I don't think you will be, in fact I didn't think I could get anymore eager for mine but I'm going to be like a kid waiting for Christmas after the taster I've had this weekend!
Sportage 3 PHEV - Extended Test Drive
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Just wanted to post a final update.
This Sportage is currently sitting on my drive waiting to be collected, they are 5 hours late right now and my wife suggested "a free Kia then is it?" unfortunately i think not, but it would be nice.
I took it out for a run around yesterday late afternoon and took in a cross country route with plenty of hills. This managed to get the battery up to 24% from a starting point of 14% and i finally saw 2 miles of electric range appear!
This electric range allowed me to enable EV mode for the first time and what was interesting was that when in Hybrid mode it will kick the petrol engine in a medium power levels, but in EV mode you seem to gain access to more electric power. Its like the system switches to petrol at 50% electric power in Hybrid mode - i guess this is to do with efficiency, as in its more efficient to use petrol at that point compared with electric. Though driving the last couple of miles home on electric alone was a new experience for me having never driven an electric car previously. Its of course very quiet but actually still quite potent, especially from low speed.
While on the subject of performance i cant help but compare to my current Volvo V90. This is a 190bhp/400Nm diesel, and where the Kia feels significantly quicker from a stop and at low speed the Volvo definetly has the edge when your picking up speed when already moving at 40mph plus - but its likely this is torque of the diesel at play. The Kia still has a great turn of speed though (overall I would say it is quicker than my V90), it surprised me how fast it could be when provoked on more than one occasion.
In my time with it returned 43mpg without being charged at all, which i feel is respectable given the roads and way it was driven for the weekend i had it. I think its fair to say this is a good representative figure for the PHEV when not charged at all.
I said in a previous update i will miss it until mine arrives and thats true. I ordered it because of the money it will save me each month, but I think i will geniuenly enjoy driving it when i arrives later this year.
I hope that people have found my comments useful, and if anyway wants to ask me how i found something about the car or using it i will be more than happy to answer questions.
This Sportage is currently sitting on my drive waiting to be collected, they are 5 hours late right now and my wife suggested "a free Kia then is it?" unfortunately i think not, but it would be nice.
I took it out for a run around yesterday late afternoon and took in a cross country route with plenty of hills. This managed to get the battery up to 24% from a starting point of 14% and i finally saw 2 miles of electric range appear!
This electric range allowed me to enable EV mode for the first time and what was interesting was that when in Hybrid mode it will kick the petrol engine in a medium power levels, but in EV mode you seem to gain access to more electric power. Its like the system switches to petrol at 50% electric power in Hybrid mode - i guess this is to do with efficiency, as in its more efficient to use petrol at that point compared with electric. Though driving the last couple of miles home on electric alone was a new experience for me having never driven an electric car previously. Its of course very quiet but actually still quite potent, especially from low speed.
While on the subject of performance i cant help but compare to my current Volvo V90. This is a 190bhp/400Nm diesel, and where the Kia feels significantly quicker from a stop and at low speed the Volvo definetly has the edge when your picking up speed when already moving at 40mph plus - but its likely this is torque of the diesel at play. The Kia still has a great turn of speed though (overall I would say it is quicker than my V90), it surprised me how fast it could be when provoked on more than one occasion.
In my time with it returned 43mpg without being charged at all, which i feel is respectable given the roads and way it was driven for the weekend i had it. I think its fair to say this is a good representative figure for the PHEV when not charged at all.
I said in a previous update i will miss it until mine arrives and thats true. I ordered it because of the money it will save me each month, but I think i will geniuenly enjoy driving it when i arrives later this year.
I hope that people have found my comments useful, and if anyway wants to ask me how i found something about the car or using it i will be more than happy to answer questions.
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You have. It's been running in HEV mode, which will kick into EV driving as & when the computer tells it too. Which is why it went up & down
Like the idea of seeing just what it will do without charging. As bet that is how a lot of users run them. At least it will be better MPG than a std ICE version as it acts just like a hybrid.
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Great that you enjoyed the car and I appreciate the feedback you have given. Thanks 😊Just wanted to post a final update.
