The Kia Sorento PHEV is almost $15,000 more expensive than the top specification diesel. Is it worth it? Paul Maric gives you a detailed review of the plug in hybrid 2022 Kia Sorento PHEV to see if it's any good!
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2022-kia-sorento-plug-in-hybrid-review
More Kia content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/kia
More Kia Sorento content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/kia/sorento
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:56
Interior 03:59
Infotainment 05:31
Safety Tech 08:04
Practicality 09:12
On the Road 14:47
0-100 km/h 21:40
Verdict 23:25
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
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#kia #sorento #review #phev #ev
Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
Read the full review: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-reviews/2022-kia-sorento-plug-in-hybrid-review
More Kia content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/kia
More Kia Sorento content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/kia/sorento
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:56
Interior 03:59
Infotainment 05:31
Safety Tech 08:04
Practicality 09:12
On the Road 14:47
0-100 km/h 21:40
Verdict 23:25
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#kia #sorento #review #phev #ev
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul.
00:01 The hybrid SUV space, it's heating up.
00:03 And while there is a hybrid version of the Sorento coming,
00:06 this one here is the plug-in hybrid.
00:08 And the difference between a plug-in hybrid
00:09 and a closed circuit hybrid
00:11 is that you can charge a plug-in hybrid from the wall,
00:13 whereas with a closed circuit, you can't.
00:15 Now, this is only available
00:16 in one specification in Australia,
00:18 and it is priced from,
00:19 and he's sitting down,
00:20 just under $82,000 drive away.
00:24 That is a big old chunk of money.
00:25 This competes with things like the Mitsubishi Outlander FEV
00:29 and the Volvo XC90 FEV.
00:30 And the reason I call those two out
00:32 is because they are both available,
00:34 or the new Outlander will be available with seven seats,
00:37 and so is this.
00:38 So they're kind of unique in the segment in that regard.
00:40 Today, we're going to do a detailed review of this car.
00:43 If you do wanna skip ahead to other parts of the review,
00:45 you can use those time codes up on the screen there,
00:47 or if you're on YouTube,
00:48 you can scroll down and use the chapters below.
00:50 And if you haven't done so already,
00:51 subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon.
00:53 You can then find out every single time
00:54 we drive a brand new car.
00:57 Now, before we get into the exterior,
00:59 this is literally the windiest place on earth at the moment.
01:02 So we've had to bury my microphone
01:04 so the audio is gonna sound a bit funny.
01:06 You've got seven external colours to pick from.
01:08 All but white is an additional $695.
01:12 Now, in terms of visuals,
01:13 this looks the same as the top spec diesel.
01:15 There is one exception though, and it's out the back.
01:17 I'll show you that in a second.
01:18 Down the front here,
01:19 this is the first Sorento in Australia to have the new logo.
01:22 And I reckon that logo looks really cool.
01:24 It is so much more hip than Kia's old logo.
01:27 Kia's old logo looks like it belonged
01:29 on their cars 15 years ago.
01:31 This looks like it suits the brand a whole lot more.
01:33 I've said before in our last Sorento review
01:35 that I think the design of the Sorento
01:37 is really, really resolved.
01:39 I love the fact that they've just gone
01:40 minimalistic but stylish.
01:42 So you've got these elements up the front here.
01:43 You've got these brushed chrome strips around the grill.
01:46 LED daytime running lights.
01:48 And it is just a design that looks a whole lot more European
01:51 than it does Korean in a sense.
01:53 It looks a whole lot more like a BMW or a Mercedes
01:55 than it does a Korean car.
01:56 So that's a positive thing.
01:58 Over here, you've got a set of LED headlights.
02:01 These work really well at nighttime
02:02 with an LED high beam as well.
02:04 So you're getting some really great projection
02:06 down the road there.
02:07 Front camera there for the 360 camera.
02:09 Whip around to the side here.
02:10 So while the top spec diesel gets 20 inch alloy wheels,
02:14 the PHEV, and I call it a FEV
02:16 just 'cause it's easier to say that,
02:17 gets 19 inch alloy wheels.
