Kia Sorento PHEV review Australia (GT-Line AWD plug-in hybrid EV) inc fuel use, EV range test!
The Kia Sto is a terrific seven seat family SUV with plenty of options available in the lineup. And this one here is the plug-in hybrid version. So, the premise with it is you can drive electric when you want to and you’ve got petrol as a backup. Is that how it works out in reality? Well, I’ll tell you about it in this review and some alternatives that you might want to consider. So, if you haven’t already, please subscribe and ring that bell and let’s get to it. Plug-in hybrid time with the Sarrento. I’ve already covered this updated version of the Kia Sarrento in a couple of different videos. In the description below, you’ll find links to my first review where I drove the petrol and diesel versions. And I was pretty impressed with this vehicle more generally. It’s pretty detailed that test as well with all the interior stuff that you want to know about. Then I was curious to see what the regular hybrid version was like. So, I did a detailed video on it, too. And now it’s time for the plug-in hybrid model. And look, this is a bit of a moving feast, I reckon, because at the time I’m filming this, there’s just one plug-in hybrid version of the Sarrento available, but the brand has suggested that it’s going to be adding a few more hybrid and plug-in hybrid options possibly in 2025 and beyond. So, at this point in time, the GT line is the only model with the plug-in hybrid system, and it is very expensive. You’re looking at almost $85,000 before on-road costs for this particular vehicle. And sure, you’re getting plenty of stuff for your money. Things like LED lights front and rear. You’ve got 19in alloy wheels with decent tires. There’s roof rails. There’s a panoramic sunroof. There’s keyless entry and push button start and electric tailgate as well. And on the inside, you’re getting things like Nappa leather seat trim, electric front seats with heating and cooling. There’s heating for the second row outboard seats as well. Twin 12.3 in screens, one for your infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto wirelessly, as well as satnav and plenty of other services on that screen, including connected services. So, it will do online mapping and software updates over the air. And you can connect up to the car using an app on your phone if you want to as well. And there’s a 12.3 in digital instrument cluster, too, which is pretty configurable. And there’s plenty of technology offered in this vehicle and plenty of safety stuff as well, which I’ll cover later on. But let’s talk about some alternatives to it cuz like I said, 85 grand before onroad costs, it’s kind of steep. Okay, first alternative I would recommend compared to this car is actually the diesel version of this car. The Sarrento diesel is a fantastic choice. It comes with all-wheel drive and a strong 2.2 L turbo diesel. And honestly, it’s going to be pretty efficient in real world driving. So, if you know that you might not necessarily make the most advantage of this electric motor part of the powertrain of the plug-in hybrid, well, the diesel could be a really good choice for you. And get this, you can get a GTline diesel for $16,000 less than the plug-in hybrid. So, that might stack up beautifully in your mind. And and if you’re thinking of saving even more money and you don’t necessarily need seven seats, well, the BYD Sea Lion 6 could be a fantastic choice. At the entry level point, it is half the price of this car. Yep, that’s right. $4290 for the entry- level essential model. Or if you want all-wheel drive and a bit more grunt, you can get into the premium one, which I’ve driven recently. You’ll find a link in the description below. And I thought it was bloody fantastic. At 53 grand, it’s still $32,000 less than this car. And it seems to make a whole lot of sense. If you can live with five seats, that is. And if you can’t and you want a sevenseater that is very, very livable and hybrid, not plug-in hybrid, go and have a look at the Hyandai Santa Fe. But even if you’re spending up to the topsp spec model, it’s still a whole lot cheaper than this. And it is a really lovely thing to drive with some really nice refinement and great features as well. But which one of those would you pick? Would you choose something different? Hit me up in the comments. This is the GT line and you can tell it by some of the design elements to this car. Um, it’s not necessarily completely different to the lower spec models, but you do get specific rims on this hybridized version. On the hybrid and the plug-in hybrid, you get 19in alloy wheels. I reckon they look pretty good, but maybe not exactly to my tastes. And at the rear, well, it’s pretty much as you would expect, uh, just with a PHEV badge on the side here. But I do have to show you, you do have one filler cap on this side that is for your petrol, and on the other side, you do have a plug-in point, but we’ll get to some of those details in a sec. Now, you might have just heard a little beep beep beep. If I walk behind the car with the key