Kia Tasman vs Polestar 3

What's the difference?

The new Kia Tasman X-Line might not win everyone over with its styling, but as the saying goes, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And in this case, Kia has delivered a ute that stacks up impressively where it matters most with its passenger comfort, towing ability, and on-road manners.

It also offers relative good value for the segment and plenty of thoughtful features for families and weekend DIYers. I’ve grown to like it and judging by my son’s enthusiasm, Kia has at least one very young brand ambassador already sold.

With the kind of driving range, dynamics and comfort that could convince even the EV doubtful to give it a crack, the Polestar 3 – and specifically this Long Range Single Motor – feels like it was worth waiting for.

If there’s one thing the Kia Tasman won’t do, it’s blend in. This ute has probably attracted more comments from my friends and family than any other car I’ve tested (and not all of them have been glowing).

With its distinctive, almost swollen curbside stance, the Tasman is a polarising sight. That said, it looks far better in person than in photos, and if you’re unsure, it’s worth giving it a proper once-over before making up your mind.

Kia has leaned hard into the bruiser aesthetic, with chunky 18-inch machined alloy wheels, large body panels, thick plastic wheel-arch mouldings, a bold grille, and a bonnet that seems to stretch on forever.

The details add to the effect, with LED projection headlights, vertical LED daytime running lights, and a handy little storage pocket above the rear wheel arch - which my son immediately claimed as a treasure box, though it’s really meant for practical items like work gloves.

At the rear, corner steps make climbing into the tray easier, but curiously, despite its 224mm ground clearance, Kia hasn’t added side steps for easier cabin access.

Step inside, and any doubts about the exterior styling may quickly fade. The Tasman’s cabin is impressive, with a spacious, premium feel that punches above expectations for a first-time ute.

There’s synthetic leather upholstery and trims, plenty of soft-touch materials in all the right places and a neat honeycomb detail framing the air vents.

The centrepiece is a sleek panoramic display set-up that combines dual 12.3-inch screens with a dedicated 5.0-inch climate control panel, giving the dash a thoroughly modern and upmarket look.

I think the Polestar 3 looks great – big, but not looming, and still somehow svelte enough to look sporty.

The brand takes a unique approach to marrying design and aerodynamics, with a lip at the edge of the bonnet that allows for airflow. But it doesn't look like a purely functional element.

Instead it accentuates what Volvo would call the 'Thor's Hammer' (but I think Polestar calls them 'Twin Blade') headlights, which are mirrored below with black venting.

In fact, looking at the 3 front-on is a bit like looking into a reflection in a crystal-clear lake, with the lighting signature perfectly reflected in the lower half of the front end.

If it sounds like I'm waxing lyrical, it's because I am. I think the Polestar 3 is among the best looking vehicles in its segment and one of the better looking SUVs, period.

Inside, though, it's a study in minimalism, which while very neat and tidy, makes it feel a little less luxe than you might expect from a vehicle at this price point. In fact, at a quick glance, it doesn't look that far removed from the relatively cheap-as-chips MG4's cabin.

The materials are thoughtful and lovely, though. Leather-like materials are used sparingly, replaced by what Polestar calls "Bio-Attributed MicroTech Charcoal with Repurposed Aluminium Deco". A far easier way to describe it, though, would be as reminiscent of a wetsuit.

Elsewhere, it's a fairly pared-back affair, with just the huge portrait-style central screen and the landscape driver screen grabbing your attention. Dig deeper, and there are some really nice, gentle details, like the ambient interior lighting that illuminates a little strip along the door panel, including the Bowers & Wilkins logo. A similar line of light spans the entire dash, too.

And I love the metallic-look panel along the dash which, one can only assume, is the 'Repurposed Aluminium Deco'.

The Kia Tasman impresses when it comes to passenger space. This is a genuine five-seater for adults, which is remarkable for a ute that hasn’t gone full-American-behemoth like a Ram or Chevrolet.

