Kia Sorento - MPG, CO2 & running costs

The Kia Sorento isn’t the budget option in the large SUV class that it once was, but its hi-tech powertrains should help to keep running costs in check. Unsurprisingly, the amount you’ll spend on running your Sorento will depend greatly on your choice of powertrain, diesel, hybrid or plug-in hybrid.

The diesel and the hybrid are pretty close in terms of their raw numbers. According to Kia, the diesel Sorento in basic ‘2’ trim can return up to 43.5mpg and emits 170g/km of CO2, and during a mixture of motorway and country roads our fuel economy figure was pretty close to Kia’s when we tested this version.

We found it a little more difficult to match the official economy figures in the self-charging hybrid Sorento. It has an official WLTP-rated fuel economy figure of 42.2mpg and CO2 emissions of 153g/km, and when we pitted the electrified Sorento head-to-head against a Nissan X-Trail it achieved 38.7mpg, with the Nissan trumping it with 42.8mpg. The diesel is also around £1,900 cheaper than the non-plug-in hybrid model, which is another factor to consider.

However, the plug-in hybrid Sorento PHEV is the star of the show for on-paper economy, with an official rating of 176.6mpg and 37g/km CO2. There is, of course, always the plug-in hybrid caveat that achieving such returns in the real world will be very difficult unless you charge the car religiously and stick to short trips that lean mostly on the 35-mile electric-only range.

Kia’s plug-in hybrid costs over £4,000 more than the self-charging hybrid version in the same specification. The big plus comes for company car drivers, who will benefit from significant savings in BiK company car tax thanks to the 37g/km CO2 emissions of the Sorento PHEV.

Electric range, battery and charging

The electric range of the Kia Sorento PHEV is 35 miles officially, but you could get closer to 40 miles in urban environments while our test route of mixed driving saw the battery exhausted after 27 miles. To charge the 13.8kWh battery in the car, you’ll be looking at five hours from a domestic three-pin plug, or three hours and 25 minutes from a home wallbox. Charging cable for both come as standard with the plug-in model. 

Insurance groups

The hybrid Sorento in ‘2’ trim sits in insurance group 25 (out of 50), rising to group 31 for the diesel in ‘3’ trim. The range-topping plug-in hybrid version in ‘4’ trim is in group 35. The Skoda Kodiaq is going to be a cheaper car to insure, sitting in groups 12 to 30 depending on engine and trim, meanwhile the Nissan X-Trail attracts ratings between groups 22 and 31. 

Depreciation

Predicted residual values for the Sorento have the car retaining 51 per cent for the diesel models, 57 per cent for the hybrid and 55 per cent for the plug-in hybrid - all after three years and 36,000 miles. It’s worth noting that these figures are based on the pre-facelifted model.

For reference, the Hyundai Santa Fe has very similar predicted values to the Kia (56 per cent on average), but Land Rover’s Discovery Sport averages 62 per cent.