Best of Both Worlds
So let's talk about that "Best of Both Worlds" comment, OK?
It's no news that the world is going all-electric, right? And Tesla no longer has the playing field all to themselves. There's a flood of new all-electric vehicles on the way…from virtually every manufacturer…including KIA.
These all-electrics are referred to as Battery Electric Vehicles, or BEV's. No pistons, no spark plugs, no engine. Just an all-electric motor.
Meanwhile, while internal combustion engines ( ICE's ) still make up the great majority of sales, we have some form of Hybrids making up more and more of the model mix.
Hybrids have been on the market for over ten years now and have a large self-contained battery that works with a conventional gas engine to deliver better economy or more power…and in many cases, both. Your all-electric range in one of these HEVs ( Hybrid Electric Vehicle ) is fairly limited, but overall mileage is still an improvement over a conventional gas engine.
Then there's the PHEV…today's test vehicle…a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle.
While relatively new, almost every manufacturer has one of these PHEVs now, and the Plug-In delivers far greater economy compared to an HEV hybrid.
You still have your gas engine, but you plug-in to get your "juice". With our test Sorento, that kinda' gave us the best of both worlds…261 combined electric and gas HP, a healthy 258 ft.
lbs. of torque, and an all-electric range of 32 miles.
While electricity is far from free, the EPA rates our Sorento PHEV as getting an "Equivalent" of 79 miles per gallon. That comes out to a $900 per year fuel cost…roughly $300 - $400 less than a comparable gas-engined vehicle.
So where do you plug in to charge your battery? If you've got a garage, the easiest thing to do is just plug in when you get home in the evening and unplug when you take off in the morning. 12 hours of charging on 120 power will get you around 36 miles of all-electric range.
No garage? More and more parking lots and garages have 240 volt or higher charging available…and often at shopping areas, it's free.
Plus there's a coming flood of high-speed commercial charging stations springing up across the country
Now…going back to the "Best of Both Worlds", you might say that applies to the character of our Sorento PHEV. Is it an economy car of a luxury vehicle?
Our tester was a loaded SX-Prestige AWD, and as such, we enjoyed all the niceties that one might expect in a luxury ride like heated and ventilated perforated leather, heated steering, heated second-row captain's chairs, Bose audio, 19" alloys, surround-view, and all of today's expected alerts and warnings.
The total price? $49,720…which is only a $6,800 "premium" over a conventional gas-engined SX-Prestige Sorento. At today's gas prices, you could save somewhere around a thousand bucks a year with the PHEV.
Do you plan to keep your Sorento for six or seven years? If so the Sorento PHEV might make a smart choice.
2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
Bob Jackson2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
Bob Jackson2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
Bob Jackson2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
Bob Jackson2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
Bob Jackson2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
Bob Jackson2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid
Bob Jackson2022 KIA Sorento Plug-In Hybrid