This Sportage is currently sitting on my drive waiting to be collected, they are 5 hours late right now and my wife suggested "a free Kia then is it?" unfortunately i think not, but it would be nice.
I took it out for a run around yesterday late afternoon and took in a cross country route with plenty of hills. This managed to get the battery up to 24% from a starting point of 14% and i finally saw 2 miles of electric range appear!
This electric range allowed me to enable EV mode for the first time and what was interesting was that when in Hybrid mode it will kick the petrol engine in a medium power levels, but in EV mode you seem to gain access to more electric power. Its like the system switches to petrol at 50% electric power in Hybrid mode - i guess this is to do with efficiency, as in its more efficient to use petrol at that point compared with electric. Though driving the last couple of miles home on electric alone was a new experience for me having never driven an electric car previously. Its of course very quiet but actually still quite potent, especially from low speed.
While on the subject of performance i cant help but compare to my current Volvo V90. This is a 190bhp/400Nm diesel, and where the Kia feels significantly quicker from a stop and at low speed the Volvo definetly has the edge when your picking up speed when already moving at 40mph plus - but its likely this is torque of the diesel at play. The Kia still has a great turn of speed though (overall I would say it is quicker than my V90), it surprised me how fast it could be when provoked on more than one occasion.
In my time with it returned 43mpg without being charged at all, which i feel is respectable given the roads and way it was driven for the weekend i had it. I think its fair to say this is a good representative figure for the PHEV when not charged at all.
I said in a previous update i will miss it until mine arrives and thats true. I ordered it because of the money it will save me each month, but I think i will geniuenly enjoy driving it when i arrives later this year.
I hope that people have found my comments useful, and if anyway wants to ask me how i found something about the car or using it i will be more than happy to answer questions.
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1,446 Posts
Appreciate the comments in your review.
Whilst I can understand running as ICE without charging, and just relying on regeneration for EV range, is it likely that "a lot of" PHEV owners will really be running as an ICE? If that's what they want, just buy the (much) cheaper ICE versions!
We may be different to a lot of PHEV owners, because ours is being charged on sunshine from solar panels and batteries, not needing "off peak" charging as we export almost half we generate, so not losing too much by charging in the afternoon, when battery is full plus (hopefully) sun shining strongly
But surly a PHEV private purchaser will use it as much in EV mode as possible? Only on long runs will it be ICE with EV regeneration as and when possible.
Interested to hear how many private PHEV purchasers will NOT use it in EV mode.
Whilst I can understand running as ICE without charging, and just relying on regeneration for EV range, is it likely that "a lot of" PHEV owners will really be running as an ICE? If that's what they want, just buy the (much) cheaper ICE versions!
We may be different to a lot of PHEV owners, because ours is being charged on sunshine from solar panels and batteries, not needing "off peak" charging as we export almost half we generate, so not losing too much by charging in the afternoon, when battery is full plus (hopefully) sun shining strongly
But surly a PHEV private purchaser will use it as much in EV mode as possible? Only on long runs will it be ICE with EV regeneration as and when possible.
Interested to hear how many private PHEV purchasers will NOT use it in EV mode.
Sorry, i should have been clearer. The electric range readout never increased from 0, but i did see electric running. The difference was that i couldnt set EV mode, or indeed Automatic mode either. You got an error message on the dash about low battery and it didnt switch. Once i had the battery above 17-18% it gained an indicated electric range of 1 mile and would allow a switch between EV, HEV and Automatic. Strangely manually setting HEV seemed to do more mpg, but that kinda makes sense - more battery, more EV usage.You have. It's been running in HEV mode, which will kick into EV driving as & when the computer tells it too. Which is why it went up & down
It was what i wanted to borrow one to find out
I am not sure for private PHEV owners, but for company car PHEV owners i bet the number charging it will be single digit %. I know for me personally I will be paying an extra £68 a month in tax for private fuel, so there is no incentive for me to charge it when it will cost me money. I think this is going to be quite common, though i know of at least one person (on this forum) who will charge it as a company car because they dont have a private fuel option.
