Hybrid car for towing

[GaryB]

Mild hybrids don’t give you much of a “shove” as you pull away given the low power of the system compared to having a full propulsion motor. Their motor-generator is normally 48v and unlike a normal hybrid they cannot drive on electric only. Their system is more geared to urban stop start where the engine stops and on pulling away the motor generator moves the car before the engine then kicks in.

That's how my previous Volvo worked but was an excellent tow car. I guess it's probably more down to the engine that was used (around 195bhp from memory) didn't actually need any electrical assistance to move it along whereas the smaller engines used in the Kia might do?

 

[Guzzilazz]

Just curious, why the dislike of the mild hybrid? I had a Volvo mild hybrid and while the rest of the car was unreliable, I personally found the drivetrain to be great. Admittedly a very different car but just curious as to what the problem is with the Kia approach?

My previous car was an XC40, and I found the fuel consumption very disappointing. I wish I had bought a PHEV which has since been discontinued, but only after being loaned a PHEV - which despite being "uncharged" and cold got me back home at precisely half the fuel consumption (42mpg) than my journey to them at 21mpg. I could never get my MHEV to even reach 40mpg... EVER

The Sportage issue is that the MHEV and pure petrol have PPF issues, with cars getting "blocked" PPF warnings every 2-3 months, and Kia not acknowledging the issue. Fuel consumption on these variants is late 20's at best, and Kia have removed them from the range for the 2026 Facelift version

 

[GaryB]

My previous car was an XC40, and I found the fuel consumption very disappointing. I wish I had bought a PHEV which has since been discontinued, but only after being loaned a PHEV - which despite being "uncharged" and cold got me back home at precisely half the fuel consumption (42mpg) than my journey to them at 21mpg. I could never get my MHEV to even reach 40mpg... EVER

The Sportage issue is that the MHEV and pure petrol have PPF issues, with cars getting "blocked" PPF warnings every 2-3 months, and Kia not acknowledging the issue. Fuel consumption on these variants is late 20's at best, and Kia have removed them from the range for the 2026 Facelift version

Mine was the V90 mild hybrid and I got around 48mpg on average and around 23mpg towing the caravan. I switched away from Volvo due to various reliability issues. That's disappointing with Kia as I always viewed them as something to consider in the future.

 

[otherclive]

Mine was the V90 mild hybrid and I got around 48mpg on average and around 23mpg towing the caravan. I switched away from Volvo due to various reliability issues. That's disappointing with Kia as I always viewed them as something to consider in the future.

Kia seem to be down a bit in reliabilty and customer satisfaction surveys. At one time my Rio, Xceed and Forester all occupied the top three spots simultaneously. I’ve just resolved the Rios second (minor) fault in nine years 😁

 

[Guzzilazz]

My experience with the Sportage (which is an HEV) is brilliant, better than Volvo which in 2.5 years had 3 major faults, and one still wasn't fixed when I got rid (creaking suspension on going to full lock). The other two faults required rescue and home recovery. The XC40 was a petrol mild hybrid.

 

[GaryB]

The XC40 was a petrol mild hybrid.

Same with my V90. A mate had the V60 diesel mild hybrid and the economy was fantastic but he also suffered similar (software/electrical) issues as did I.