2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid Plug-In Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The 2025 model looks the same as the previous Sorento PHEV, except in front. Kia swaps the horizontal design of the old model for new vertically stacked lighting, amber running lights, and a wider grille, better aligning its looks with the company’s larger Telluride and EV9 SUVs. New wheel designs and paint colours are also part of the styling refresh.

Interior changes are more subtle. The most obvious one is a new 24-inch panoramic display containing the digital instrumentation and infotainment system, which runs on a new Connected Car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) operating system. The new software improves the user interface and experience in several ways, most notably supporting wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in all Sorento models.

In addition, the new Sorento PHEV has a touch-sensing strip of controls flanked by knobs. It controls the infotainment and stereo functions, but you can switch it to climate functions when desirable. It’s a fussy design, but workarounds can help reduce distraction and irritation due to the new approach.

In Canada, Kia offers the Sorento Plug-in Hybrid in EX and SX trim levels, priced from $53,480 to $63,100, including a destination charge of $2,100 plus other fees. Both include standard all-wheel drive (AWD), a panoramic sunroof, and LED interior lighting, among plenty more features. If you want any additional equipment other than dealer-installed accessories, you need to get the fully loaded SX.

Our test vehicle had SX trim. Its $63,100 price tag is high, but still less than a loaded-up Mazda CX-90 PHEV. Due to its below 50 km range, the Sorento qualifies only for partial EV rebates where they still exist across Canada.

For the extra cash outlay, the SX adds nicer interior trim, genuine leather upholstery, aluminum sport pedals, and a larger 12.3-inch digital instrumentation panel. These enhancements, plus other comfort and tech upgrades, take some of the sting out of that sticker price. Still, some of the materials in the stylish cabin remind us that Kia offers more affordable Sorentos at a fraction of the price of the PHEV SX.

The Sorento PHEV’s powertrain isn’t like similar setups in other vehicles. It’s better because it uses a torquey turbocharged gasoline engine married to a traditional six-speed automatic transmission. Other PHEVs often employ an underwhelming normally aspirated engine and a droning continuously variable transmission (CVT). They dull the driving experience, where the Sorento PHEV feels and sounds lively and responsive.

We used the Sorento PHEV for a long weekend road trip. After leaving home with the battery fully charged, the Sorento said we could expect 50 kilometres of driving range. With four people seated and four roll-aboard suitcases in the cargo hold, the SUV covered 49 kilometres before the gas engine turned on.

From that point on, we used the Sorento as a hybrid, and it averaged 7.9 litres per 100 kilometres for the remainder of the trip. That’s more than Natural Resources Canada’s official estimate of 7.0 L/100 km in combined driving, but not bad for a midsize SUV. Unfortunately, the Sorento PHEV’s fuel tank measures only 47 litres, so on a road trip it seems like it frequently needs a refill.

Thanks to its electric motor and turbo engine, the Sorento PHEV delivers a combined 261 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It feels quick when you accelerate, but that sensation fades as the SUV gathers speed. Kia’s claimed zero-to-96 km/h time of 8.5 seconds is adequate at best. Still, between the turbocharged and electrified low-end torque and the snappy shifting from the six-speed automatic, we’re fans of this PHEV powertrain.

During our trip, we drove in cities, on highways, and over mountain ranges on twisty roads. The Sorento PHEV proved agreeable in all these situations, though the added weight of the battery and electric motor is evident. Also, the steering can feel too heavy and artificial. However, the brake pedal exhibits none of the grabbiness common with regenerative systems, chalking up another win for the Kia in the PHEV driving dynamics column.

Though the Sorento is a midsize three-row SUV, it is smaller than many similar vehicles. For more interior room, consider the Kia Telluride. Still, for a family of four with an occasional need for extra seating capacity for shorter trips, the Sorento is perfect.

As the fully loaded model, the SX is swanky inside. It has leather, an artificial suede headliner, metal-texture trim, aluminum details, and a 12-speaker Bose premium sound system. The driver’s seat offers 14-way power adjustment, and the front passenger’s seat nearly matches it. Both front seats are heated and ventilated, and the heated steering wheel warms your hands in cold weather.

Sounds great, eh? There’s just one problem. After several hours on the road, the seat cushion made the driver’s butt sore. Nobody else complained during our road trip, and the teenagers riding in the heated second-row captain’s chairs reported satisfaction with their air conditioning vents, USB charging ports, side window shades, and comfortable napping positions. The Sorento PHEV has a third-row seat, bringing the maximum passenger capacity to six. It’s not roomy, but if the people in the second row are willing to slide forward, the third row can accommodate adults for shorter distances. We used the SUV as a four-seater with plenty of cargo room behind the captain’s chairs.

