The Ranger XP Kinetic is the ultimate electric UTV—at a high price

Utility terrain vehicles, also known as side-by-sides, are multi-seat off-road vehicles used for work or play, and their use is exploding around the globe. The market was once entirely composed of glorified golf carts, but we’re now seeing plenty of wild-looking off-road monsters with the kind of extreme performance that puts many full-size off-roaders to shame.

Whatever it’s used for, the average UTV lined up outside your local powersports dealer today is a serious machine—and it’s usually sold with a serious sticker price to match. That’s certainly the case with the one we’re looking at today, the Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic Ultimate.

As that lengthy nomenclature suggests, this is a powerful, capable, well-rounded UTV. It also happens to be electric, offering 80 miles (129 km) of range from a 29.8-kWh battery, which powers an electric motor sourced from Zero Motorcycles, with 110 hp (82 kW) and a healthy 140 lb-ft (190 Nm) of torque.

Those are impressive numbers given its 1,700 lb (771 kg) weight, but can it possibly be worth the $37,499 asking price?

I had serious doubts about that when I first started looking down the pricing sheet of the Ranger XP Kinetic. Sure, you can get a Premium model for $29,999 with a smaller battery and 45 miles (72 km) of range, but whether you go for that or upgrade to the Ultimate for $7,500 more, you’re getting a side-by-side that’s remarkably barren of features.

You don’t even get a roof, for example. It’s a minimum of $450 more for that. A windscreen is another $480, or $900 if you want one made of glass. Door panels, lights, trims, speakers—they’re all extra, and that plow setup that came with my test rig adds thousands more. The well-equipped Ranger you see here would cost well over $40,000.

But when the thing showed up in my driveway, I was at least convinced that customers would get their money’s worth from a sheer volume standpoint. It looks like any other UTV in pictures, but in person, the Ranger is massive. Capable of seating three adults comfortably, it’s more of a side-by-side-by-side than much of the rest of the competition.