Sorento hybrid push hits six

Anything to read into the just-added entry EX being lineball on price with well-supported diesel edition in similar trim?

 SPECULATION about the long-term future of Sorento in its historically bedrock diesel format has elicited response from Kia New Zealand.

Announcement of a sixth hybrid (HEV) petrol variant might raise questions about the implication for the 2.2-litre turbodiesel that has been the most popular choice by far for the majority of the model’s buyers.

The arrival of an entry EX means the brand now offers its petrol-aligned hybrids in four hybrid formats – across two trim levels, each in front or all wheel drive, topping with an $82,990 edition. It also has two AWD variants with plug-in replenishment capability, ultimately in a $89,990 format. 

It also has four diesel variants, from $59,990 to $76,990.

The EX edition in HEV (meaning it has electric assistance, but no external means to replenish) has been priced at $63,990 – the same money Kia New Zealand asks for the EX diesel that has often been a top seller.

A representative for the Auckland-based operation agreed with the proposal that hybrid popularity is growing, but resisted offering thought about what percentage of overall Sorento volume the types might achieve. 

“The initial uptake of Hybrid has been very strong, especially the new EX variant,” he said.

“With Sorento sales mix and volume being limited by supply for some time yet, we would have to be very brave to make any predictions at this point.”

Did the price parity with a popular diesel variant signal that Kia NZ is perceiving and planning for potential market shift away from the diesel?

“We are being bold with this pricing initiative, it's not often a brand will present owners with a price-parity opportunity to choose between two different powertrain options. 

“As we've stated previously, we have an eye on an electric future and this is one way to introduce people to a hybrid motoring experience without additional outlay at time of purchase.”

The EX variants are not identical; the diesel provisions in all-wheel-drive for that money, whereas the hybrid is front-drive. It can be bought in AWD for another $2000, however.

All electrified Sorentos use a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine, producing 132kW/265Nm. The HEV adds a 44kW/264Nm electric motor while the PHEV gets a stronger 67kW/304Nm unit. Total outputs for each are 169kW/350Nm and 195kW/350Nm respectively.

The plug-in hybrid offers an electric-only range of 57km and fuel consumption of 1.6L/100km. The hybrid has more limited electric-only range and returns 5.4L/100km in 2WD guise and 6.2L/100km with AWD.

While the EX hybrid makes more power than the diesel, which has 148kW the tables are turned on torque, with the diesel creating 440Nm.

The diesel is beaten for economy, as it optimises at 6.1 litres per 100km, and on emissions. The hybrid is claimed to produce 124 grams per kilometre in front-drive and 141g/km in AWD versus whereas the diesel outputs 159g/km.

The Sorento powertrains also share with the Hyundai sister ship, the Santa Fe, but have yet to be positioned in those models in this market, though Hyundai NZ says it intends to undertake that span when it can.

Kia’s move toward electric-assisted propulsion is not restricted to the seven-seater sports utility. It already has an electric Niro compact crossover in the market to compete with the Hyundai Kona and last week confirmed it will introduce the exciting EV6 (above), the latest battery-pure product it has created.

This sister ship to the Hyundai Ioniq Five will be here before the end of this year, with pricing and full local specifications yet to be announced, though the local distributor has indicated the high-end GT performance version is included.

Kia NZ says the EX hybrid will present as an ideal vehicle for families contemplating the switch to reduced-emissions motoring - without compromising on style or passenger-carrying capability.

In a release about the type, Kia NZ managing director Todd McDonald said Sorento has already proven to be a fantastic success “so we anticipate the availability of a more competitively-priced entry option will only further the appeal of the new model.”

All Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Kia Sorento models feature a five-star ANCAP safety rating and offer a myriad of safety considerations as standard, including Forward Collision Avoidance Assist, Blind Spot Collision Avoidance Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist, Lane Keep Assist and Lane Follow Assist.

