Battery assist with petrol back-up is new direction for KGM crossover.

ELECTRIC involvement is returning to a KGM sports utility that initially released in fully battery-wed product - but this time, a petrol engine also involves.

By end of year, the Torres from the brand previously known as SsangYong will provision with a non-plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

That new powertrain seems likely to position as an alternate to a fully petrol version that presently represents in the showroom, in $39,990 front-drive and $5000 dearer all-wheel-drive.

The fully electric EVX edition (below), on which KGM pinned so much hope when the model launched in May of 2024, still lists on the brand’s website, but without a price. At time of release it cost $66,990.

The supplier of the chunky five-seater’s EV drivetrain, China’s BYD, is also provisioning the HEV - for hybrid electric vehicle - that is incoming.

BYD and KGM forming a deal for battery production and hybrid component sharing in 2023.

KGM’s distributor, Inchcape NZ, has yet to share pricing and specification detail about the hybrid, except to say it will land toward the end of the year in two choices, the more fulsome of the two to be badged an Ultimate.

Technical detail about the hybrid engine – branded ‘e-DHT’ (Efficiency-Dual Motor Hybrid Transmission) – leaked mid-year.

A report then said it pairs a 120kW/280Nm 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor in a dedicated hybrid transmission.

The motor draws power from a 1.83kWh BYD Blade LFP battery pack. An expected combined fuel use figure is in the 6.5L/100km area.

The HEV also features multiple regenerative braking modes and enhanced cabin quietness.

KGM NZ is run by Inchcape NZ, which also distributes Subaru here.

A brand communique says the local operation signed off the new drivetrain as result of positive response to a concept version that displayed at Fieldays, the annual agriculture industry exposition in June that has become a quasi car show for the automotive industry.

Kym Mellow, general manager of Inchcape New Zealand, says the hybrid represents a pivotal step in KGM’s journey towards a ‘new energy vehicle’ future.

He said the advanced self-charging technology was up to deliver everyday electric driving without the plug-in compromise and would “make the version a must-have model

in the South Korean-born, future bound brand’s lineup.”

As well as its BYD tie-up, KGM signed with Chery to use its platforms and hybrid parts to fast-track development of a broader hybrid SUV line-up.