At 168cm (5' 6") the only small challenge for me is the lack of side steps because with its 224mm ground clearance and higher seating, climbing in and out can be a bit of a workout, especially on a slope.

Surprisingly, my eight-year-old had little trouble getting in, though he’s not always graceful on the exit. Expect to lend a hand with younger kids.

Seat comfort is excellent across both rows. Long seat bases provide proper under-thigh support and padding is generous. Both front seats are heated across three levels, though it’s a bit disappointing that only the driver’s seat is electric at this grade.

The rear bench is wide enough to comfortably fit three adults, and the flat floor ensures legroom is consistent for everyone. ISOFIX child-seat mounts and top-tether anchor points are present on the outboard seats, though there’s none in the middle, which might disappoint larger families.

Storage options are abundant, making the cabin easy to keep tidy. Up front, there are dual glove boxes - one large enough for more than just the manual and another more well-suited to a phone and wallet.

The middle console is shallow but long and features a 12-volt socket and a lid that flips over to create a picnic tray. There are a couple of generously-sized cupholders and drink bottle holders in each row, perfect if you have one of those emotional support water bottles!

The centre console also houses most of the charging options, including two USB-C ports and two wireless charging pads. There are another two USB-C ports unusually placed on the dash.

The rear offers zipped soft map pockets, device holders on the backs of the front seats, and more in the fold-down armrest.

The rear bench slides forward in a 60/40 split, and the seat bases lift to reveal 31L of storage, when accommodating the jack. Rear passengers also enjoy directional air vents, two USB-C ports and a 240-volt domestic outlet.

Technology in the cabin is mostly intuitive. The touchscreen is responsive, wireless Apple CarPlay is easy to connect, and the built-in sat nav comes with 10 years of map updates.

My only minor gripe is the climate control panel, as the steering wheel occasionally blocks it and the toggle symbols can be tricky to read.

Outside, the tray offers solid practicality with a soft-drop tailgate, full-size spare wheel, LED tray lights, and a payload capacity of 1027kg.

Tray dimensions are 1512mm H x 1572mm W x 540mm D, giving 1173L of storage, plus an extra 240-volt domestic outlet for DIY or worksite convenience.

Polestar has done a solid job of disguising the dimensions of the Polestar 3, because while it looks sleek and sporty it's still a big boat, stretching a sizeable 4900mm in length, 1968mm in width and 1618mm in height.

That size is most noticeable in the back seat, which is properly cavernous, helped further by a fully flat floor which lends even more airiness. Sitting behind my own 175cm driving position there's plenty of headroom and tons of knee room, giving the Polestar 3 official adult-friendly status.

The ISOFIX attachment points are located beneath two pop-off plastic covers, which makes fitting a child-seat base super easy. This is something I wouldn't have cared about at all exactly 22 weeks ago, but now I care a lot, and this was among the fastest and easiest systems I've used.

Happily, there is no major back seat compromise, either. The pews are comfortable and supportive, with the window seats separated by a pull-down divider home to two pop-out cupholders.

There are twin USB ports for rear-seat riders, too, as well as air vents with temperature controls, and – thanks to that Plus Pack – rear seat heating.

There's storage aplenty, too, with a total 597 litres in the boot with the rear seats in place, and 1411 litres with them folded flat, including a handy 90-litre hidden storage spot under the boot floor. Up front, there's a soft-bag-ready 32-litre frunk.

I'm going to get this out of the way early. I am a touch surprised with the pricing on the Polestar 3 range.

With Tesla having now stepped on a million metaphorical rakes, and with a leader now slightly less popular than actual skunk musk, the stage seemed set for a rival brand to steal its crown, and its customers.

But I can't see too many making the leap from the $60K-$70K Tesla Model Y to the $118,420 asking price of the admittedly bigger Polestar 3 Long Range Single Motor - which is the cheapest way into the brand's large SUV.

Instead, Polestar will be taking aim at brand's like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Cadillac, leaving its Chinese corporate cousins (think Zeekr and Geely) to chip away at Tesla's market share.