Santa Fe and Sorento: Same yet different

The latest editions of the Hyundai and Kia large SUVs are still twins, but far from identical – particularly on the inside.

the Hyundai Santa Fe (above) and Kia Sorento are classic examples of badge engineering.

 I CAN just imagine the discussions that took place between two design teams during development of the latest Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento medium-sized sport utilities.

Hyundai: “We’re typically regarded as the more luxurious marque, so we want our interior to reflect that.”

Kia: “We’re typically regarded as the sportier and more youthful brand, so our interior should reflect that.”

To all intents and purposes the Santa Fe and Sorento are the same vehicle. They’re built on the same platform, share the same powertrains, and their base exterior designs are the same. And although they are built at different South Korean assembly plants – the Hyundai at Ulsan and the Kia at Hwaseong  - they were no doubt also developed within sight of each other at the sprawling Hyundai Kia Automotive Group research and development centre at NamYang, in South Korea.

But the two vehicles are different, particularly when viewed from the inside. In there, it is the Sorento that indeed exudes the more youthful look, while it is the Santa Fe that is indeed the more grown-up and luxurious.

It’s called badge engineering – but it’s not as we used to know it.

The term had its origins in the days – as far back as 1917, in fact - when, in an effort to spread vehicle development costs, manufacturers would simply replace a car’s badging to create a new model that would be sold by a different brand. Such as swapping the badges of a Mazda 323 hatch and calling it a Ford Laser, for instance. Or in more recent times, changing the badges of an Opel Senator or Insignia and calling it a Holden Commodore.

The Sorento is larger, its wheelbase and body is longer, which translates to superior interior load space.

These days, in many instances the badge engineering has progressed far beyond simply swapping logos. Exterior styling between closely related vehicles can be considerably different, interiors can be unique, and ride and handling characteristics can be engineered to suit the particular needs of each particular vehicle.

Outstanding modern-day examples of all of this are the Santa Fe and the Sorento. And the best way to illustrate it all is to study their respective centre consoles – those areas that house all the control bearing surfaces ranging from infotainment to climate controls to gearshifts.

At the top level – the Santa Fe Limited and the Sorento Premium – the vehicles are powered by the same 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic operated via a shift-by-wire selector.

But the vehicles require different techniques to do the gear selecting. In the case of the Santa Fe the selector is a push-button thing with Reverse, Neutral and Drive in a top-to-bottom line, with Park (the electronic park brake) to one side. The Sorento’s selector is a rotary device with R, N and D in a left-to-right sequence with the P button in the centre.

The differences continue through the respective centre consoles. In the Kia, the audio and air conditioning controls are located between two air vents in the dash area immediately below a tablet-style infotainment screen, while in the Hyundai the controls are laid out in an orderly fashion slightly north of the gear selector.

There are numerous other differences in the centre console designs, and they all point towards the same design conclusion – that the Santa Fe should be seen as the more premium SUV, the Sorento as the more informal choice.

So which is best? Well, firstly I have to say that both interiors are very good, outstanding examples of how things can be the same but different. Study both interior designs closely and it is obvious that almost all the controls are essentially in shared locations, but their design and application are unique.

Hyundai’s interior is different to the Kia’s, not least when it comes to the gear selector design. This is the Santa Fe …. Rob didn’t like it.

…. here’s the Kia. And, again, a gear selector that failed to impress.

But as for the electronic gear selectors? Frankly, I don’t like either.  I much prefer the sense of motoring involvement that comes via the use of a gearstick. Isn’t that ironic? It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were all moaning about the demise of manual gearshifts. Now I find myself moaning about the demise of auto gearshifters.

Mind you, there’s no denying the intelligence of the electronic transmissions. Our home has a short sloping driveway that requires us to reverse out of. When I had the Santa Fe for road test I initially found I was unable to select reverse gear and move off, because the Hyundai refused to disengage the electric park brake. It took a little while for me to realise this would not happen until we had clicked the driver’s seat belt in place.