02:19 I'm not entirely sure why.
02:21 I suspect that these tires potentially
02:23 are like an eco tire,
02:24 even though they don't have any sort of wording on there
02:26 to suggest that they are.
02:28 Or it could be to do with the ride
02:29 because this does weigh more than the diesel model.
02:32 So not sure what the story is with that,
02:34 but we'll see when we go for a drive
02:35 whether it has affected the drive quality.
02:37 Just above that, you've got a set of wheel arch protectors
02:41 because this is all wheel drive
02:42 and it comes with some off-road modes as well.
02:45 Nothing too sort of crazy.
02:47 Along the side here,
02:48 you've got another brushed aluminum strip indicator
02:51 built into that wing mirror.
02:52 Another camera there for the 360 camera.
02:54 Like these roof rails,
02:56 again, it follows that sort of theme
02:58 of offsetting the darker tones on the side of the car.
03:01 Privacy glass, and let's take a stop over here.
03:03 So this may look like a fuel cap,
03:04 and I mentioned there are some visual differences
03:06 between this and the plug-in hybrid.
03:08 If you open this, this is where you charge the vehicle.
03:11 So you have a type two plug.
03:13 It just plugs into there.
03:14 It's just an AC charger.
03:15 It'll do up to 3.3 kilowatts,
03:17 and it uses a 14 kilowatt hour battery,
03:20 and that's located under the passenger seat.
03:22 So it's a fairly sort of basic setup.
03:25 So around the back, you've got a shark fin aerial,
03:27 this boot lid spoiler.
03:29 I like this vertical LED tail light arrangement.
03:31 This looks really nice and classy.
03:33 This is gonna be your other telltale sign
03:34 that this is the plug-in hybrid.
03:36 It says Eco Plug-in.
03:37 Sorrento badges down the bottom.
03:39 Another new Kia badge along the top there.
03:41 Concealed exhausts as well.
03:43 So let me know what you think about the price.
03:45 I kind of gasped a little when I heard the price,
03:49 and I will give you a comparison later
03:51 with regards to the diesel compared to this
03:52 and how long your payback period is,
03:54 but I'm keen to get your thoughts
03:56 before you watch any further.
03:57 Let me know what you think about the price below.
03:59 So we are inside the Sorrento.
04:00 Let's begin with the key.
04:02 Here it is.
04:03 So you've got the new Kia logo there.
04:05 You've got nothing on the back there.
04:06 And then on the top, you've got lock, unlock, remote start,
04:11 and then push to hold for the boot to open.
04:14 You'll notice there is no smart park on this key.
04:17 So the P-HEV unfortunately doesn't get the feature
04:19 where the car's able to go in and out of spots on its own,
04:22 which is odd because it is easy to do in EVs
04:25 because it's electric.
04:27 So strange that it doesn't do that,
04:28 but it is a proximity sensing key.
04:29 So you leave that in your pocket.
04:31 Once you're inside,
04:32 you have a push button start up the top here.
04:34 I love this interior.
04:35 So the Sorrento really just tacks it up a notch
04:37 in terms of making you feel like you've spent a lot of money
04:40 and ironically you have spent a lot of money here
04:42 with the P-HEV, but if you go for the diesel,
04:44 it really just feels like you've bought a BMW
04:47 and they've gone to a lot of effort here
04:49 to just make it feel premium.
04:50 So you've got stuff like this brushed aluminium
04:52 around those sections.
04:53 You've got soft touch materials throughout the car.
04:55 The two big screens here ahead of the driver
04:57 and then this sort of textured material
05:00 along the dash there.
05:01 Unfortunately though,
05:01 there is a lot of piano black around here,
05:05 something you can't seem to get away from too much,
05:07 but for the most part, it looks really good.
05:09 Touch points in the center here,
05:10 that's really nice and soft.
05:11 And then on the door, that is soft as well.
05:14 How soft is it?
05:15 Well, we've got our durometer.
05:16 We've tested all the main surfaces in this cabin.
05:18 If you want to see how this car compares to others
05:20 we've tested before,
05:21 have a look at the link in the description.
