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Kia Sorento PHEV
Kia adds a welcome PHEV option to global flagship SUV, the Sorento
Kia has added a Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) derivative to its Sorento line-up, ensuring there’s an ultra-low emissions version of the brand’s flagship global SUV. The new Sorento PHEV combines supreme practicality with the lowest emissions and highest power output in Kia’s European Sorento range.
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It’s the second electrified model in the new Sorento line-up, alongside the low-emissions Sorento Hybrid (HEV). The new PHEV powertrain combines a powerful turbocharged petrol engine with a high-capacity battery pack and high output electric motor. With a fully charged battery pack, the powertrain enables drivers to complete shorter drives of up to 43 miles on all-electric, zero-emissions power in a city setting (WLTP), while outside of the city a pure electric range of 35 miles is possible.
The PHEV variant achieves this while maximising space and versatility. The innovative platform that underpins the fourth generation Sorento has been designed from the outset to accommodate electrified powertrains.
The new platform and large body ensure it retains the generous seven-seat cabin and luggage space that define other models in the line-up.
Raising standards in the large SUV class for space, efficiency, and quality, it sits at the heart of Kia’s reinvigorated SUV line-up, which also includes the Stonic, Niro, Sportage and, in North America and other markets, the Telluride.
The Sorento’s redefined exterior design – with sharper lines, high-tech details, and elongated proportions – gives it a more confident and mature presence. Inside, its attractive cabin also introduces premium-quality materials, cutting-edge infotainment technologies, and a stunning new design.
The Sorento is the first vehicle to be based on Kia’s new-generation midsize SUV platform. Paired with a larger body to maximise cargo and luggage space, the platform ensures the Sorento is one of the most versatile and spacious seven-seat SUVs on the road.
Furthermore, the Sorento’s innovative interior packaging means it can offer all this while accommodating Kia’s new ‘Smartstream’ electrified powertrain – the first time that plug-in hybrid power has featured in the Sorento line-up. As a result, the new model offers greater fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and higher performance than its predecessors.
This is Kia’s most high-tech car ever, thanks to its progressive connectivity, driver assistance and infotainment technologies. Its user-friendly twin digital displays deliver advanced graphics, new telematics features and smartphone connectivity.
The interior of the fourth generation Sorento represents a step-change in quality and design for Kia cabins, providing owners with something striking, desirable, and luxurious.
One of the highest quality interiors found in any Kia to-date, the intuitive, technologyoriented cabin of the Sorento is fitted with premium-quality materials and cutting-edge infotainment. At the same time, it retains the spaciousness and versatility that has characterised the Sorento over its 18-year existence.
The attractive, upscale cabin introduces a sophisticated next-generation design, based around twin digital displays in the dashboard. The 12.3-inch digital driver instrument cluster is twinned with a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment and navigation system at the centre of the dashboard on grade ‘3’ and ‘4’ models. These display information clearly within the driver’s line of sight and create an innovative wide-screen user experience. On the Sorento ‘2’ model, an 8.0-inch touchscreen is provided as standard.
The cabin subtly integrates a range of other technologies, with ‘3’ and ‘4’ editions featuring a wireless smartphone charger at the base of the centre console and a Mood Lighting system, both offered as standard. Mood Lighting emits soft ambient downlighting from beneath the dashboard and door trim, creating a lounge-like feeling and greater sense of space. A powerful 12-speaker BOSE® surround-sound system features exclusively on grade ‘4’ models, providing a more immersive audio experience.
The Kia Sorento PHEV is simultaneously the most powerful and lowest-emitting model in the new European Sorento line-up thanks to its plug-in powertrain.
It features a powerful 1.6-litre T-GDi (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) engine, which on its own produces 178bhp and 265Nm of torque. Combined with an electric motor producing 67kW and 304Nm of torque, the car delivers a combined 261bhp and 350Nm of torque. 15 per cent more powerful than the Sorento Hybrid (HEV), the new PHEV variant can accelerate from 0-to-60mph in 8.4 seconds, and from 50-to-75mph in just 5.7 seconds.
The engine and motor are paired with a high-capacity 13.8kWh lithium-ion polymer battery. This enables the seven-seat SUV to deliver an equivalent all-electric range (EAER) of up to 35 miles (WLTP) from a single charge. In urban environments, it is capable of travelling up to 43 miles on a single charge (EAER city) before its turbocharged petrol engine starts up again.
Drivers are therefore able to complete many journeys, such as their daily commute, on zero-emissions electric power alone.
Its plug-in hybrid powertrain also promises the lowest CO2 emissions ever offered by the Kia Sorento. With emissions of just 38g/km (WLTP, weighted combined), the new model is one of the most efficient vehicles in its class.