So, premium product, then. But do you get premium stuff?

Ours gets the 20-inch 'aero' alloys, but you can spec those up to 22-inch wheels if you don't like your spine very much, along with Brembo brakes. Plus there's is LED lighting all around, a big glass roof and retractable door handles.

Inside, the Long Range gets heated front seats, triple-zone climate control, wireless device charging, and a big 14.5-inch central screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (run by Google built-in) joined by a second 9.0-inch driver information screen above the steering wheel.

Our car was also equipped with what Polestar calls the 'Plus Pack', a cool $9.0K on top, which adds things like a 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins for Polestar stereo (replacing the standard 10-speaker set-up) , a head-up display, heating for the rear seats, steering wheel and wiper blades as well as soft-close doors.

The as-tested price for our car, by the way, is $131,640, before on-road costs.

All Kia Tasman variants are powered by the same 2.2-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, producing 154kW of power and 440Nm of torque.

That places it close to its Isuzu D-Max counterpart in terms of output, though Ford and Toyota rivals still offer slightly higher torque which is something to consider if you’re planning to tow larger toys or heavy trailers.

The X-Line holds its own with a 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity, a rear differential lock, and three terrain modes ('Snow', 'Mud' and 'Sand') for added confidence off the beaten track.

Kia has also included a clever ‘Tow Mode’, accessible via its own menu under Trailer on the media display. This feature allows you to select the weight range of whatever you’re towing, which fine-tunes the driving experience, especially how the eight-speed automatic shifts under load.

The  Long Range Single Motor tag hints at what's powering this Polestar 3, with a single, rear-axle mounted (so, rear-wheel drive) motor producing 220kW/490Nm and a fairly sedate sprint from zero to 100km/h of 7.8 seconds.

The X-Line claims an official combined fuel consumption of 7.8L/100km and comes with a generous 80L fuel tank, giving it a theoretical driving range of around 1000km.

In real-world use, a mix of school runs, grocery trips, and a few longer drives, I recorded 8.8L/100km, which is a strong result for a ute of this size and capability.

Of course, this figure doesn’t account for towing a trailer or fully loading the tray, but for everyday family life, the Tasman strikes a good balance between power and efficiency. It’s the kind of ute you can happily drive all week without constantly hunting for a fuel station.

How far is far enough before you'd consider an EV? Because I've got to say, if I owned the Polestar 3, I'd probably have to plug it in once a week, if that.

A sizeable 111kWh lithium-ion battery provides the charge here, and unlocks a claimed WLTP driving range of 706km. Now, it's worth pointing out these numbers are rarely realistic. For example, WLTP testing is conducted with the climate control switched off, but a real-world result of 600km or more, depending on how you drive, is still a large number.

The battery is the same as in the dual-motor variant, but this RWD car is lighter and less powerful, and it has a lower top speed (180km/h), reducing its energy usage to 17.6kWh-20.3kWh/100km (from 19.6-21.8kWh/100km).

The Polestar 3 has a 400V architecture, meaning hyper-fast charging speeds are out of the question. Instead, it's capped at a maximum 250kW (still more than most public chargers in Australia can produce) which means a 10-80 per cent charge in 30 minutes.

At home, an 11kW charger will take more like 11 hours, or an estimated 16 hours using a regular 7.0kW wallbox.

According to Canstar Blue, the average price per kW for residential power in NSW at the moment is about $0.34. So, using my admittedly questionable maths skills, it would cost around $37 to take your Polestar 3 from empty to full at home.

The X-Line has enough power to feel confident on the open road, though I’d have liked a touch more grunt for overtaking or quick acceleration.

The eight-speed automatic shifts smoothly most of the time, but occasionally drops out of lower gears a bit too quickly, giving a slightly luggy feel when you need an extra burst of speed.

The higher ride height has its pros and cons. Visibility is excellent and you can see the road ahead clearly but it can act a bit like a windsail on the highway, pushing the ute around in strong crosswinds. There’s some roll through corners, though less than I expected.