05:23 Build quality,
05:24 little wobbly, but just on that glove box lid,
05:28 but the rest feels okay.
05:30 Yeah, not too bad.
05:31 Moving on to infotainment.
05:33 So it's a 10.25 inch infotainment system
05:36 and then you have a 12.3 inch display here
05:38 ahead of the driver.
05:39 Run you through this first.
05:40 So you have shortcut buttons along the side there.
05:42 You also have a profile selection menu up the top.
05:46 And if you slide across,
05:47 this is where you have all of your menu items.
05:49 So I'll run you through some of the fun stuff in a second,
05:51 but the basis of it is you have
05:53 inbuilt satellite navigation.
05:55 It's a decent system.
05:56 I like here as well with satellite navigation on the P-HEV,
05:59 you have your battery
06:00 and then also where the nearest charging station is.
06:02 And then you can search them
06:04 as part of your destination as well.
06:05 So that's a pretty handy feature there.
06:07 It means that you won't ever be too far away from a charger,
06:09 or at least you'll know exactly where they are.
06:12 If we jump back over to the home menu,
06:13 radio, you have AM, FM, DAB plus digital radio.
06:18 That's all plumbed through a 12 speaker
06:20 Bose branded sound system.
06:21 It's a cracker of a sound system.
06:23 And it's pretty impressive that that comes standard here
06:25 in the top spec.
06:26 You don't have to pay any extra for it.
06:27 So decent set up there.
06:29 You'll notice over here, because this is the P-HEV,
06:31 you have the P-HEV menu.
06:33 And this is where you can set some of your charge management
06:36 and also when you want charging to start.
06:38 You can also see energy flows while you're driving
06:40 to see exactly what is powering the vehicle.
06:42 In terms of smartphone mirroring,
06:43 you have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
06:45 Both of those are wired.
06:46 This is what Android Auto looks like.
06:48 So not a full screen integration, unfortunately,
06:51 but it is pretty quick and snappy there
06:54 in terms of its responses.
06:56 And this is what Apple CarPlay looks like.
06:58 So full screen integration that is super sharp
07:01 and very quick as well.
07:03 Yes, I promise I will get to my messages at some point.
07:07 The other cool features you have here as well,
07:09 voice memo, so you can record things
07:11 while you're out on the road.
07:12 Passenger talk.
07:13 So if you do wanna chat to your passengers
07:15 in the third row, you hit this button
07:17 and then it allows you to project your voice
07:20 using a microphone up the front here to the third row
07:22 so they can hear you a little clearer.
07:24 I do like that feature.
07:25 And then over here, you also have quiet mode.
07:28 So that makes it so the speakers at the front
07:31 are outputting noise, but none of the other speakers
07:33 in the car are doing it.
07:34 So I just love these features
07:36 because they really are just family friendly
07:38 and it gives you some fun stuff to play around with there.
07:40 So this is what the screen ahead of the driver looks like.
07:42 You've got a speedo on the left, fuel, fuel economy,
07:46 odometer, you've got the drive mode.
07:48 And as you switch between different drive modes,
07:50 you can see the display changes there
07:51 in terms of the contents.
07:53 You can also customise the centre of the display as well
07:56 to give you a bunch of different features.
07:59 So it is a good screen, nice and responsive,
08:01 and I'll explain how all this stuff works later on
08:03 when we go for a drive.
08:04 Right, now let's talk safety.
08:05 So AEB, low and high speed,
08:07 comes with pedestrian and cyclist detection.
08:10 You've got blind spot monitoring built into the wing there
08:12 but this also has a blind spot camera.
08:15 So that shows up here ahead of the driver.
08:17 We'll have a look at that when we go for a drive.
08:18 You have radar cruise control,
08:20 a lane keeping assistant
08:21 with a semi-autonomous steering function.
08:23 Doesn't really work that well.
08:24 I'll just switch that off when I go for a drive
08:26 because it sort of pinballs between the lane
08:29 and I think it probably just needs
08:30 a little bit more refinement.
