For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Kia EV9 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Ford Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The EV9 has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the EV9’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Mustang Mach-E doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.
Both the EV9 and the Mustang Mach-E have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.
Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Kia EV9 is safer than the Mustang Mach-E:
| 
 | EV9 | Mustang Mach-E | 
| Overall Evaluation | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Structure | GOOD | ACCEPTABLE | 
| 
 | Driver Injury Measures | |
| Head/Neck | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Head Injury Criterion | 25 | 115 | 
| Neck Tension | 156 lbs. | 357 lbs. | 
| Neck Compression | -22 lbs. | 45 lbs. | 
| Torso | GOOD | ACCEPTABLE | 
| Shoulder Deflection | .47 in | 1.42 in | 
| Shoulder Force | 156 lbs. | 268 lbs. | 
| Torso Max Deflection | .83 in | 1.42 in | 
| Torso Deflection Rate | 7 MPH | 9 MPH | 
| Pelvis | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Pelvis Force | 513 lbs. | 825 lbs. | 
| Head Protection | GOOD | GOOD | 
| 
 | Passenger Injury Measures | |
| Head/Neck | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Neck Compression | -22 lbs. | 22 lbs. | 
| Torso | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Shoulder Deflection | .35 in | .87 in | 
| Shoulder Force | 134 lbs. | 268 lbs. | 
| Torso Max Deflection | .59 in | .94 in | 
| Pelvis | GOOD | GOOD | 
| Pelvis Force | 402 lbs. | 535 lbs. | 
| Head Protection | GOOD | GOOD | 

