pick on which you would rather do.

The two are within 10 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 430 mm of total clearance for the BMW iX and about 420 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV9. The Kia EV9 also turns in a 0.5 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the BMW iX and 89% for the Kia EV9. That gives the Kia EV9 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. The BMW iX has the longer battery warranty at 8 years, versus 7 for the Kia EV9.