Eric's Autos: 2025 Kia Sorento

"Sharing platforms" -- car industry jargon for making (and selling) two iterations of basically the same thing -- is generally considered an unflattering thing.

Or at least a duplicative thing.

Why sell basically the same thing twice?

Well, because sometimes it works. General Motors, for instance, sells the Chevy Tahoe and the GMC Yukon, and they're both basically the same thing -- with minor styling (and not-so-minor pricing) differences.

There's a lot more difference between the Kia Sorento and the Hyundai Sante Fe -- though both share a common platform too.

What It Is

The Sorento is a compact crossover that's a little bit larger than most of the rest -- which is how it manages to come standard with a third row.

It is closely related to the Hyundai Sante Fe but less expensive -- $31,990 to start for the base LX trim versus $34,200 for the base Sante Fe SE.

It costs less to start because it does not come standard with the more powerful engine (and larger 18-inch wheels) that are standard in the Sante Fe, although both of these are available as options in the Sorento.

The Kia is also available with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that isn't available with the Sante Fe.

That means it can be plugged in to charge up its battery pack, like an electric car -- but you don't have to plug it in, like an electric car. Once its batteries are fully charged, it can be driven about 32 miles on just battery power, like an electric car. But -- unlike an electric car -- when you run low on charge, you do not have to stop for a charge. You can keep on driving for hundreds of miles, so long as there's still gas in the tank.

The plug-in Sorento -- focus of this review -- is available in two trims, starting with the $47,900 EX and topping out with the $53,090 SX Prestige. Both come standard with all-wheel drive, in addition to the plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

What's New for 2025

The less expensive EX trim is new -- and both trims get exterior styling tweaks for the new model year, along with a new (and standard) 12.3-inch touch screen for the EX and fancier configurable screen for the SX Prestige with voice-command functionality.

What's Good

-- An EV that doesn't have to be.

-- 12 mpg better "city" mileage than gas-only Sorento.

-- Standard third row is hard to find in a crossover this size.

What's Not So Good

-- What you save on gas is not likely to earn back what you spent to get the plug-in drivetrain.

-- Much lower max towing capacity -- just 1,600 pounds -- than the non-hybrid Sorento, which can pull 3,500 pounds.

-- Voice-command system (in the SX Prestige) is sometimes glitchy.

Under the Hood

There's a really small engine under the Sorento plug-in hybrid's hood. Just 1.6 liters -- which is not a lot of engine to move this 4,652-pound crossover. But when combined with an electric motor, the combined output is 261 horsepower -- which is a lot of power out of not much engine.

Its output is comparable to that produced by a much larger (and six-cylinder) engine, such as the 3.8-liter V6 that's still standard in the Sorento's bigger brother, the Telluride. It makes 291 horsepower, only 30 more out of more than twice as much engine.

But the V6 Telluride -- which only weighs 4,248 pounds -- only manages 20 mpg in city driving and 26 mpg on the highway versus 35 mpg city and 33 mpg highway for the several-hundred-pounds-heavier plug-in Sorento, which can also be driven about 32 miles without burning any gasoline at all -- if you start your drive with a fully charged battery.

On the Road

Driving a plug-in hybrid is uneventful -- and that's the point. It's neat to be able to drive an electric vehicle that doesn't oblige you to sweat how much farther you can drive before you've got to stop -- and wait.

When you drive a purely electric vehicle, anxiety is a constant riding companion, and it gets old. Especially if you're not a planner and enjoy the spontaneity of going someplace just because you want to.

Kia also did a clever thing as regards this plug-in hybrid by making it the most powerful version of the Sorento -- allowing it to tout performance, as almost every electric-only vehicle does. But without the catch that comes with using that performance.

Which is that if you use an electric-only vehicle's performance capabilities, you'll rapidly deplete the battery pack's charge, then you'll have to stop for a wait.

At the Curb

It is no easy thing to make a crossover look different than all the other crossovers -- without negatively affecting the practical attributes (interior/cargo-carrying space) that people buy crossovers for having.

Designers can go to town with the front end and grille -- but the sides and rear pretty much need to be shaped the same way. And that is why crossovers pretty much all look the same.

Given these parameters, Kia doesn't make the mistake some make of making the front end look weird -- not on purpose -- so as to try to make up for the blandness of the rest of the shape. The Sorento is handsome in a nondescript way -- and that is very much preferable to trying so hard to make the front end look like anything but another crossover that you end up with something that just looks weird.

The timeless example of this being Pontiac's Aztek.

Rather than how it looks, what sets the Sorento apart is that it is a bit larger than other popular small crossovers that only seat five -- which is why it can seat more. Because it's just large enough to have room for a third row; there's not a huge amount of room back there.

But there is room back there.

The Rest

One of the oddities of the currently available small crop of plug-in hybrids in this class is that they are only offered as top-of-the-line models with top-of-the-line MSRPs. This seems to run contra to the idea of saving money -- ostensibly the main reason a buyer would be interested in a plug-in hybrid. Because if it's expensive to buy the thing, then you're not really "saving" anything (including the planet, by the way).

The Bottom Line

If you need a crossover with a third row but don't want a big crossover, the Sorento's one of just a few that's got what you're looking for.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.