Of course the same intelligence is aboard the Sorento, because they share the same transmission. In fact with both vehicles you are not allowed to move off in Drive either unless you have the driver’s seatbelt clicked in place.

Other differences between the two? While it is obvious the base design is the same, there are major differences in nose and tail design. The Sorento is larger, its wheelbase (2815mm versus 2765mm) and body is longer, which translates to superior interior load space. I believe that, to the uninitiated, the Santa Fe and Sorento have to be regarded as entirely different SUVs.

They’re both contributing solidly to their brands’ sales efforts, too.

As at the end of February Kia was running second beyond Toyota in passenger vehicle and SUV sales with a 13 percent share, while Hyundai was in sixth place with seven percent. But of these two medium-sized SUVs, it was the Santa Fe that was the dominant performer, sitting in 10th place with 338 sales.

That was a sound result for an SUV that sells for as much as $89,990 as a Limited – which is $13,000 more than the Sorento Premium. Could that be because customers prefer the more premium look of the Santa Fe to the extent they are prepared to pay the extra dollars? Or, does the Hyundai look more premium both inside and out than the Kia Equivalent?

After looking at the photographs accompanying this article, you be the judge.

EV6 a potential 2021 release in NZ

Less certainty from Kia here than expressed by Hyundai for the twinned Ioniq.

POTENTIAL for Kiwi electric vehicle enthusiasts to cross-check two strongly-related South Korean products here before year-end seems strong, though cannot yet be considered an absolute certainty.

In the wake of Kia in Seoul having released images, Kia’s national distributor has indicated optimism of the new EV6 hitting our roads in the second half of 2021, a timing that matches that for its Hyundai sister ship.

Aside from adopting a sportier look, offering perhaps less practicality, Kia’s car is in the same five-door, broadly crossover representation as the Hyundai Ioniq that is already confirmed for sale here.

The subordinate make’s first dedicated electric also has the Ioniq’s Hyundai-developed Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), so is expected to offer in the same drive formats – single motor rear-drive and dual-motor all wheel drive – and potentially have similar, if not identical performance and range.

 However, that side of the story has yet to be spelled out by Kia. The announcement from Seoul has simply been an entree to a full unveiling that is still weeks away. The preliminary exercise is simply to tell the styling story.

Neither local distributor is talking price, or exact specification, but Hyundai NZ is already accepting pre-orders for their model. Kia NZ’s comment does not broach that subject.

Expectation of the EV6 being considered by Kia NZ was always solid; it is already on the electric route with the battery-fed Niro, has recently added PHEV and mild hybrid versions of the Sorento and it knows the Ioniq is a firm starter.

EV6’s local placement might be considered a little less cemented, in that comment from Kia here says the car is ‘expected’ to go on sale in worldwide markets, New Zealand included, this year.

Kia says EV6’s shape is very much influenced by a new design philosophy, ‘Opposites United’, that it says embodies their shifting focus towards electrification and takes inspiration from the contrasts found in nature and humanity.

“EV6, as the first dedicated Kia EV, is a showcase of human-centred, progressive design and electrified power,” says Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Design Centre.

“We aimed to create a distinctive, impactful design by using a combination of sophisticated, high-tech features on pure and rich volumes, while providing a unique space as a futuristic EV.” 

A strong element is the ‘Digital Tiger Face’, a design progression evoking the spirit of Kia’s ‘Tiger Nose Grille’ for the electrified era.

Kia’s car appears to have a lower roofline and more compromised side glass aspects, particularly in respect to the rear doors, than Hyundai has dared with Ioniq.

The subordinate’s approach is more daring and more eye-catching, but could well compromise the interior spaciousness that is being hailed as a strength of the Ioniq. Interestingly, Kia has described the EV6’s interior design as profiling “an innovative use of space, creating a unique spatial and driving experience.”

 Kia NZ’s managing director Todd McDonald has noted that the car is “quite unlike anything produced by Kia in the past” and echoed head office in calling it “a hint of the brand’s future direction.”