08:32 You also have a junction assistant
08:33 that prevents you from travelling across an intersection
08:35 if there's another car coming.
08:37 And you also have an exit assistant
08:38 which prevents you from opening the door
08:40 if there's another vehicle coming
08:41 or a pedestrian or a cyclist.
08:43 The other good feature as well is a backseat reminder.
08:45 So that will tell you if there are any kidlets
08:47 in the backseat that you have forgotten about.
08:50 In terms of parking,
08:51 you have both front and rear parking sensors
08:53 and a 360 camera.
08:55 So let's have a look at what the camera looks like.
08:57 So there it is there.
08:58 It's actually not too bad.
08:59 So pretty high resolution screen.
09:01 Top down view isn't amazing.
09:02 It's a little bit grainy on the sides
09:04 but you can select a number of different views.
09:05 This is another top down at the rear.
09:07 You also have a curb cam
09:08 so it means you won't destroy your rear wheels
09:10 if you're parking up against a curb.
09:12 Let's talk about practicality
09:14 and we'll start with your connectivity for the devices.
09:16 So two USB ports down the front here for charging
09:19 and then you have a central one for charging
09:21 and also for your smartphone mirroring.
09:23 You've also got a wireless phone charging pad
09:25 which is a great addition.
09:27 Now, where are you gonna put your phone?
09:28 So you can slot it down there on the wireless charging pad.
09:31 You've also got another spot just next to it.
09:33 Alternatively, you can use your cup holders
09:35 or this one here.
09:35 There really are endless opportunities.
09:38 Coffee, well, coffee can fit in there.
09:40 It doesn't catch on the sides either
09:41 so you won't be spilling your precious latte anywhere.
09:45 Bottles, easy fit there.
09:48 You've got teeth as well to hold them in position.
09:51 Bottle storage inside the door as well.
09:53 I don't think we'll fit our big bottle.
09:55 It's worth a shot though.
09:56 No, no bueno, that won't fit there.
10:00 You do have other storage slots.
10:01 So in addition to all that stuff,
10:03 you've got this little nook back here.
10:05 You can also open this up.
10:07 You've got a coin tray
10:08 and then a deep little slot here as well
10:10 just for putting odds and ends.
10:12 Finally, you also have a glove box here
10:14 that is reasonably sized.
10:16 Let's talk comfort.
10:17 Now this is interesting.
10:18 So you have dual zone automatic climate control
10:20 up the front here.
10:21 You can also control your rear climate
10:23 but there is a button here that says driver only.
10:25 So by pushing that,
10:26 if you are the only occupant in the car to save energy,
10:29 it can just direct the air conditioning at you
10:31 and then cancel all of the other zones.
10:33 I think that's a clever way.
10:34 They should really have that in all cars,
10:36 not just electric cars.
10:37 So I think that's a really good feature.
10:39 You also have heated and cooled seats here
10:41 for the front row.
10:42 You also have a heated steering wheel.
10:44 On the seats, have a look at this.
10:46 Nappa leather, it's quilted.
10:48 They look absolutely beautiful.
10:50 So it's a really nice setup.
10:51 They are pretty comfy as well.
10:53 They are electrically adjustable
10:54 for both the driver and front passenger.
10:56 14 way adjustment for the driver with memory as well.
11:00 And in terms of the steering wheel,
11:02 this has both tilt and reach adjustment
11:05 and on our reach test,
11:07 everything here is easy to reach.
11:09 These controls require a little bit of a lean in,
11:11 but for the most part,
11:12 this is all sort of very nicely laid out.
11:15 Second row of the Sorento.
11:16 This is kind of my favorite place
11:19 because as a kid,
11:20 you've got so much cool stuff to play with here.
11:21 So let's start off with room.
11:23 Knee room is excellent.
11:25 Toe room is reasonable.
11:26 It's just a little short on toe room just there.
11:29 Headroom is okay,
11:30 despite the fact that you've got
11:31 this giant panoramic roof there as well.
11:34 In terms of the fun toys,
11:35 you've got one USB port down here,
11:37 a 12 volt just next to it,
11:38 but you've also got USB built into the seats.
