Kia’s pricey SUV fall short against rivals
Kia’s new SUV promises plenty on paper but real-world rivals are already leaving it behind.
There may be no better sign of the pace of automotive progress than in the world of plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Take the Kia Sorento PHEV tested here, which – when it went on sale just a few months ago – seemed to stack up decently.
But the market is manic, and now this plug-in hybrid EV feels expensive, and doesn’t have enough EV driving range.
With an asking price of $84,660 plus on-road costs (close to $90K drive-away), this is a pricey part-time EV, with the claimed driving range from its 14kWh battery pack being 68km … but that’s calculated against the lenient NEDC calculation. In reality, you’ll see closer to 50km.
And that might seem good, but a cheaper BYD Shark 6 ute will do 100km on EV, and there are new rivals hitting the road this year that will boast closer to 200km of EV driving capability.
The charging is a consideration. It has AC charging only, at a maximum rate of 3.3kW: that means you should be able to juice it up easily overnight at home, and Kia claims it should complete a charge from 15-95% in 3.5 hours at 3.3kW.
For context, a few new PHEVs on the market have faster AC charging, and some even offer DC charging now, too – meaning, if you want to, you can top up at a public fast-charge station and keep moving.
For this test I wanted to see how close it would get to the surprisingly low official fuel use figure of 1.6 litres per 100km, so with a full charge I hit the road and drove a hundred kays in mixed roads, and after depleting the battery at the 55km mark, the combined average for the first 100km was 2.5L/100km. Then, for the next 100km, I left it to its own devices, and it switched between petrol, electric and a hybrid mix, recording 6.5L/100km on the display.
There are other elements of the drive experience that need to be called out. The Sorento remains a solid feeling thing on the road, with predictable handling, nice steering, and in PHEV guise, it’s exclusively all-wheel drive, with the system apportioning torque when it’s needed.
And in hybrid mode it’s mostly agreeable to drive, but there is more inherent lag here than in some other PHEVs, because the electric motor is part of the gearbox. That means that even in EV mode, you can feel shifts. And it also means that there’s lag to contend with, to the point that you can feel as though you’re out of lock-step with what’s happening with the powertrain at times.
That’s very similar to what I’ve seen in a diesel Sorento in the past, and that’s what I’d buy if I was choosing this car right now. Or a Hyundai Santa Fe, which isn’t a plug-in hybrid, but has a starting price $30,000 cheaper than this.
And then there’s the BYDs: the Shark 6 ute is $27K cheaper than this, and the Sealion 6 SUV starts at almost HALF the price ($42,990).
Now, back to this car’s price – it’s high because this one is the GT-Line spec, which is richly equipped with things like Nappa leather trim, heated and cooled front seats and heated second-row window seats, a big panoramic glass roof, and twin 12.3-inch screens for infotainment and driver info.
It looks and feels lovely inside, but this test vehicle – with just 1200km on the clock – had a squeaky dashboard, and it also had a vibration noticeable in some driving situations.
There are three rows of seats, with the rearmost being usable for adults in a pinch. Just remember, the curtain airbags don’t offer head protection for rear-row riders.
But there is a whole host of safety tech, which is comparatively not that annoying by modern standards, and even includes a good surround-view camera and a camera that acts as a rearview mirror, which is terrific if you’ve got a full load of passengers on board.
verdict
The thing that might sell the Sorento PHEV in bigger numbers could be the addition of more grades with this powertrain. But if the brand continues to ask for a $16,000 premium over the diesel AWD and a $19K increase over the petrol V6, I can’t see it being that big of a success story.
Originally published as Kia’s pricey SUV fall short against rivals
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