KIA XCeed PHEV

XCeed PHEV offers a perfect compromise for fleets

KIA keeps on delivering great new cars – and the XCeed PHEV is no exception, says Andrew Walker

Company Car & Van had the opportunity to drive the KIA XCeed in diesel form last year and came away impressed. With Government tax incentives on plug-in and electric cars it was only a matter of time before KIA added to the XCeed model range, and the XCeed PHEV is the result.

With a 1.6-litre petrol engine coupled to a small electric motor for a combined 139bhp, the XCeed PHEV, even at £30,000+, is good value compared with plug-in rivals. For company car drivers and SME fleet managers, the 32g/km of CO 2 emissions make it a doubly attractive option.

KIA cabins are getter nicer and nicer and the XCeed could well be the best yet. It’s all finished in good quality soft touch plastics, with some nice matt silver and black plastic trim. The seat covering, roof lining and door finishes are also tasteful in black and the sloping roofline gives the cabin a sporty stance.

The infotainment 10.25” touchscreen sits proudly in the centre of the dash. This features excellent graphics and provided sharp responses to your requests. Functions include DAB radio, SatNav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. We connected our iPhone simply and easily via the USB input in the front to access Apple CarPlay, and it worked seamlessly.

We were testing the XCeed finished in Grade 3 spec, and equipment is generous: 16” alloys, privacy glass, power lumbar supported front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, an electric parking brake, a reversing camera, parking sensors, 4.2” supervision colour cluster display and a USB fast charger in the front centre console. There’s also a heated steering wheel and heated front seats.

The rear load space is nicely finished, with good quality fabric lining all three sides. However, the batteries are located under this and eat into the litres offered, which explains why the standard XCeed’s 426-litre boot shrinks to just 291 litres in the PHEV model.

The whole point of choosing the XCeed PHEV over its petrol or diesel brethren is its electric range. KIA claims a 30-mile journey in full electric is possible and after we plugged in and topped up the battery, we gave it a try.

The automatic gearbox makes life easy in town and this is where the electric power is at its most useful. Once up to speed the electric range drops faster and we found it’s better to let the petrol engine step in. After a 25-mile trip including a junction on the motorway, the electric power ran out. At this point, the combined MPG was an impressive 92.4mpg. KIA claims 201.8mpg is possible, but this would depend on how often you plug in and how far and how fast you are travelling.

As a comparison, over the next few days, we drove the car in ECO mode (SPORT is also offered), primarily on the motorway for 200 miles and the combined MPG dropped into the low sixties. This also emptied half the petrol tank, which for our driving style offered around a 400-mile range.

‘The auto gearbox makes life easy in town and this is where the electric power is at its most useful...’

An overnight top-up at home on our 7kW Rolec home charger – the charging cap is on the left hand side of the car above the front wheel – took us back up to a full electric charge and we managed to drive the last two days locally, around 18 miles, all at low speeds on electric only.

On our travels we found the PHEV quiet and comfortable and up front there’s plenty of head and legroom available. In the rear the sloping roof eats into the head height and it’s a bit of a squeeze for three adults. The extra weight from the batteries feels better spread out in the XCeed PHEV than in the Niro PHEV, for example, and helps make the Kia a bit more fun to the drive when you’re out on the open road. Even in SPORT mode acceleration is distinctly average though, with the XCeed taking 10.6 seconds to reach 60mph.

While the Proceed is still our favourite looking KIA, the XCeed pushes it pretty close on appearance. It also features the best interior in a KIA thus far and in 3 Spec offers the excellent 10.25” touchscreen, again the nicest KIA has to offer. With that low BIK a company car driver in tax year 2020/21 would be looking at an annual payment of £613 at 20% or £1,226 at 40%, not quite a good as an EV, but then you get a guaranteed 400-mile range.

Although the PHEV XCeed is £4,000 more to buy than the diesel in 3 spec, the PHEV version’s BIK starts at just 12%, compared to the diesel’s 31% and petrol’s 28%, making it highly attractive to the end user.

Throw in Kia’s seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, which smashes most others out of the ball park, and the likelihood of 65-70mpg, and KIA is on to a company car winner!

V d Great looking with a very attractive interior. Well built, with good economy and the tantalising hint that you can push the mpg through the 100mpg if driving carefully in electric mode. Boot space compromised by battery but a great drive nevertheless.

CC&V RATING: N N N N

Nissan has the dealer support and range that’s right for fleets

Peter McDonald, Fleet Director, Nissan GB, wants to see the company maintain its lead in electric vehicles – and continue its excellent relations with its dealer network

Company Car & Van: You’ve been with Nissan for a few months now. Where do you think they can improve your fleet offering for SMEs?