I dont think there will be that many private PHEV owners though, because either an ICE or EV is the better choice for most people. Though I confess that one of the reasons for not going for an EV myself was wanting to wait a few more years to let the infrastructure improve.
I dont think there will be that many private PHEV owners though, because either an ICE or EV is the better choice for most people. Though I confess that one of the reasons for not going for an EV myself was wanting to wait a few more years to let the infrastructure improve.
Unused batteries (in general) should be stored at 80% if unused. So never charging a PHEV will surely deteriorate it's battery quite severely over a 3 year lease?
This is quite concerning for future second hand car buyers. Is there an accurate way of testing the battery to see what condition it's in?
This is quite concerning for future second hand car buyers. Is there an accurate way of testing the battery to see what condition it's in?
@kevin
I don't think there is anyway for a layman to check the condition of the battery, though I haven't heard of wholesale failures of earlier PHEV batteries so it probably isn't the problem it might have been.
They aren't unused, they are just used between about 10-30% from my own limited experience.
I don't think there is anyway for a layman to check the condition of the battery, though I haven't heard of wholesale failures of earlier PHEV batteries so it probably isn't the problem it might have been.
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It will be used as it will run in HEV mode.
I forgot to reply to your question about DAB radio. I tried it, and didnt notice any issues BUT i used Spotify via Android Auto for most of my journeys so i couldnt say either way im afraid.
On order - EV6 GT Line S in Yacht Blue : Initial delivery advised as end of January '23
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@dhb, thanks for posting this thread. I'm curious as I may be setting my sights on the PHEV Sportage. Can you confirm you got 47mpg out of this big old car using just petrol? That's very impressive. Can you tell us what type of journey that was over how many miles please?
I'm intrigued you tested this for an extended time but never charged it up to see how it drove as an EV. Given that you've takne the plunge and ordered one, can I assume you'd had an earlier test drive and gave the EV element a go? If so, how does it drive using electric power only and what is a realistic range? KIA say it's 42 miles (I think) but I guess 30 in winter and 35 in summer is more realistic?
I'm intrigued you tested this for an extended time but never charged it up to see how it drove as an EV. Given that you've takne the plunge and ordered one, can I assume you'd had an earlier test drive and gave the EV element a go? If so, how does it drive using electric power only and what is a realistic range? KIA say it's 42 miles (I think) but I guess 30 in winter and 35 in summer is more realistic?
I managed 43mpg over 150 miles across 3 days. The longest journey was a 40 mile round trip, the rest was local use and shorter journeys around town. It was averaging 40mpg before my final run around which allowed the battery to charge up and give a few miles of EV use which brought up the average.
No, I've never driven anything electric before this weekend. I was interested in how it ran on electric but not as much as how it ran with an empty battery. My usage will be lots of local runs and then longer 400 mile trips with no charging available.
I'm afraid I never charged it so I can't comment on what it's range is like, however there are others on here that already have a PHEV and use it in EV extensively always.
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We've had ours since 11 April, and dealer filled with £20 of fuel. Most still unused as only local journeys, under 20 miles daily. Range when fully charged (showing 100%) is showing as 38 miles.
Drives as a "normal (ICE) car, does have instant response if needed, otherwise no different to any ICE car, BUT you certainly notice the regenerative braking effect as it feels like engine braking, rather than wheel brakes. Same stopping power just feels "different".
It's our 4th Sporty and each has been a great improvement on the previous but this is another dimension.
Mind you at the top of the range, it should do!
As a transition between ICE and EV I think the PHEV is the best of both worlds, certainly until the EV infrastructure, range, pricing etc is much better than now.
The EV cars have reached a good point, it's everything else that needs to catch up.
I was hoping you'd come along and answer the EV related questions so thank you!
Just got mine yesterday, on a full charge it managed a 35 mile round trip to work and back, that's 75% motorway driving, very impressed with it staying in electric mode at 70mph (sometimes a little more), the ice only kicked in when accelerating hard to join the motorway.
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Can you advise when you ordered and how the estimated delivery date moved around ? Also piccies would be appreciated thanks.
Mine is the peasants version, a GT Line Phev, I ordered it late March, delivery was eventually given as the end of June and it arrived a week early.
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