2026 Kia Sportage Plug-In Hybrid | Full Walkthrough With Daniel at Mission Viejo Kia
If you’ve been thinking about going electric, but don’t want to fully commit to the full charging lifestyle, the 2026 plug-in hybrid might just be your perfect fit. I’m Daniel from Mission Vehicle Kia, and today we’re going to be taking a look at the 2026 Sportage Plug-in Hybrid. We’re going to see what makes this car great, and today we’re looking at it in the beautiful Vesta blue color uh for you to enjoy. Let’s take a look. So, for the 2026, the Sportage does get the same changes as the hybrid and gas version. This plug-in hybrid is going to have the Xline package, meaning it’s going to have the blacked out badges, blacked out grill. You’re going to get the gloss black 19-in wheels here, as well as the sporty raised black roof rail. So, it’s going to give that sportiness. Uh, you’re also going to be getting 34 miles all electric range on the Sportage plug-in hybrid, which makes it a really flexible option. So, you’re thinking about the electric, you don’t want to go fully committed, you don’t want to have to go and install anything in my house, you don’t have to. You can plug this in on a 110. Uh, and it does come with a charging cable from the factory. So, no need to go and install anything, which makes it a great choice if you’re considering making a bit of a switch there. So, really great there. With the plug-in hybrid being the Xline, you’re going to be getting the Xline badge here. As I mentioned, black badging all throughout the car. You’re going to getting this specific color as well, best of blue, which is personally one of my favorites. Just like the Sportage of previous years, you’re still getting that really great class leading trunk space that’s going to allow you to fold down this all the way. Super simple to get tons of space here. Now, one caveat with the plug-in hybrid is because the battery housings here in the back, you’re not get a spare tire, but rather a tire mobility kit. So, just something to consider if you’re considering the hybrid. Plug-in hybrid is just one of those small differences. Obviously, we have the smart power liftgate that’s going to help us close this automatically. You can program it to help open up as you approach. That’s something that you can tinker with in in the settings. So, yeah, same great look, same great styling uh on the Sportage. Being a plug-in hybrid, obviously you want to know where do I plug this thing in? And that’s going to be on the passenger side on the rear. I’m going to be able to simply open this up and then plug it right in. Full tank of gas on this, you’re going to be getting around 350 360 mi of range. And then on the full electric battery, you can go all electric range about 34 miles on a charge. So, if you’re doing a lot of short commutes from work, uh, dropping the kids off, so on and so forth, you can just use the electric battery and basically never have to touch the gas, which is one of the big benefits of the plug-in hybrid. And of course, the packaging, the styling to boot is also really, really well done on this car. They’ve did an excellent job with the styling. And obviously, a lot of people love the blacked out sporty look of the car. That makes the Sportage Sporty Sportage not too bad, right? So, let’s take a look on the inside. So, in the back seat here, we do get plenty of space. We get some cutouts here for your knees. I am 510, 5’11, maybe 6t on a good day, but we have plenty of room here. Plenty of headroom here. So, if you’re on the taller side, this is still going to be a very comfortable place to be. Good sight line on to the front. We do get these rear air vents here, USBC fast charging. We do get a cable um hook here. We do get a regular just hook here for a bag or a purse. We are also going to get on the 2026 fully loaded, we’re going to be getting rear heated seats uh for this year, which I think is a really nice touch. So, you can get nice and toasty back here and just obviously lots to love about the Sportage. Plenty of space for everybody involved. So, really great place to be. So, a few of the updates on the 2026 model. For the Sportage, we’re sitting in the SX Prestige Xline trim. New for the 2026 model, you’re going to be getting a heads up display. So, that’s the projector that goes out into the windshield here. We have a brand new steering wheel design so that when we put our blinkers on, we see the blind spot view monitor. We can actually see a little bit better through this pass through. Uh new buttons, the UI’s changed. We crucially, we’re going to get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That is new for the 2026 model year on the Sportage. We’re going to get this new non-fingerprint material, faux wood. Looks much nicer, a lot nicer of a finish. Optional ventilated seats and heated steering wheel. We’re going to be getting this stitching pattern that’s going to be native to the Xline trim. Um, as well as a panoramic sunroof on the inside. So, lots to love about this packaging. Obviously, some of these options are on the higher trim. You can choose to go without them if you feel like you don’t need them, but all nice touches uh on the 2026 Sportis plug-in hybrid. So, let’s go ahead and explore some more of the technology here. We also do have a 12.3 panoramic touchscreen display. We’ve got dual climate control on this side as well. And it’s just a very easy