How I Got 65 Miles Of EV Range Road Tripping In My Kia Sorento PHEV

It’s still summer and that means it’s time for camping and road trips. This summer I managed to more than double my EV range in my Kia Sorento plug-in hybrid (PHEV) while continuing to beat its EPA estimated efficiency while running on gas.

How did I possibly manage to double the EV range of my Kia Sorento PHEV? The answer is that I simply cheated, sort of. I drove myself and 5 passengers up to about 5,400 feet in elevation on Mt Rainier, southeast of Seattle, Washington. I used approximately 17 miles of EV range driving to and up the mountain, intentionally sparing the estimated 15 miles of remaining range for the trip back down. By the time I drove down the mountain, covering approximately 35 miles only on electricity, I still had 11 miles of EV range showing, due to all the downhill coasting and regenerative braking I did coming home. I managed to go another 13 miles on that remaining 11 mile estimate though, thanks to a speed limit of 45 or lower and gentle driving. While my PHEV was running on gas, I averaged 35.5 MPG round trip.

In effect, I mostly used gas to get me up the mountain and coasted/braked often on my way down and both generated a significant amount of additional range in doing so and boosted my electric efficiency greatly. I covered just over half the distance from the mountain back to my home on electricity (compared to only about 20% of the distance on the way up). This is why I consider it a form of “cheating” (similar to if I had used the gas engine to generate electrical charge to the point of fully recharging my battery), but the reality is that since plug-in hybrids have significantly larger batteries than standard hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) that do not plug in, they excel in this particular scenario and can achieve remarkable efficiency. The same is true for fully electric vehicles too, of course.

In a standard hybrid I would have also gotten better than usual efficiency on those first 35 miles on my return trip, however the battery in a standard hybrid would have filled to its full capacity within the first mile or two of that 35 mile section. At that point, nearly all of the energy it could capture from regenerative braking would not be captured. This fact is a significant advantage that vehicles with larger batteries that can draw power from the grid have over standard hybrids (HEVs) that do not plug in. Big deal one may say, you can’t drive downhill all the time. While that’s true, anyone that goes up and then down large or long hills every day could certainly experience the benefits of a larger capacity battery in a plug-in hybrid or EV compared to an HEV though.

Speaking of standard hybrids, the hybrid version of the Kia Sorento is one of the most fuel efficient 3 row hybrid SUVs you can buy right now, and returns 37 MPG combined. My PHEV Sorento gets rated at a slightly lower 34 MPG combined due to the extra weight of its larger 13.8 kWh battery. However, I have a lifetime average fuel economy of approximately double the HEV Sorento’s MPG figure in my PHEV Sorento, when I calculated it based on the number of miles I have driven and the number of gallons of gas I have used in doing so. If we are talking about my MPG figures when only using gas, my lifetime average is still just a skosh above the 34 MPG EPA combined average. Of course, your mileage may vary, but I drive gently and do a little over half of my total miles on short drives within the full range of the battery in my PHEV.

Whether you go up and down a lot of hills or not, PHEVs like my Kia Sorento are at their best, in terms of efficiency, on short to medium trips that are no more than 3-4X the maximum range of their batteries, or when one is able to recharge them during a longer drive. Otherwise, one is hauling a lot of “dead” weight on a long trip with a mostly depleted hybrid battery. This fact warrants repeating since PHEV and range extended technology is often confusing to consumers and one reason more folks may initially opt for an HEV instead when purchasing a more efficient vehicle.

Do you own a PHEV? What is the maximum distance you’ve ever gotten from a single charge of the battery? Please leave your thoughts and questions below.

Image courtesy of Justin Hart.

Justin Hart has owned and driven electric vehicles for over 16 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 enjoys taking long EV and PHEV road trips to beautiful and serene places with the people he loves. Follow Justin on Torque News Kia or X for regular electric and hybrid news coverage.