First questions: how long did it take you to fire up the gas engine to warm up with your Sorento PHEV? Long story short, not much, but I live in the Seattle, WA area (like the reader who prompted this piece) and our winters are mild (30s and 40s temps are common during the two coldest months). I don’t have an exact figure, but the best I can estimate from my fairly meticulous documentation of fuel usage is about 2 gallons (strictly for heat) over 9,000 miles. Of course, there were many times when I was on a longer trip, driving in HEV mode, that I used heat, but in those cases the heat comes from the gas engine while it’s running to propel the vehicle, so it’s not ‘add. additional charge is simply to capture the heat that is already there from the use of propulsion. The reader also asked: does the gas engine come on when you use the air conditioner? The answer is yes and the battery runs on AC. However, if you’re in the situation where you’ve drained the hybrid battery (on a long trip, for example) and you’re running the AC, the gas engine will need to keep the hybrid battery charged enough to support the electrical load of the AC In these cases, if you are stopped at a traffic light or in a parking lot with the car running, with the AC running, the gas engine may turn on briefly to generate enough electricity to run the AC for several minutes.
Next question: Is using the gas engine for heat adequate to keep the gas engine in good working order, and do I foresee gas engines in PHEVs being adversely affected to be used solely for heat? This is a very interesting and complex question and my opinion is no, I don’t think using the gas engine to provide heat is bad for the engine in any way and I think it actually helps keep the gas engine running of operation Here’s why I think this: In a PHEV, it doesn’t matter how the gas engine is coupled to the rest of the driveline (whether it just acts as a generator or if it actually propels the vehicle), the gas engine works in different cycles. than a non-hybrid gas engine. In other words, they spend more time at low idle/RPM (more) than a regular gas engine. This results in the gasoline engines of PHEVs being less “stressed” than those of non-hybrid gasoline cars. Normally, a lower voltage should extend the life of the gas engine due to less wear and tear on the metal and other components of the gas engine. Also note that hybrids (plug-in or not) tend to be more thermally efficient than non-hybrid gas engines (they have better lubrication/less friction). I’d have to know if the hybrid engines are built from the same metals and materials as the non-hybrid counterparts to be absolutely sure, but I believe Kia uses the same 1.6-liter (usually turbocharged) gasoline engine in its hybrids as they do it in their gas-only vehicles. They may tune them differently than hybrids (which can help keep engine RPMs in optimal ranges) and may also use different lubricants. As always, you should follow the maintenance directions in your manuals, which at least for the Sorento PHEV include regular addition of fuel additives that clean the engine valves and combustion chambers in particular, which may be more likely to it “sticks”. due to short duration/less frequent use.
Next question: What difference in combined mpg/range (EV and HEV) do you experience between warmer and cooler seasons, especially in HEV mode? In the warmer months (which I define in my home region as any month where the average daily temperature is 50 degrees or warmer, or about 7 months or more out of the year), I’ve typically achieved an electric range of just at the age of 40 in miles of autonomy. in my Sorento PHEV. In the colder months, the lowest range I’ve seen is just under 30 miles (note that this was also on studless snow tires, which have higher rolling resistance and thus efficiency reduced compared to all-season tires). My mpg numbers vary based on outside temperatures, but more on how I’m using my Sorento PHEV. If it’s summer and I’m going camping with a roof box and loads of people and stuff, or winter road trip for the holidays with the family, I can see 30-40mpg. in HEV mode, but tends to drift away from the lower end of the range on short, daily commutes. During the colder months, I’m more likely to see less mpg in hybrid mode, but how I drive always seems to make the biggest difference. If I drive mostly on the freeway at speeds above 50 mph, my efficiency is lower. If I drive mostly at speeds below 50 mph, my efficiency is better. But this is kind of a universal rule for any vehicle; driving fast uses more energy (and “fast” basically starts around 50 mph). My lifetime average fuel economy, running on gas, is about 36.4 mpg. My calculated average lifetime range is 37.3 miles (calculated as my accumulated miles per kWh x the useful capacity of the hybrid battery, which is 11.8 kWh). My combined lifetime fuel economy, over 9,000 miles using both electric and gas, is 69.4 mpg. Not bad for a vehicle over 2 tonnes and basically shaped like a chipped brick.
I will continue to address more questions from readers in a follow-up article. Please leave any questions or comments you have so far below.
Images courtesy of Justin Hart.
Justin Hart has owned and driven electric vehicles for over 15 years, including a first-generation Nissan LEAF, second-generation Chevy Volt, Tesla Model 3, an electric bicycle, and most recently a Kia Sorento PHEV. He is also an avid SUP rider, poet, photographer and wine lover. He likes to take long EV and PHEV road trips to beautiful and peaceful places with the people he loves. Follow Justin Twitter for daily KIA EV news coverage.