package to maneuver. Crucially with the plug-in hybrid, we have this button here in the middle that’s going to say EV over HEV, which is going to be our toggle switch to go ahead and move into the all-electric. If I hit it here right now, we actually haven’t plugged this this car in. So, it’s going to say, “Hey, you have low battery. We’re going to maintain the hybrid mode.” And the hybrid mode is just going to do that. It’s just going to switch between electric and gas as needed. Uh if we had the charge and we had plugged this thing in overnight, we would have been able to switch into that all electric range, using up that 34 miles of all electric range for our driving. So, uh on that note, we can take a look at some more features. Aside from some of the refreshes, you know, one of the main things that will stand out is going to be this new UI and new screen here. So, on the plug-in hybrid, we’re actually able to get some stats on charging. We can schedule charging. We can see just relevant information to the total range of the vehicle, how much battery we have, the efficiency, battery health, real-time charging information, which I think is really great if you’re really trying to use this as a mini EV, which is its intended use to be honest with you. Um, we do have some updated gauge cluster material here as well where we can see trip information, navigation, turn by turn, uh, and then just a lot of convenience options. You know, for the Sportage, it’s always been that car where it’s going to be super comfortable to be in. You do get a lot of just optionality. Wireless charging pad down here, USB uh all over the car right here, back in the chairs as well. And then it’s just very comfortable to sit in. We do have memory seating here if there’s a few drivers. They added in the home link mirror for this year as well. Um, so there’s just lots to love about this package and just overall the comfort, the convenience, the tech, the seamless integration of everything I think makes this a really great value pick. If you’re in between going full EV and sticking with a hybrid, this is going to be a great option for you if you’re going to be doing a lot of driving uh, in that short commute range where you can utilize that battery quite a bit. So, that’s going to be just a little bit on the technology side. Obviously, we’re sitting in the top trim, which is going to give you everything. So, you have two trims. You have the Xline, which is mid-level, which would map to the EX if you’re shopping the regular hybrid, and then you have the Xline Prestige, which is the fully loaded package. So, definitely something to consider if you’re in the market for Sportage. And just knowing the delineation between the two trims, I think is really the hood, we have a 1.6 4-cylinder turbocharged hybrid engine. Bit of a mouthful, I know, but also to note on the plug-in hybrid, we’re going to be getting a 13.8 kWh battery. And as we mentioned, it’s got a 34 mile all electric range. Now, you might be asking yourself, “Okay, that’s all great, Daniel. What is one of these Sportage plug-in hybrids going to cost me?” Now, there’s two options for you if you’re going to go plug-in hybrid. You have the regular X-line trim, and then you have the hybrid plug-in SX Prestige all-wheel drive. These names are so long, you don’t have to worry. But there’s two trims, right? Midtrim and then fully loaded. So, fully loaded, what we’re looking at now is about MSRP, you’re looking about $49,000. Uh midtrim is going to be around the 4344 mark. uh if you’re looking at the plug-in hybrid. So, something to consider if you’re looking at these cars um across the way, they offer a lot of value, but obviously the big caveat between this and the regular hybrid is that you’re going to be able to go fully electric. You can plug this thing in, you can cover your commutes uh purely on electric range. So, if that’s something that appeals to you before stepping into the full electric space, this is going to be a really great option for you to long term. And of course, with Kia’s warranty, that’s also going to cover powertrain, right? So, engine, transmission, in this case, the hybrid system, and anything having to do with the powertrains in this case is also going to be covering that electric system. So, uh definitely lots to love there on the value side and something you should definitely take a look at if you’re considering one of these plug-in hybrids. So, if you want to go ahead and take one of these for a spin, you’re interested in a Sportage plug-in hybrid, come visit us at Mission Yoko Kia. As for me, my name is Daniel. You can also visit us at the Tustin Auto Center with brand new location Tustin Kia where we have plenty of these 2026 Sportage plug-in hybrids for you to take a look at. Again, thank you so much for tuning in to Patterson Autos. This has been Daniel. It’s been my pleasure and uh like, comment, and subscribe for more. We’ll go ahead and take a look at all of our Kia vehicles across our lineup. Thank you so much.
Join Daniel from Mission Viejo Kia as he takes you on a full walkthrough of the all-new 2026 Kia Sportage Plug-In Hybrid!
In this video, we break down everything you need to know—from performance and electric-only driving capability to interior features, safety tech, and cargo versatility.
Ready to test drive the 2026 Kia Sportage Plug-In Hybrid?
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