Kia Optima PHEV (2016) review (Month 3)

With the knives out for diesels and continued range anxiety issues over EVs, hybrid remains the most popular alternative fuel option amongst new car buyers. Therefore the timing of last year’s debut of a plug-in hybrid version of Kia’s flagship Optima model seems prescient especially for dealer sales teams keen to tap into the environmental zeitgeist.

Certainly with its low emissions, high specification and frugal claimed fuel consumption, dealers can expect interest in this particular Optima from local business user-choosers shopping around for their next company car especially as it attracts a benefit-in-kind tax charge of just 7%.

They won’t be disappointed. The exterior and interior fit and finish is first rate with Kia delivering an attractive up-market package which would not look out of place with a German badge on the grille.

As Kia’s flagship model the Optima delivers high levels of comfort and standard specification in its £31,495 package. It also looks good with its attractive coupe-like profile. Indeed its road presence was commented upon by a car park encounter with a curious passer-by who said how much they liked the look of the car and asked what it was.

Anyone choosing to buy this particular model will be doing so because it’s a big luxurious plug-in hybrid saloon and will therefore be attracted by the associated cost savings and green credentials.

However, three months into its test and we’re still struggling to better 50mpg with the best single hybrid journey coming in at 57.3mpg. That’s still a long way short of most 2.0-litre diesels and nowhere near the increasingly theoretical claimed figure of 176.6mpg. But it is closely tracking the published extra urban figure of 53.3mpg.

What has increasingly become apparent is that for a typical 26 mile round trip commute through south London the pure EV-mode works a treat on a single charge (as witnessed by the 99.9mpg figure above). However, without an supercharger en route we are dependent on a five hour home charge and the practicality of doing this every day is not feasible which is why the hybrid mode has become our default setting with twice weekly plug-in charges to enable us to go fully electric. While keen to achieve the best possible fuel consumption figure, getting there feels like a compromise.

Click here for Month 1 review
Click here for Month 2 review