Kia Sorento Hybrid Review and Prices

The Kia Sorento is the ideal SUV for when you’re all at sixes and sevens. That’s because you needn’t worry if you need to carry six passengers, making at total of seven in the car, because the Sorento is well up to the task, and this plug-in hybrid model means you won’t even be spending too much while you do so.

Also on your shortlist will be cars such as the Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008, however with Kia pitching the starting price of the Sorento PHEV at nearly £45,000 you might also be looking at the Land Rover Discovery Sport or Mercedes GLB.

However, neither of these can match the sheer volume of interior space offered by the Sorento. It’s huge.

It also still looks like a rough, tough SUV, just a bit sharper. The grille has a new shape and comes with integrated LED headlights.

At the rear, there are vertical rear lights and the Sorento nameplate is now across the bottom of the bootlid.

Fabulously spacious for seven people, and should be cheap to run if used properly.

Step inside and you’ll find an equally stylish interior. All around there are lots of nice, soft-touch materials and chrome-looking trims. The seats are comfortable and there’s a decent amount of adjustment for the driver’s seat and steering wheel. It’s just a shame lumbar adjustment, useful for staying comfortable on long journeys, isn’t standard on the entry-level car.

Still, every car gets a large digital driver’s display and a touchscreen infotainment system. It’s not quite as slick as the system you get in a Mercedes GLB and entry-level cars miss out on the largest screen and sat-nav, but at least Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard across the range, so you can use your phone’s navigation apps instead. Speaking of phones – there are USB ports next to every seat, so everyone should be able to charge their phone or hook up their tablet.

But the Kia Sorento’s party trick is its seats. The new car is longer and wider than the car it replaces and that has translated into extra space for the interior.

Three adults should be comfortable across all three seats in the middle row. They aren’t separate like you get in a Peugeot 5008 but they can move backwards and forwards and recline.

Adults in seats six and seven will be reasonably comfortable too. Sure, it’s not quite as roomy and as flexible as the middle row, but tall folk will be happier here than they would in a Land Rover Discovery Sport. Unlike in the old Sorento, you can get into the back seats from both sides of the car.

Folding the seats down is simple and when you do, you get a huge, flat boot – 1,988 litres in all – although a Skoda Kodiaq’s is bigger again. With all seven seats in place, the boot is pretty small and annoyingly the luggage cover can’t be stowed away under the boot floor but on top of it.

In this plug-in hybrid model, a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine and electric motor generate 261hp and 350Nm of torque, so the Sorento PHEV is actually pretty nippy. It’ll cover the 0-60mph sprint in 8.4 seconds and go on to a top speed of 119mph.

Better still, CO2 emissions are as low as 38g/km and it can cover around 35 miles on electric power alone, which is ideal if you have a daily commute that comprises a nose-to-tail trundle through the city. However, remember that you need to charge it up as often as possible for maximum efficiency.

The PHEV feels good to drive around town. The electric motor provides a punchy spurt of pace and is largely silent, which gives the Sorento PHEV a relaxing feel. When the battery becomes depleted and the engine kicks in, it does sound a bit noisy when you rev it hard.

On a twisty road, the Sorento does what you’d want it to do, which is mainly not swaying about too much and making your passengers car sick. You won’t be setting lap times in the Sorento, but then why would you in a seven-seat SUV?

You might baulk at parting with the best part of £45k for a Kia Sorento, but if you use seven seats regularly and will make the most of the plug-in hybrid drivetrain, it really is one of the best of its kind. And you should be able get the price down, without haggling, when you buy through carwow.

Check out our latest Kia Sorento deals.