WHILE I think electric cars are still a work in progress in many ways hybrids are now the finished article – with the best of both plug in and petrol power in latest versions.

One of these is the 2024 KIA Sportage PHEV which offers more electric only driving than previous models. In EV mode and fully charged the plug in KIA can do 40 miles without using a drop of precious petrol. KIA says that this means most daily commutes or shorter drives to the shops can be electric only.

It has a 1.6-litre T-GDi engine paired with a powerful 66.9kW electric motor and a larger 13.8kWh lithium-ion polymer battery pack. The PHEV power train delivers up to 241bhp, making it the most powerful – and lowest-emitting – model in the line-up.

The fifth-generation Sportage launched in the UK in 2022 and is Kia’s best-selling model worldwide. There are a choice of petrol mild hybrid, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid versions with four model grades – ‘2’, ‘GT-Line’, ‘3’, and ‘GT-Line S’.

Our test car was the Sportage 3, 1.6 PHEV AT6 AWD. Kia says it has a ‘sleek yet muscular’ design with an ‘assertive’ road presence.

There’s a choice of five alloy wheel designs across 17, 18 and 19-inch diameters while inside high quality materials are used with a 12.3-inch touch screen navigation as standard on all grades, a shift-by-wire automatic transmission dial and up to 587 litres of luggage space, up to 1,776 litres with the rear seats folded down

Twin 12.3-inch touch screens and curved panoramic display are on most variants with front and rear parking sensors and reversing camera system as standard. A Harmon Kardon premium sound system is fitted to ‘GT-Line S’ editions plus a 360-degree around view monitor, blind-spot monitor camera and wireless smartphone charging.

Terrain mode (mud, snow and sand) is also standard on ‘GT-Line S’ grade with Hybrid AWD and PHEV power trains and Kia Connect Services standard on every Sportage model.

And when it comes to safety features the list is long… standard driver assist technologies include Forward Collision Avoidance Assist, Hill-start Assist Control, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, Lane Following Assist, Lane Keep Assist, Multi-Collision Brake Assist, Trailer Stability Assist, Blind-spot Collision Avoidance Assist, Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist, Highway Driving Assist and are included on all automatic editions.

The Sportage has been an important ingredient in the astonishing rise of Kia. Since 1995, almost a third of a million have been sold here in the UK.

A week behind the wheel including a couple of long motorway journeys and lots of around town errands saw the fuel gage remain high – thanks mainly to some overnight charging to top up the battery. Kia say the PHEV set up can return up to 235 mpg with regular charging.

Performance-wise the car is no slouch either with 0 to 62 taking 8.4 seconds and top speed of 115mph.

So it is well made, good to drive, looks great and is amazing on fuel. Prices for the latest Sportage range are from £28,710 for the 2WD 1.6 T-GDi six speed manual up to £46,575 for the PHEV GT-Line S 6 speed auto with 241bhp and AWD. Our ‘3’ spec PHEV test car is £41,575.

For more info see www.kia.co.uk

By Motoring Editor Steve Howarth