Kia EV9 or Rivian R1S: Which Three-Row Electric SUV Stands Out?

If you’re a family guy looking to enter the EV fray, you’d probably be wondering which car would best suit you because there aren’t many colossal-sized electric vehicles available—space matters, especially if you have a family of 2+ kids. Think of a scenario where, in addition to your spouse and kids,  your nanny is also a passenger, and you now have some real problem. This is why three-row electric SUVs such as the Kia EV9 and the Rivian R1S stand out in this respect, as they’re just what you’d wish for a family electric car that doesn’t compromise on sitting and trunk space. 

The two are standout full-size, three-row SUVs running purely on electric power, and they have not been in the market long, so they come loaded with the latest EV features. However, when out shopping for a family car, you’ll probably find trouble picking between a Kia, which has made substantive progress in electric vehicle manufacturing, and the Rivian, the all-electric vehicle manufacturer that is renowned for some innovative models such as the R2, R3, and R3X. 

In this Kia EV9 vs Rivian R1S guide, we help you understand the best car for your scenario by highlighting the critical areas of interest with the two vehicles. Let’s go!

Why a Three-Row EV Matters?

An electric three-row SUV must be your dream car if you’re keen on cutting fuel costs and having a clean vehicle that keeps the surroundings clean. But that’s not all to it, as there are many reasons why a three-row electric SUV would serve you best, especially if you’re a family guy with a knack for camping or off-road driving.  

Additional Seats

Do you want your family of 5+ family onboard and have them travel comfortably without feeling hunched or cramped in your car while traveling to the countryside or for a summer camping expedition? There’s no better way to achieve this than with a three-row EV such as the Rivian R1s or the Kia E9. These cars are built with additional seating space in consideration, and you’re guaranteed to have a third row with at least two seats for the captain’s chair option. 

And here’s the thing: It doesn’t matter if you don’t have quite a large family because you’re sure to have a day when friends are traveling with you, and these extra seats will come in handy. 

One Car For Everything

A car suited for all sorts of scenarios is such a big deal, and a three-row SUV is just the vehicle that’s essentially designed to achieve this. Earlier, we mentioned its ample seating space, but how about adding that with such a car design, the cargo storage area is even larger than typical electric cars? Also, you can expand the cargo room, especially if you’re not stacking passengers in the third row by simply rolling the seats; boom, you’ve got massive storage space at your disposal. 

Versatility is welcome in a car because it means you get more utility, and this is simply what the KIA EV9 and the Rivian RS1 are designed to provide. 

Beefed Up Power for Towing

These 3-row SUVs are built with incredible towing power that not even a typical minivan can match this vehicle in this regard. Therefore, these cars are not just enormously spaced; they’re super powerful despite running on batteries, which adds to their versatility. 

Kia EV9 vs Rivian R1s: Design and Interior 

Kia EV9

The Kia EV9's interior design is relatively simple, but it still boasts deluxe features in some luxury SUVs, such as synthetic leather seats with mesh headrests and ventilated front-row seats for ultimate comfort while driving. This car can seat six or seven passengers, depending on the seating configuration of the second row. Therefore, if you’re looking for maximum passenger capacity, choose the bench over the captain’s chair format. 

While inside the car, you can’t miss the outstanding infotainment systems, including wireless Apple CarPlay and a large display touchscreen for easy control. If you’re an Android user, the EV9 has you covered thanks to its Android integration feature that allows you to access the dashboard features on your smartphone for remote control. The car also cares about your safety while driving, which explains why it has driving aid features that you’d find in most other Kia EVs. 

In addition, the car is smooth on the road while moving, and its upholstery is designed to give you unmatched comfort on your drives. This incredible SUV delivers more than it promises, given that it never markets itself as a luxury SUV. 

Rivian R1s

On the flip side, the Rivian R1s is purely a luxury SUV, and you can quickly tell this from its high-end interior features such as a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charger wood trim that gives it a classic appeal, and comfort features like the adjustable air suspension. However, it still falls short of the convenience of such a hyped luxury SUV, given that properties such as Android integration are absent. 

The seats quality is also below par compared to the EV9, although it makes up for these shortfalls by having a huge 16-inch touchscreen and an impressive Meridian audio system. Also remarkable is its Connect+ subscription-level service that allows connections to many apps via your mobile phone. All in all, there’s nothing significant about this car that raises the bar higher than the EV9, so regarding the interior design, these vehicles are at a deadlock. 

Kia EV9 vs Rivian R1s: Trunk Size & Capacity

Enjoy having sufficient front trunk storage space (12 cubic feet) available on the  R1s and a huge back cargo storage area for stocking up on your traveling supplies. As earlier highlighted, this car is a 3-row SUV, meaning you’re guaranteed an extra third row with sufficient legroom, ensuring that your back passengers are as comfortable as those sitting in any other area of the car. 

But how about when you need to store some stuff at the back? This car is incredible, commanding an impressive 48.6 cubic feet of storage behind the second seat row. When you’re not carrying passengers in the third row, you can simply fold the seats, and more cargo capacity will present itself. 

On the other hand, the Kia EV9 has a documented rear cargo space of 20 cubic feet when it has passengers at full capacity. However, when you want to carry more luggage, you can fold the second and third-row seats to create up to 82 cubic feet of storage space, and therefore, the EV9 is the go-to car if you’re interested in stacking up more luggage at the back. 