A practical consideration for families is that from the driver’s seat, it’s often tricky to see small children or pets near the car, so vigilance is key when they’re outside the vehicle!

Ride comfort is decent for a ute. The Tasman absorbs most bumps with ease, though it’s not always perfectly poised on rougher surfaces. Overall, it’s a comfortable open-roader and the cabin remains relatively quiet despite the rumbling turbo-diesel engine.

At over 5.4m in length with a 12.3m turning circle, manoeuvring takes a bit of planning. Thankfully, the 360-degree camera system, along with front, side, and rear parking sensors helps a lot, though I feel more comfortable backing in than reversing out of tight spaces.

The Polestar 3 is that rarest of beasts – a big and sumptuous SUV that's genuinely engaging to drive.

This is going to sound odd given we're talking about 2.5-tonnes of Swedish metal but I reckon the fact it's not lightning-fast makes it more fun to drive. It somehow (and yes, this is a crazy thing to say) gives off Mazda MX-5 vibes, in the sense that, while some EVs feel utterly scientific in the way they accumulate speed, this rear-drive Polestar feels fun, perky and like you're actually driving it.

Don't get me wrong, there's more than enough power on offer here to get the 3 up and moving, especially the way it accelerates from low to mid speeds, but it's more than powerful enough to feel like you can push it a little bit harder without risking a visit to the undertaker.

The ride is good, too, leaning into its sporty nature without vibrating your eyeballs through suspensions stiffness, and the steering is direct and predictable. Speaking of which, you can dial up the sportiness of the accelerator (responsiveness) and steering (weight), too.

I also like the three-stage brake regeneration (off, medium and full 'one-pedal' driving) accessed through a permanent button at the base of the screen, and I prefer that it isn't as brutal as it can be in other vehicles. The cabin is also impressively quiet, though how much of that is owing to the Plus Pack's upgraded stereo arriving with active noise cancellation is a mystery.

There is no shortage of weight on board, though, and get too aggressive with the steering wheel and you'll get that disconcerting top-heavy tipping feeling so common with big SUVs.

I'm not convinced by the Polestar 3's software, either, with a couple of weird warnings popping up during my time with the car. The first warned that the driver assistance systems had failed, and told me to book a service, and the second even weirder issue is it liked to warn me there was "no valid key detected" despite it being in the centre console, and that "restart would not be possible".

Neither warning seemed accurate, to be fair, as the safety one went away on its own after a while and I had no problem starting the car.

The Polestar 3's safety story is a good one, and it begins with nine airbags covering all seating rows. The grille of the 3 is home to what the brand calls its 'SmartZone', which is where it hides the cameras, sensors and radars necessary for its AEB (with cyclist and pedestrian detection), cross-traffic alert with braking, blind spot alert with steer assist, lane departure warning and assist and active cruise control. The list goes on and on.

In the cabin, two infrared cameras monitor the driver, while four motion-sensing radars scan the rest of the interior for left-behind pets or children.

It scored the full five stars in Euro NCAP testing, and scored the highest child occupant protection rating of any passenger car tested by Euro NCAP in nine years.

The Kia Tasman comes with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is a solid term for the class.

Complementing that is a seven-year capped-price servicing plan, with services averaging $610 per visit. That’s a little higher than some rivals.

For context, the Ford Ranger averages $399, the Toyota HiLux $580, and the Isuzu D-Max $449 per service but it does include roadside assistance if you service through a Kia dealership.

Services are spaced every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. With around 162 Kia service centres across Australia, city and regional owners are reasonably well covered.

Overall, the Tasman offers relatively straightforward ownership, even if servicing isn’t the cheapest in the segment.

Another tick for the Polestar here. While I advocate for longer warranties (kudos to brands like Nissan, MG and Mitsubishi), the 3's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and eight-year, 160,000km battery warranty is on par with its premium competitors.

The first five years or 100,000km of servicing is on the house, too (it's required every two years or 30,000km after that) and five years' roadside assistance is thrown in, as well.