Peter McDonald:

There are two prime routes to market for SMEs. Many will transact through their local dealership where they will also benefit from a direct relationship to support any servicing and maintenance requirements. We also know that there are a number of intermediaries who sell contract hire products into the SME market and offer terms across a suite of manufacturers and products.

We would like to support the customer whichever way they wish to transact. We have excellent dealers and a very effective Small Business programme, driving standards and dealer investment into the SME space.

In parallel we have excellent working relationships with a number of the largest brokers, we want to support them and ensure they can offer a good level of service to customers wishing to purchase a Nissan.”

CC&V: Nissan is still the ‘Daddy’ of EVs, with the LEAF still selling well. With pressure mounting to build more electric vehicles, are there any new electric car models coming from the Nissan brand?

PM: Nissan is a leader in EV and offers one of the strongest EV propositions. Across passenger cars (LEAF), commercial vehicles (e-NV200) and their unique ability to utilise vehicle-to-grid technology, we have access to the best EV technology in the market today.

We recently launched the LEAF e+ 62KW which adds additional range over the 40KW LEAF and since the start of this year we’ve experienced a massive increase in both LEAF and e-NV200 orders.

In July, we broke cover on our new halo product – the Nissan Ariya – an electric crossover that we’re really excited about. Arriving next year with an estimated 310-mile range, the Ariya will also feature autonomous driving features, voice personal assistant and seamless connectivity.”

CC&V: Your commercial offering is strong, but perhaps, apart form the Navara and e-NV200, falls under many SMEs radar. You’ve recently launched a new small van, the NV250. Why should SMEs take a look at this, as well as the larger NV300 and NV400?

PM: Nissan has a broad range of LCV product. The Navara and e-NV200 generate the most volume and have the greatest awareness but NV250, NV300 and NV400 are effective and highly regarded. In addition, our brand differentiator is a five-year warranty as standard across the LCV range.

CC&V: You have a number of Business & Fleet dealerships in the Nissan dealer network. If an SME is interested in a Nissan product, how are these retailers set up to help?

PM: We have over 180 dealers across the country who are capable of supplying fleet vehicles, and 45 of these dealers are fleet and LCV specialists. They all have dedicated expert fleet staff and are set up to give tailored support to businesses about their vehicle needs, whatever the fleet size, together with flexible service support and a dedicated fleet helpline.

CC&V: After such a testing few months in our industry, where do you hope to see Nissan in the UK fleet sector, by the end of 2021?

PM: We’re looking to stabilise and then seek long-term, sustainable growth in our UK fleet sales performance.

We wish to build excellent partnerships directly with large institutional customers and intermediaries, and together with our dealer network offer an excellent service to SMEs.

With our unique experience with electric vehicles, we have a real opportunity to help fleets adjust to a zero emissions future.

We’ve been selling LEAF for over 10 years, we’ve been working with partners on electric LCV for over five years. Together with our dealer network, we know EV and are able to offer great insight and support to customers looking to make the transition.

New Juke ticks all right boxes

Andrew Walker

If five years is a long time in a car’s life cycle, then the 10 years it has taken Nissan to replace the Juke seems like an eternity.

The original arrived back in 2010 and on arrival swept all before it, fast becoming a massive success as Nissan nailed the B-SUV sector. It was far from perfect, mind. It was a bit pokey inside, and had a small boot. But despite the criticism it was so very different it swept all before it and it was only when Toyota brought out its C-HR that it was challenged.

Now, however, there are rivals all over the place and Nissan has finally responded with a new model. Rather than start from scratch, Nissan has built a car that is still unmistakeably a Juke, but now tips its hat to the Toyota CH-R, rather than the other way around.

Our test car was an N-Connecta auto in two-tone Pearl Black with a Fuji Sunset Red roof. Its bold styling is complemented by a high driving position to give that large SUV feel. The front shows off a large U-shaped black and chrome-edged grille, the circular headlights sit almost where they did before, with the indicator and LED side lights, slimmer and wrapped around the edge of the bonnet. At the rear, gone are the boomerang light clusters, replaced by a thinner, corner cluster.

Park next to an old Juke and the evolution is clear. Juke Mk2 is wider by 35mm and longer, by 75mm, while the wheelbase has grown by 105mm, which delivers more interior space. This isn’t surprising because the Juke shares much of its underpinnings with the Renault Captur, both utilising the same CMF-B platform and engines. It’s also British-built at Sunderland.

Trim levels will be familiar to existing Nissan customers. Entry is Visia, (£17,860), moving up through Acenta, N-Connecta, Tekna, Tekna+