11:41 You've got air vents as well to keep you nice and cool.
11:44 You have the ability to move
11:45 mum or dad's seat out of the way as well,
11:47 which will probably get endlessly annoying for them.
11:50 Matte pockets in the back of the seats
11:51 are in fact, dual tiered matte pockets.
11:53 You've got your own blinds to keep prying eyes away.
11:57 Heated seats for the two outboard seats.
11:59 Then you have a center armrest here
12:01 with three cup holders.
12:03 So they sort of have two larger ones on the outside
12:07 and then a small one there.
12:09 And then you can also put this inside the door,
12:11 but have a look at this.
12:11 You can store it down there if you want,
12:13 but you can also pop it up here,
12:14 which I think is a much better location.
12:16 And finally, you have ISOFIX points
12:18 on your two outboard seats.
12:20 Now, what about your third row?
12:22 Let me show you how it works.
12:22 So you can do two things here with the second row.
12:26 It's a 60/40 split folding configuration.
12:29 You can either drop the row exactly like that,
12:32 or alternatively, you've got a button down here
12:34 or a button at the top.
12:36 One push of that just brings it forward
12:37 and allows you to climb on in.
12:40 Let me give that a shot.
12:41 It's pretty tight climbing in here.
12:43 You've kind of got to wedge yourself in as an adult.
12:46 It really is more a kid's space,
12:48 but I'll show you what it looks like.
12:49 So you bring that back
12:51 and then I'll click that into position.
12:53 I'm pretty compromised in terms of space.
12:55 So my knees are sort of wedged into there.
12:57 Igor, do you want to move that row just forward slightly?
13:00 So this row does move forward to accommodate
13:02 a little bit of extra leg room.
13:03 And you saw that I had a decent amount of knee room
13:06 to start with.
13:07 So if you do need to put adults in the back here,
13:09 you can give them more room like we have here.
13:11 I don't have a great deal of toe room
13:13 and head room is compromised,
13:14 but as a kid, I think you would have plenty of room here.
13:17 So you've got USB ports on either side.
13:20 You've got a cup holder, a little food holder,
13:23 a handle to get yourself in a little easier.
13:25 Then over on this side, you have your blower controls
13:27 and you have another air vent here as well.
13:29 And by the way, this is the sonar that detects
13:32 if there are still passengers in your second row
13:34 when that warning comes up.
13:35 So let's have a look at the boot.
13:37 We'll see how much room we have behind this third row.
13:40 So one of the issues with these three row SUVs
13:42 is space behind the third row.
13:44 So it's a power tailgate.
13:46 That one cranks up there.
13:47 So you have a little under 200 litres
13:49 of cargo space available here.
13:51 Beneath this, you have a battery, a cargo net,
13:54 and a jack with a couple of other bits and pieces,
13:57 and then storage off to the sides as well.
13:59 Under here, you have a full-size spare tyre.
14:02 Let's see how much room there is there.
14:04 So you can fit a laptop bag in,
14:07 but I wonder if this fits.
14:09 No, that won't close.
14:11 So it's just not enough for a suitcase, unfortunately.
14:14 You drop the third row, rather,
14:16 by pushing that down like that.
14:20 You can actually see as well,
14:21 you've got top tether points on all of the seats,
14:24 which is great news.
14:25 This expands the space to a little over 600 litres,
14:29 and this will give you an idea of how much room that is.
14:31 So plenty of room for luggage and odds and ends,
14:34 but you can expand the space to just under 2000 litres
14:38 just by pushing these two buttons here.
14:40 So that makes that disappear,
14:42 and you have pretty much a flat floor.
14:43 So it's kind of like a SUV van type thing.
14:47 So we have hit the road in the Sorento.
14:51 Now, you will hear that, and that is the sound of silence,
14:54 because right now we're driving on electric mode only.
14:58 So it's set up in an interesting way.
14:59 With a closed circuit hybrid,
15:01 you don't really have the choice
15:02 of when the petrol engine comes on.