in my pocket, it will automatically open up the boot for me because it’s got proximity opening, which is really, really good. What isn’t maybe as good is the amount of space in the back here with all three rows up. And it’s maybe exacerbated a little bit by this multi-stage cargo cover thing. So, if you don’t want that in the way, you can just pull it out of the way in theory and retract it like so. And then you can get a little bit more space. You’ll see the figure on your screen now in terms of what kind of liters are available to you. Uh but let’s have a look with those seats down and that cargo blind out. One second. And as you can see, yes, it is a very usable five seat cargo area. If that’s the configuration you want to roll with, um yeah, if you’re wondering what this is, that’s your charge cable bag. Uh don’t lose it. It might need to stay in the car. And it does have a Velcro backing on it, so it will stay put for the most part. Um, might just be a bit annoying because you’ve got to cut it with you if you want to. Underneath here, you won’t find a spare wheel, which is maybe a little bit disappointing, but don’t go worrying too much cuz there is one. It’s just it’s underneath the body of the car, and it’s a full size alloy wheel as well. Now, let’s have a look at some of the amenities in the very back here. You do have a few handy things on the sides. You’ve got some little hooks to tie down your cargo. There are shopping bag hooks on both sides of the cargo area. Sorry about the light there. And I do think that it is a usable amount of space. And speaking of light, there is a light up there, too. Uh, and yes, obviously, if you’re using the third row, you’ve got plenty of amenities in the very back. And I’m not going to do a full detailed interior rundown of this car because I’ve covered it all in my earlier reviews, which you’ll find links in the description for. But it’s still a very, very nice cabin, and there’s still plenty of great features in this GT line grade. The plug-in hybrid model uses a 1.6 L turbocharged petrol engine teamed with a lithium ion battery and an electric motor with the electric motor incorporated into the six-speed automatic transmission. And it’s got ondemand all-wheel drive as standard. Now, the petrol engine makes a pretty decent amount of power and torque. And the contributing e- motor, the transmission mounted electric motor, well, it has a decent amount of power and torque on offer as well. But combined, the total system outputs are 195 kW and 350 new meters. Those aren’t enormous for an SUV of this size. Um, and it can tow, but not as much as some other SUVs that you might be considering with seven seats. So, hm, some compromises to consider, but let’s talk about range and charging. Okay, so underneath the second row seats, there’s a battery pack. It’s a 14 kWh lithium ion polymer battery pack, which can be charged via AC only, singlephase power up to 3.3 kW. That’s pretty slow, people, I have to say. Um, the battery weighs about 140 kilos on its own and it’s going to take you about 3 hours and 25 minutes to charge from 15 to 95% through this type 2 port. So, um, it’s not the fastest charging. It doesn’t have the best capability in terms of the charging options in this plug-in hybrid world that we’re entering into, and doesn’t have the best EV driving range either. The NEC rated number which is quite lenient in my experience uh is 68 km and uh I recharged it and saw a displayed usable EV driving range of 50ks. Is that enough? Is it realistic? Well, let’s go drive it and I’ll show you. In a lot of ways, it’s similar to the existing Sarrento models, but obviously the powertrain is the big differentiator here. And it does have some quirks, this powertrain, let me tell you. So, I’m in full EV mode right now. And if I push hard on the throttle, there is a chance that it will call the petrol engine into action as it has. Um, and that means that you can’t really really use it as an EV all the time on your commute. If you do experience moments where you need to access the petrol engine to help you keep going, well, it will do that. it will get into the petrol engine and give you the grunt that you need and then it’ll switch back to EV mode if that’s what you’ve prioritized. There is a button down there that will allow you to choose electric, automatic or hybrid mode and I’ve been trying to keep it in EV while I’m doing this EV test of this vehicle and it keeps getting kicked out of it. And honestly, that annoys me a little bit because I would like to set the parameters of the drive experience myself. In lots of other hybrid vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles, you can lock it into EV mode and it will be locked more locked in, if that makes any sense. Uh, but look, I think that you are getting a peculiar drive experience more generally with this plug-in hybrid system because the electric motor is integrated into the transmission. And what that means is that you will feel gear shifts even when you’re driving in EV mode. Like a hybrid Santa Fe or a hybrid Sarrento, which as I