In Hyundai form, the single motor version uses a 126kW rear-mounted motor. The all-paw’s combined power output is 227kW and 605Nm of torque. In latter form, the Ioniq 5 will accelerate from 0-100kmh in just 5.5 seconds.

Range depends on the battery. With the parent brand, there’s a choice of two - a 58kWh unit or a 72.6kWh unit. Hyundai hasn't indicated the range for the smaller, but the bigger one, with a single electric motor, lends 480km on the WLTP test.

It seems likely EV6 will also mirror the parent’s car with 800-volt charging capability. The Ioniq 5 can gain 100km range in just five minutes of charging and go from 10 percent to 80 percent charge in 18 minutes with 350-kW DC fast-charging. 

There has been speculation Kia might be ultimately allowed to release EV6 in a performance tune, with around 447kW, top speed of 260kmh and a 0-100kmh time as low as 3.5 seconds.

EV6 teased, no NZ call yet

Kia's equivalent of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 has been teased ahead of a global unveil later this month.

WITH Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 out in the open, it’s now Kia’s turn to give an idea about what it plans to do with the same underpinning.

Today the subordinate has revealed some teaser images of its first dedicated electric car, the EV6, with promise to reveal the car properly later this month. 

The images are prescient as, in all probability, the only aspect about the EV6 that can be kept in the dark is the look.

 It’s no secret the model is on the same E-GMP (for electric- global mobility platform) architecture as the Ioniq 5 and will likely run common drivetrain elements.

Hyundai New Zealand has announced intent to have Ioniq 5 on sale here in the second half of 2021 but Kia NZ has yet to share its thoughts about EV6’s local sale potential.

It’s highly the models would ever be confused if caught together at the kerbside. 

In a media statement, Kia designer Karim Habib said the Kia EV6 “is the embodiment of ... our new design philosophy.”

The car makes something of a statement; whereas Hyundai has gone for a sharp-edged, squared look for Ioniq 5, mainly through having used its original export car, the unremarkable Pony hatch, as a muse, Kia has taken an utterly modern approach.

The EV6 appears to have a sleek, coupelike roofline with an integrated rear spoiler at the top of the raked hatch, and a slight ducktail as well. The front end is low with a seemingly short overhang, and the slim headlights have a segmented LED pattern. There's no bit grille, but a thin black panel above which sites the new Kia logo. There’s speculation the car will have some large air intakes in the lower bumper.

One of the images suggests the taillights extend all the way to the rear wheel arch with a light bar running across the hatch. 

The base EV6 will likely have a single motor and rear-wheel drive, while a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup will come to the higher-end variants, as per the Ioniq.

Outputs? There’s speculation Kia might be ultimately allowed to release EV6 in a performance tune, with around 447kW, top speed of 260kmh and a 0-100kmh time as low as 3.5 seconds.

It seems just as possible, surely, that it will also nonetheless initially provision as Ioniq does, with either one or two electric motors, for two- or four-wheel drive.

In Hyundai form, the single motor version uses a 126kW rear-mounted motor. The all-paw’s combined power output is 227kW and 605Nm of torque. In latter form, the Ioniq 5 will accelerate from 0-100kmh in just 5.5 seconds.

Range depends on the battery. With the parent brand, there’s a choice of two - a 58kWh unit or a 72.6kWh unit. Hyundai hasn't indicated the range for the smaller, but the bigger one, with a single electric motor, lends 480km on the WLTP test.

It seems likely EV6 will also mirror the parent’s car with 800-volt charging capability. The Ioniq 5 can gain 100km range in just five minutes of charging and go from 10 percent to 80 percent charge in 18 minutes with 350-kW DC fast-charging. 

BTW, Kia says all its future electric vehicles will get the “EV” prefix, to streamline naming conventions and distinguish zero-emissions models. EV6 leaves lots of room for a lineup of models at both ends, with the number corresponding to the model's position in the lineup.