15:04 Some allow you to drive a short distance on electric only,
15:07 but here in plug-in hybrids,
15:09 because they have a much bigger battery,
15:10 a 14 kilowatt hour battery in this case,
15:12 it actually lets you just drive
15:15 until the battery runs out on EV alone.
15:17 So ahead of the driver there,
15:18 you can see up the top there,
15:19 it says EV when it is in EV mode,
15:22 and there are a number of drive modes to choose from,
15:24 but I'll run you through those a little bit later on.
15:26 Under the bonnet, you have a combination
15:28 of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine.
15:31 The internal combustion engine
15:32 is a 1.6 litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine.
15:36 It makes 132 kilowatts of power and 265 newton metres of torque.
15:41 So it's not the world's most powerful engine,
15:43 but that's what they do with these plug-in hybrids.
15:45 They make them with a very small
15:47 and efficient petrol engine,
15:48 and then allow an electric motor
15:50 to do all the heavy lifting.
15:52 When I say heavy lifting,
15:53 that means taking off from a standing start.
15:55 I have explained before,
15:56 it's like moving a box on carpet.
15:59 It is hard to move initially,
16:00 but once it's moving, it's far easier
16:02 and requires less energy.
16:03 Same story with the car.
16:04 That's why hybrids and plug-in hybrids
16:07 tend to take off on electric,
16:08 because you're putting less strain,
16:09 less fuel use on your internal combustion engine.
16:12 Now, this is blinding me.
16:13 I'm going to close this.
16:14 There is also an electric motor.
16:16 The electric motor makes 67 kilowatts of power
16:19 and 304 newton metres of torque.
16:21 Now, the interesting thing here is
16:23 that the electric motor sits between
16:25 the engine and the transmission.
16:27 So it can act both on its own,
16:29 but also in parallel with the internal combustion engine.
16:32 And that means you get a combined power output
16:33 of 195 kilowatts of power and 350 newton metres of torque.
16:38 So it's a healthy amount.
16:39 What does that feel like behind the wheel?
16:40 Well, we're just jetting along on EV at the moment
16:43 at about 60 k's an hour.
16:44 Give this a little stab.
16:45 Look, to be honest, it is very leisurely.
16:53 Um, yeah, it's actually a little slower
16:55 than I thought it was going to be.
16:56 Let me try going from a slower speed
16:57 and then accelerating from there.
16:59 We'll drop it to about sort of 40 k's an hour.
17:01 It's not too bad.
17:05 Once you get stuck into it, it's okay,
17:06 but it's not the quickest thing in the world
17:08 because the electric motor isn't huge like it is in a full EV.
17:11 It really takes a little bit of time
17:13 to wind up and get moving.
17:15 Now, all of that is mated
17:16 to a six-speed automatic transmission.
17:18 This is the interesting part.
17:19 A lot of Toyota hybrid vehicles,
17:21 all of them use some form of a CVT.
17:24 That means when you are accelerating,
17:25 you really don't feel any gear shifts
17:27 or anything behind the wheel.
17:28 Whereas here, because it does use
17:30 a conventional transmission,
17:32 you can feel the steps as it goes through the gears.
17:34 It's not too bad.
17:35 Some of the hybrids I have driven
17:37 with normal gearboxes aren't good.
17:39 This one is actually pretty good
17:40 and you don't notice those gear shifts as much.
17:42 I'll quickly run you through this screen here
17:43 ahead of the driver.
17:44 So you can see here the tacho moves
17:46 depending on what the car's doing.
17:47 So if I use the brakes, it goes into its charge mode.
17:51 You can see the amount of battery capacity
17:53 you have remaining down the bottom there.
17:55 And then if I give it a kick,
17:56 it speeds over into power mode
17:58 as the internal combustion engine switches on as well.
18:01 So slightly different setup there to a standard Sorento.
18:03 The other thing I'll mention as well
18:04 is that this is all-wheel drive.
18:06 So you do have a driveline
18:07 that runs down the center of the car.
18:09 It's not like the RAV4,
18:10 which has an electric motor on the rear axle.
18:12 So you do have that sort of slightly old school setup.