said, I’ve already done a review of, link in the description. Um, it is peculiar. It does take a little bit of getting used to, but it might also get on your nerves a little bit because it feels like there’s more lag inherently as part of this powertrain compared to some of those new rivals out there. And it does mean that you do need to think a little bit more and you feel sort of out of step with this car at times as well. Especially if you’re running it in hybrid mode or just leaving it to its own devices. It might not necessarily make the decision that you would make if you were controlling things. And that’s the thing here. You don’t have the ultimate level of control with this powertrain. I don’t think that’s a big deal. And look, there are multiple drive modes you can play with to try and get the most out of this car. But I’ve been trying to do what you might do if you’re thinking, “Well, I’m going to spend this much money on a plug-in hybrid. I’m going to be eco-friendly.” So, I’ve been leaving it in eco mode, trying to eek out as much of this EV driving range as I can. And, uh, yes, it’s been a mixed result, I would say. Now, let’s talk about the other elements of the drive experience before we talk about the efficiency, which we’ll get to in the next section of this video. So, look, the Sarrento platform, I really like the drive experience more generally. I think that does have a slightly firmer feeling ride than some of the other competitor SUVs that you might be thinking about, but it does also have a good connected feel to the surface below. And I do reckon that it’s more of an enthusiastic sort of SUV drive experience compared to say a Toyota Kuga or something like that. And I reckon that if you like driving, you will like driving this car. And the steering as well is nice and predictable. It’s accurate. It has nice weighting and it’s not really the sort of thing that you need to think about. And that means that it’s good steering in my opinion. Now, being an electrified model, it does have regenerative braking built into it, obviously, to try and help you recoup some potentially lost energy, feed it back to the battery pack, and in most cars, that can have a negative effect on the brake pedal feel or the performance of the brakes. In this car, it’s um not necessarily that big of a deal, but it is noticeable that you don’t maybe have quite the same level of biness at the top of the pedal as you do in some of the other Sarrentos out there. And I want to say this car also has a few like little concerns in terms of the quality, I would say. Um the dash has a slight rattle to it. This car only has 1,200 km on it. And also I’ve noticed at times at low speeds in second gear in EV mode um there’s quite a vibration that you can feel through the body of the vehicle. Uh and it’s not necessarily the most um enticing experience unless you like vibrations. There are some things about this drive experience which I don’t like like the safety system. So there’s a speed sign recognition system and over speed warning system. You can mute it and just have it so you’ve got information on the screen. So the speed limit that it thinks it is will show up on the screen. Sometimes it gets it wrong. Um, and that might be something you want to get used to. You can just hold the mute button down and it will silence the warnings. Um, or you can go in through the screen and adjust those things. But thankfully doesn’t have any of those other little annoyances that we’re seeing pop up in newer cars. no driver monitoring camera system and the lane keeping system is another thing that might get on your nerves a touch. Uh but you can just hold the button down on the steering wheel for it too and it will turn off if you want it to. But when you’re using adaptive cruise control, it does have this sort of semiautonomous driving system that will do stopping, starting and steering for you. So like a lane centering thing. And I think that I mean it’s okay but uh I tend to turn it off and it gets a little bit annoying when you’re just trying to reactivate adaptive cruise control and that system comes back on as well. So it’s just little things that give me the gripes about this car. I don’t think it’s a bad car per se, but I just don’t know whether it’s worth it when it comes to the overall efficiency and the EV driving range on offer here. So that’s a good segue. Let’s talk about that stuff now. Okie do. So, as I said earlier on, 68 km NEC claimed driving range. NEC is a lenient configuration for EV driving. So, um yeah, you can probably bank on 50ks, which is what showed up on the screen when I charged this car at home. And yes, my usual idea is to drive the first 100ks and see what kind of efficiency I can get out of the car for the first 100 km cuz that’s really what the very very low fuel consumption number which you’ll see on your screen now is going to represent the first 100ks. Um, and if you’re wondering what I saw over the first 100 once the battery was run out and the petrol engine kicked in and you know it does run as a hybrid beyond that. Um, yeah, you’ll