You can choose to activate or deactivate the smart power tailgate, which will rise when it recognizes the presence of the remote key fob. That feature means you won’t need to dance around on one foot while waving the other under the bumper and holding multiple bags of groceries. But it also means that if you decide to have a casual conversation anywhere near the back of the SUV, the tailgate will open and potentially disgorge cargo into the parking lot.

That third-row seat chews into cargo space, leaving just 357 litres behind it. Fold the third row down, and the Sorento PHEV offers a minimum of 1,090 litres of cargo area. The maximum amount with both rows folded flat measures 2,139 litres. Those two latter figures are on par with the largest compact crossovers, such as the Honda CR-V.

The 2025 Sorento PHEV’s new 24-inch panoramic display and next-generation operating system are welcome developments. With improved graphics, an intuitive user experience, faster input response, and support for wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the technology and presentation exceed standards in the midsize SUV class. It also offers opt-in digital key functionality, transforming your smartphone into the Sorento’s key.

You need an active Kia Connect subscription plan to use the system’s conversational voice assistant and digital key. Our test vehicle did not have one, so we couldn’t use them. When we asked for directions to the nearest Starbucks, the voice assistant reminded us to activate Kia Connect to use that feature.

Instead, we relied on the wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity, and Siri expertly navigated us during a tour of university campuses. It worked beautifully, from finding the proper visitor parking lots to helping us discover local eateries. In addition, the test vehicle’s excellent surround-view camera system came in handy in numerous tricky parking situations.

Beneath the 12.3-inch touchscreen and centre dashboard air vents, Kia now uses a dual-action touch panel with two knobs. In one setting, it provides access to stereo volume, radio tuning, and infotainment menu shortcuts. In the other, you have access to the climate controls. You must actively switch between the two settings, depending on what action you wish to take.

In the Sorento, the panel’s location and angle make it easier to use than in some Kias. Still, we’ve learned that it’s best to leave the touch panel’s climate control settings active and instead use the volume and tuning switches on the steering wheel. For infotainment functions, use the touchscreen.

Kia enhances the 2025 Sorento PHEV with enhanced pedestrian and cyclist detection, intersection turn assistance, and machine learning capability for the adaptive cruise control system. With SX trim, the list of safety features includes active blind-spot collision avoidance with a camera-based Blind-Spot View Monitor system, side parking sensors, automatic rear braking at low speeds, and Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA2).

The HDA2 system pairs the Sorento’s adaptive cruise control with lane-centring assist and an automated lane-change assist function. Since there is no better opportunity to use Highway Driving Assist 2 than a long road trip, we looked forward to sampling the system for an extended period away from busy multi-lane highways.

Unfortunately, after driving a wide-open stretch of four-lane highway, HDA2 proved dissatisfying enough that we turned it (and the lane-keeping assist) off for the remainder of the 1,400-kilometre road trip. HDA2 doesn’t seem to be able to see far enough down the road to maintain a steady and secure heading. Breaks in line markings and bends in the road produce plenty of steering uncertainty, and the system issues frequent warnings to hold the steering wheel even if your hands are on it.

It’s as if the tech can only determine you’re an active participant by gauging your corrections to the software’s steering inputs, and that gets tiring over time. In addition, the lane-change assist function is often slow to respond and take action, and half the time our patience wore thin. That forced a manual override of the technology, and sometimes it resisted too firmly. If the mission is to give drivers a break, this implementation of HDA2 does the opposite, creating a situation where a human must constantly monitor and correct a computer's actions. As with so many things in life, you might decide that if you want the job done right, you’re better off doing it yourself.

Is the Kia Sorento Plug-in Hybrid safe in a crash? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hasn’t rated the SUV for safety in a collision. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has evaluated Sorentos with the base four-cylinder engine but hasn’t specifically assessed the PHEV.

The 2025 Kia Sorento Plug-in Hybrid is expensive. In EX trim, it costs $5,000 more than the equivalent Sorento Hybrid. When driven in hybrid mode, the PHEV is also no more fuel-efficient. The NRCan rating for the Hybrid is 7.0 L/100 km in combined driving, the same as the Plug-in Hybrid.

So, you’re paying $5,000 for the PHEV’s 48 kilometres of electric range and, in theory, an overall reduction in fuel consumption. With gas priced fluctuating so often and rarely dropping below $1.50/litre in most parts of Canada, that math probably doesn’t pencil for most people. However, depending on your local electricity rates, when you elect to recharge the Sorento PHEV’s battery, and your typical daily driving habits, a Sorento PHEV could effectively give you an electric family car 90% of the time while eliminating anxiety about the range and the sketchy state of EV charging networks the other 10% of the time. Still, it could take years to recoup that $5,000 upcharge.

Is a Sorento PHEV the right SUV for you? Only you can decide. But the SUV into which Kia installs its plug-in hybrid drivetrain is a good one, if somewhat flawed. So, if you aim to save money and stick to a budget, going with the regular Kia Sorento Hybrid model might be best.

Note: Images show a US model.