18:15 So if you flick down to this menu,
18:17 you can actually see where the torque's going.
18:18 So as I lean onto the throttle,
18:20 you'll see the torque changes
18:22 depending on where it's required.
18:23 And depending on which terrain mode you have selected,
18:26 it's able to then bump torque to the rear axle
18:28 and use the ESP to gradually lock wheels if required,
18:32 if you're in a sort of quasi-off-road situation.
18:35 Let's point out the weight difference.
18:36 It's over 100 kilos heavier than the top spec diesel.
18:40 The issue that I've got with this,
18:41 and just with P-HEVs in general,
18:43 and I think this is my engineering mind,
18:45 we're adding extra weight, batteries,
18:47 electric motor to this vehicle,
18:48 and retaining the internal combustion engine,
18:50 which we're then making smaller.
18:52 So it's less practical
18:54 because you have a slightly smaller boot,
18:56 you've got a pretty small engine for a vehicle this size,
18:59 it's heavier, and then on top of that as well,
19:01 you're gonna have more items to service
19:03 because you're throwing in an electric motor
19:06 and those components as well.
19:07 So I personally don't think they make sense.
19:10 I would much rather just go for a hybrid.
19:12 And that also comes down to cost as well.
19:14 I did some sums based on $1.50 a litre for diesel
19:16 and travelling 15,000 kilometres a year
19:19 and charging at 25 cents per kilowatt hour.
19:22 If you were just to use this on electric,
19:25 compared to driving this as a top spec diesel,
19:28 the price difference will take you around 24 years
19:31 to pay back.
19:32 Even worse in Victoria here,
19:33 where we have an EV tax that applies to P-HEVs,
19:37 you're looking at over 40 years worth of payback
19:40 if you're just travelling 15,000 k's a year
19:42 and exclusively driving this on electricity.
19:44 So look, I just don't see the logic in getting this car
19:49 if you're wanting to save money
19:51 because it simply isn't there.
19:53 So let's talk drive modes.
19:54 You can switch between auto, hybrid mode,
19:56 where it's using a mixture of both,
19:59 or electric mode, where it simply uses
20:01 your electric drive train entirely
20:03 and doesn't activate the internal combustion engine
20:05 until you go full throttle
20:06 and then it all sort of comes to life.
20:09 So here's the interesting thing.
20:10 Kia claims a combined fuel economy
20:12 of 1.6 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres.
20:15 We're currently sitting on three litres of fuel per 100 k's.
20:19 It is worth calling something out.
20:20 You have a driving range of around 68 kilometres
20:23 just on electricity alone.
20:25 So that 14 kilowatt hour battery,
20:26 when it's full, will get you 68 k's.
20:29 When it's in this auto driving mode,
20:30 it decides when it should kick on
20:32 the internal combustion engine
20:33 and when it should use the electric motor.
20:36 So if you are driving, let's say 20 k's to work,
20:38 you would just drive this on EV alone
20:40 and you would never have to activate
20:41 the internal combustion engine.
20:43 But we've been on a longer distance drive now.
20:45 It's about 150 k's,
20:46 plus a little bit of this sportier driving
20:48 and the average has come out to three litres per 100 k's,
20:50 which is actually pretty good.
20:52 In terms of your other drive modes,
20:53 down here you've got selectors for off-road,
20:56 so your terrain response modes.
20:57 You've got snow, mud and sand,
20:59 or the default mode is eco,
21:01 but you can switch over to sport and smart.
21:04 Let's have a look at sport.
21:05 We'll see what this feels like once we get stuck into it.
21:10 We've got a big sweeping bend here,
21:11 you can feel there's a fair bit of body roll there.
21:14 Yeah, you can really feel its weight.
21:16 But look, it's okay, it's not the end of the world.
21:19 Brake pedal feel is good.
21:21 At low speeds, it can be devoid of feel a little bit,
21:24 but at higher speeds,
21:26 you can certainly feel what's going on.
21:29 Steering sort of lacks a bit of feel as well,
21:31 but it's okay.
21:32 Yeah, for an SUV, it does the job.