see that number on your screen now. That’s the first 100. And then if you’re wondering what I saw more generally when I wasn’t relying on the battery being fully topped up. So what you might see on a road trip for instance, that’s on your screen now around 6 1/2 L per 100 ks. That’s a respectable number, but it’s not necessarily any better than you would get out of the Sarrento hybrid or Santa Fe hybrid or any other uh option that you might be considering in my opinion. So, h it’s okay, but again, I’ll come back to the idea that if you just want a really good Sarrento, the diesel would be the one I would go for personally. And also, you need to keep in mind this plug-in hybrid does require 95 ron premium unled petrol. And the fuel tank capacity is on your screen now. So, yeah, it might not necessarily be the perfect option for everyone, but I can see who it might be right for. Those who don’t necessarily have a big commute and maybe don’t necessarily go on epic road trips all the time. What do you think? Let me know in the comments. The Kia Sto achieved the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating recently, and it does have plenty of standard spec and tech to justify that score. Things like autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist and junction detection. There’s also lane keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, and in the high-grade versions, you get that with a braking system as well. And in the high-grade versions, you also get a blind spot view monitor camera system and a surround view camera as well. So, it might be worth spending the extra money if you’re interested in getting the safest possible SUV that you can if you’re after a Sarrento that is. Because, well, while there are plenty of airbags fitted to this car, dual front, front side, a front center, and curtain coverage, those curtain airbags don’t cover the heads of those in the very back row. So, it might not be the perfect seven seat choice for you. If that’s the case, go and buy a Kia Carnival. Kia Australia offers a 7-year unlimited kilometer warranty for the vehicle itself. But there’s also some battery considerations when it comes to the warranty that you’ll see on your screen now. There is a cap price servicing plan for this vehicle. The intervals are pretty decent. You’ll see them on screen. And the pricing is not too bad for a plug-in hybrid, but um it’s not necessarily the most affordable plug-in hybrid to maintain. If you do service your vehicle with Kia, you can get access to up to 8 years of roadside assistance with this car, though, so that might help you make your decision. I can totally understand if you love the idea of a Kia Sto. This is a fantastic family sevenseater, but I don’t think that the plug-in hybrid is the best choice that you can make in this lineup. The price premium for the GT Line version really is a little bit too steep in my opinion. And I would just be going for a GT Line diesel if I insisted on a high-spec version. But I might also encourage you to wait because there might be a few more affordable takes on the plug-in hybrid and hybrid versions of the Sarrento in the coming months. So, if you haven’t already, please subscribe and ring that bell. You’ll be notified when I do any review, not just Kia Sarrentos, but any new model. And there’s plenty more plug-in hybrid models coming to Australia in the next 12 to 18 months. So, it’s getting exciting, people. Hope you’re enjoying what you’re seeing. Thank you for watching and I’ll see you when I see you.
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The Kia Sorento is a lovely thing. But this range-topping plug-in hybrid version is super pricey.
At almost $85K plus on-road costs, you’re going to REALLY have to want this one to make it justifiable… especially with the small amount of EV driving range on offer here.
In this review I cover off all the stuff you need to know about the Kia Sorento GT-Line PHEV AWD.
And if you’re interested in my other Kia Sorento reviews, check them out here:
Sorento petrol V6 and diesel – https://youtu.be/rNN924LIHQc
Sorento HEV (hybrid) – https://youtu.be/MAMUKZb7wBc
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OTHER OPTIONS TO CONSIDER:
BYD Sealion 6 if you don’t need 7 seats – https://youtu.be/c9DZekeHF3E
Hyundai Santa Fe if you don’t need a PHEV, just a great hybrid – https://youtu.be/Ov_VVOMqjQs
It’s also definitely worth checking out the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – https://youtu.be/SLTKe8Bqqaw
Kia Carnival hybrid – https://youtu.be/yiwk2mtcf7A
Kia Carnival diesel and petrol – https://youtu.be/DvfhD-nqXxY
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MORE PHEV reviews –
MORE 7 seater SUV reviews –
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00:00 Kia Sorento PHEV
00:29 Is it the right price?
02:30 What are the best alternatives?
04:10 Is it the right size?
06:53 Under the bonnet
07:46 Range and charging
08:49 Driving
14:48 Efficiency & EV range
16:48 Is it safe?
17:49 Ownership
18:26 Verdict
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