Kia EV9 vs Rivian R1s: Driving Options

Handling an EV9 is one of the easiest things out there because this car has various assistance features that make the driving experience blissful. You’re guaranteed sufficient blind spot monitoring and automated emergency braking that halts the car in scenarios where danger is in the offing.

And if you’re looking for a more comfortable experience, then there’s the EV9 GT-Line trim that promises hands-free driving mode and access to advanced features of the adaptive cruise control. Moreover, the EV9 has a lane-keeping assist to prevent accidents and ensure you’re always driving in the correct zone on the highway.  

Similarly, the R1s is stacked up in many driving/safety options thanks to their Rivian Driver+, which is standard on any Rivian car and ensures you can access features such as Driver Assist and Active Safety Assist. The former is essential in scenarios where you want to engage modes such as: 

• Adaptive Cruise Control allows you to set your preferred driving speed and decelerate when necessary, such as when a car is nearby. 
• Lane Change Assist: Comes in handy when shifting lanes on highway drives. 
• Highway Assist: Enables automatic car steering when driving on some particular select roads and other features such as acceleration and braking. 

Active Safety Assist, on the other hand, deals with aspects such as 

• Lane Safety: This encompasses functionalities like the lane-keeping assist and blind spot warnings, which give you a signal when you veer off your lane. 
• Light Safety: It’s responsible for dimming the lights if there’s an oncoming car or just one ahead of your vehicle at night. 
• Parking and Reverse assist features like Park Assist, Trailer Assist, and Rear Cross-Traffic Warning. 
• Finally, the Collision Mitigation feature prevents your car from hitting people or other vehicles ahead of it.

Kia EV9 vs Rivian R1s: Performance, Range and Driving Time

Kia EV9

When shopping for an EV9, you must know that the trim you choose will be the primary determinant of the battery size and how far your car can travel on full charge. The base level Light trim undoubtedly has the smallest battery with a 76.1-kWh capacity sufficient to last you approximately 230 miles on a full charge. 

But if you’re looking for more range, then the Land e-AWD and Wind e-AWD will come in handy, providing an impressive 280 miles thanks to their 99.8-kWh battery. This is also the same battery capacity for the Light Long Range model, although this trim has a better range of around 304 miles. Finally, if you fancy going for the top trim, you’re guaranteed approximately 280 miles with the GT-line EV9. 

How about the charging time? With the EV9, you reap from Kia’s cutting-edge 800-volt electrical architecture designed to optimize charging time, ensuring that you can add up to 100 miles of range in a measly 13 minutes with the DC fast charger. 

In terms of performance, the EV9 is not the best three-row SUV in the market, as the R1s base model provides more power than the rear-wheel-drive Light trim, which has a powertrain output of 215 hp. This will improve significantly when Kia rolls out the 2025 GT model, rumored to hit 576 hp. Its towing is also not badly off, and it matches some similar cars, such as the Telluride, with its capacity to pull up to 5000 pounds. 

Rivian R1s

With the Rivian R1s, there are three battery sizes coupled with different electric motor combinations, which translates to various ranges. For insurance, if you opt for the Standard Pack battery with 92.5 kWh combined with a dual motor, you have up to 270 miles available. 

There’s also the larger battery configuration with a 109.4 kWh capacity and a Quad Motor (meaning more power output), which will likely give you around 230 miles of range. Finally, you can also opt for the Max Pack battery with a dual motor designed to last around 410 miles, which is quite some distance close to what you get with EV9’s GT model. The batteries also charge fast, especially on the DC fast charger, with the Large and Max batteries taking up 220 kW per hour while the Standard battery charges 200 kW in one hour. 

Another parameter where the R1s trounce the EV9 is on towing capacity, with this SUV taking up an impressive 7700 pounds thanks to its phenomenal powertrain output of 533 to 835 hp, depending on the electric motor size. 

Kia EV9 vs Rivian R1s: Pricing

The Rivian R1s doesn’t come cheap as the base Adventure trim is priced at $77,000 while the superior Tri-motor Premium and Ascend versions cost $107,700. If you’d like to shop for the Adventure trim but with a larger battery, you’ll require $84,700. Finally, the top Premium Quad-Motor trim is the most expensive R1s with an MSRP of $117,000, but going by its phenomenal powertrain output and towing power, it's worth its hype. 

This leaves the EV9 as the only viable alternative if you’re on a thin budget because the GT model (yet to be released), which is its top trim, is estimated to go for around 80,000 and therefore, below it, there’s a host of affordable cars that retail as follows: 

• GT-Line e-AWD - $75,395
• Land e-AWD - $71,395
• Wind e-AWD - $65,395
• Light Long Range RWD - $61,395
• Light RWD - $56,395

If you fancy an all-purpose mid-budget EV9 that’s effective in scenarios that require power, such as towing, we recommend the Wind e-AWD; it’s pretty well priced, as highlighted above, and guarantees 379hp. 

Kia EV9 vs Rivian R1s Target Audiences

Whoa! These are undoubtedly impressive cars, but which is the better option for a buyer stuck between the two? Well, this is not an easy decision, although it all depends on what you’re looking for in your three-row electric SUV. 

If the price concerns you, you’ll be drawn more towards the various EV9 trims, which are much cheaper than the R1s. Also, the EV9 has the ultimate balance of comfort, style, and performance, especially for simplistic family expeditions. However, if performance is the cardinal concern, then you have to consider the R1s before it beats the EV9 hands down in this regard.