21:34 Now Kia doesn't have an official zero to 100 time
21:36 for the Sorento FIV,
21:38 but we've put it up against our stopwatch
21:39 and this is how it went.
21:41 So you do notice the extra weight.
21:57 So it's about 150 kilos
21:59 and it does feel heavier behind the wheel.
22:01 And as a result of that,
22:02 it feels a little slow behind the wheel,
22:04 but you do notice that as you're sort of navigating turns
22:06 and stuff, it feels a little floatier.
22:08 And that's also why they've gone
22:09 with the smaller wheel size.
22:11 So 19 inch instead of 20 inch.
22:13 The ride is still comfortable,
22:14 but it's not as comfortable as it is
22:17 in the top spec GT diesel model.
22:20 So it is a little disappointing
22:21 that you do have that compromise
22:23 and you certainly feel it around corners
22:25 when you sort of tip it into a corner,
22:27 it really feels like you're moving a whole lot of weight.
22:31 And that's before you actually load the car up
22:33 with your family and friends and all that sort of stuff.
22:36 Let's talk road noise.
22:38 It is okay.
22:39 There is a bit of tire noise coming
22:41 into the cabin on course chip roads,
22:43 but for the most part, it's pretty quiet.
22:44 It's quite windy outside
22:45 and not hearing a great deal of wind noise, which is good.
22:47 It means there's decent insulation sort of around the car.
22:50 So it is going to be comfortable
22:52 if you are doing long distance drives with the family.
22:54 So what about visibility?
22:55 The good news is it's pretty much exactly
22:57 like a standard Sorento.
22:58 So visibility out the front's great.
23:00 The wing mirrors are huge.
23:01 You've not only got a blind spot monitor in the wing mirror,
23:04 when you put the indicator on,
23:06 you get cameras come up on both sides.
23:09 And I think that is a fantastic feature.
23:11 It's just a really good aid to make sure there's no one
23:13 that you haven't seen next to you.
23:15 And it also prevents you
23:16 from changing lanes into them as well.
23:18 Visibility out the rear is really good too.
23:20 I can clearly see out that back window
23:22 and the envelope is pretty decently sized as well.
23:25 Okay, so the Kia Sorento plug-in hybrid.
23:28 I love the Sorento.
23:28 I think the Sorento itself is fantastic.
23:30 It comes with all the features you need.
23:32 It has plenty of room inside
23:34 and it just does everything really well.
23:36 The plug-in hybrid though,
23:37 just takes away all of the good parts of the Sorento.
23:41 It doesn't drive as well.
23:42 It doesn't ride as well.
23:43 You get less room in the boot.
23:44 You get less towing capacity.
23:46 It's not as punchy as the diesel.
23:48 I mean, there's just all this stuff working against it.
23:51 And then when you look at the price difference, $14,000,
23:54 it just makes absolutely no sense at all.
23:56 So if you put the diesel to one side though,
23:59 enter the Kluger Grande hybrid.
24:01 So we reviewed that recently.
24:02 Click up here to watch that.
24:03 On the road, the Kluger Grande hybrid at the moment,
24:06 depending on your postcode, is more expensive than this.
24:08 So you can have a fully bonafide plug-in hybrid
24:11 for the same price as just a basic Kluger hybrid.
24:14 And I think this is definitely a better car than the Kluger.
24:16 So look, it is a really tricky one.
24:19 If you're desperate for all the plug-in hybrid stuff,
24:21 this is good in that sense,
24:23 because you're getting the range.
24:24 It does all that stuff really well.
24:25 But if you want a seven seat family SUV,
24:28 you're just better off getting the top spec diesel.
24:30 It just does everything better
24:32 and it will be cheaper in the long run to operate as well.
24:34 So unfortunately, that is my verdict.
24:37 Let me know what you think in the comment section below.
24:39 Will you buy this?
24:40 Are you sort of hell-bent on doing it?
24:41 And if so, why?
24:42 Why are you justifying the extra 14, 15 grand
24:45 over and above the diesel version?
24:47 I'm really keen for your feedback.
24:48 Let me know in the comment section.
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