- Kia is serious about boosting PHEV electric miles—and sales
- It’s still working on hybrid, ICE development
- Range-extended EVs could be the future of hybrids
While Kia works to expand sales of American-made EVs, it’s also aiming to broaden sales of hybrids, while expanding a plug-in hybrid lineup that may keep growing—not just in sales but in electric miles.
According to Steven Center, Kia America’s chief operating officer and executive vice president, the plug-in hybrid electric range to meet or beat is 60 miles.
That number, said Center to Green Car Reports last week at the Los Angeles auto show, may arrive in Kia production models in as little as “a couple years”—enabled by a number of factors including the continuous improvement of batteries, as well as upcoming vehicle platforms that are being laid out to allow more space for PHEV battery packs.
A PHEV with 60 miles of electric range would be a big jump from present numbers. Kia revealed refreshed 2026 Sportage hybrid and plug-in hybrid models at the auto show. Currently, the Sportage plug-in hybrid comes EPA-rated at 34 miles, and 35 mpg combined after that. That’s for the 2024 model; outputs are up slightly for 2025 and it’s unclear as of yet whether that and the refresh might alter those numbers.
2025 Kia Sportage
Center didn’t elaborate about which models might get the long-range PHEV treatment first, but he noted that the 60-mile figure was informed by an “engineering statistic” relating to the total daily-driving distance for Americans—enough to be an EV in daily driving, plus more for road trips.
That happens to be very close to California’s target of 70 miles of electric range that serves as a way automakers can earn bonus points in upcoming fleet standards.
California does mandate EVs, but in the push toward them it’s allowing automakers some added flexibility, starting with the 2026 model year, if they deliver plug-in hybrids with more range. In short, they can apply plug-in hybrid models certified at 70 miles of electric range or higher at the same fleet-credit value as an EV, while PHEVs rated at 43-69 miles qualify at a partial value of an EV.
It’s quite the engineering challenge in itself right now to get there. A top Nissan executive for product planning in North America told Green Car Reports earlier this year that to achieve 70 miles of plug-in electric range, the necessary 30- to 40-kwh battery packs remain prohibitively large and heavy. But next-generation batteries will bring down the size and weight and be easier to package.
2023 Kia Niro Plug-In Hybrid
Center reiterated the benefits of battery improvements. Kia also continues to develop internal-combustion engines, but it’s mainly in the context of hybrid systems. For instance, according to Center, it’s considering extended range EV tech, although it’s not yet confirmed in any future vehicle from the brand. In a series-hybrid layout with the engine running as an efficient onboard generator, this type of application might warrant an entirely new kind of engine.
For instance, on the pickup front, Ram has been working on that formula, and it’s on the way next year in the 1500 Ramcharger truck. Ram claims that it will be able to get to about 145 miles of electric range with a 92-kwh battery pack and the Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 engine that it’s put in base-level pickups for years, put to task here only as a generator—amounting to 14,000 pounds of towing capacity and 690 miles considering an initial battery charge and full tank of gas.
While some automakers continue to see plug-in hybrids as a confusing middle ground—including examples like that Ram truck—Kia isn’t holding back in plans to emphasize them over the next few years especially.
2025 Kia Sportage Hybrid
The brand is aiming to have more of them, said Center of PHEVs, calling them “the gateway drug for electrification.”
Kia is currently selling its plug-in hybrids in all 50 states, and it’s already pushed for its dealerships to be not just EV-savvy, but plug-in-hybrid-savvy. Kia Motors America marketing director Russell Wager told Green Car Reports that it’s not an easy message for dealerships to deliver—that plug-in hybrids can go 30 or 35 miles of electric range without running the gasoline engine—but it’s already done some of this hard work.
Kia isn’t naming target volumes or percentages for its hybrid vehicles, Wager asserted. “We don’t have a goal; and the reason we don’t have a goal is the customer is going to determine.”
2024 Kia Niro
“That’s why we have three choices, so that if the customers are saying we want more hybrids, we’ll build more hybrids,” Wager explained, pointing to the flexibility not only built into the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Georgia that will source some upcoming Kia vehicles, but to Kia’s West Point, Georgia, plant, where the majority of Sportage production will happen—and to Korea, where additional hybrids can come from if need be.
“We’re working on the supply chain to increase what we need for hybrids,” said Center. “Customers want them, dealers will have no trouble selling them, and it’s better for the environment.”
And thus, whatever new path regulators hand to the auto industry, come January or next year, the flexibility is helping Kia look very prepared.