Kia EV9 vs Polestar 3 (2024-2025)

The Polestar 3 costs £3,255 more than the Kia EV9. For that premium it adds 89 miles more WLTP range, 40 kW faster peak rapid charging and 151 litres more boot space. The Kia EV9 is not just cheaper - it also offers 2 more seats (7 versus 5). On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Polestar 3 comes out ahead overall.

The Kia EV9 is £3,255 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Kia EV9 comes out roughly £3,175 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 291 miles for the Kia EV9 and 365 miles for the Polestar 3 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Polestar 3 goes roughly 75 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 22-24 minutes.

The two are within 12 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 432 mm of total clearance for the Polestar 3 and about 420 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV9. The Polestar 3 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 89% battery health for the Kia EV9 and 84% for the Polestar 3. 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 Polestar 3 has the longer battery warranty at 8 years, versus 7 for the Kia EV9.