2022 Kia Sorento PHEV joins US range – 1.6T plug-in hybrid, 13.8 kWh battery, 51 km pure electric range

Kia has announced the entry of the 2022 Sorento Turbo Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) to its Sorento SUV range in the US. The PHEV joins petrol and hybrid variants of the fourth-generation SUV, which debut last year. The 2022 Sorento Turbo PHEV will reach US showrooms in the third quarter of 2021, and pricing will be announced later.

The Sorento PHEV combines a 1.6 litre turbocharged four-cylinder GDI engine with a 90 hp (66.9 kW) electric motor for 261 hp combined. The gearbox is a conventional six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The hybrid battery is a 13.8 kWh unit, which provides a targeted 51 km pure electric range. Thats the best of any three-row PHEV SUV, Kia says. The projected combined overall range is 740 km.

The new PHEV bits combine with a proven and standard AWD system with torque-vectoring, a centre locking differential and Drive Mode Select with Snow Mode. There’s not much to tell the PHEV apart from the outside, except for rear badging and the plug port at the rear quarter panel. PHEVs will be offered in two trims – SX and SX-P – and 19-inch wheels are standard. The new Kia logo is here too.

Elsewhere, the PHEV gets the same available equipment as its stablemates. There’s a 12.3-inch full digital meter cluster, Surround View Monitor, Blind View Monitor (live video view of adjacent lanes in meter panel, like on our Sonata), electrochromic rear view mirror, smart key with push/remote start, eight USB charging ports and a 10.25-inch touchscreen display with navigation and UVO telematics.

Also available are stuff like satellite radio, a wireless phone charging pad, 12-speaker Bose sound system and standard Rear Occupant Alert, which uses ultrasonic sensors to detect child or pet movement in the second and third rows after the doors have been locked. If you somehow forget your kid, the Kia’s horn and hazard lights will activate.

Riding on Kia’s N3 platform, the new Sorento is 10 mm larger in each direction and the 2,815 mm wheelbase is 35 mm longer. The Korean carmaker claims the most passenger space and second-row legroom of any PHEV SUV in the US. There’s standard three-row seating with second-row captain’s chairs and Syntex synthetic leather seating (perforated leather is an option).

Kia’s Drive Wise Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) are present. The suite includes Blind Spot Collision Avoidance Assist – Rear (BCA-Rear) with parallel exit, Driver Attention Warning (DAW), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) with Junction Turning, Highway Driving Assist (HDA) and Intelligent Speed Limit Assist (ISLA).

Those acronyms are joined by Lane Following Assist (LFA), Navigation Based Smart Cruise Control-Curve (NSCC-C), Parking Distance Warning-Reverse (PDW-R), Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist (RCCA) and Safe Exit Assist (SEA).

Getting this PHEV in the US entitles one to some green car benefits, including US$6,587 (RM27,929) in federal tax credit and state incentives such as single rider carpool lane access in California. The other Sorento options are a 2.5L GDI NA (191 hp, 247 Nm), 2.5L Turbo GDI (281 hp, 422 Nm) and a 1.6L Turbo Hybrid. The latter combines a 1.6L TGDI engine with a 59 hp (44 kW) electric motor integrated into a six-speed automatic gearbox. Total system output is 227 hp and the hybrid battery is a 5.0 kWh unit. More on the new Sorento here.

GALLERY: 2022 Kia Sorento PHEV