2020 Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV

Kia has finally embarked on creating hybrid systems for its popular hatchbacks. The Ceed Sportswagon PHEV should be the first one from the Ceed family to benefit from the new technology, and I am reporting on this because we have actually caught the Ceed Sportswagon PHEV testing in the wilderness. The Hyundai-Kia duo does wonders in the hybrid world right now. The Kona Plug-in hybrid prototypes roam the streets, and a few interesting production hybrids found their place in Hyundai and Kia showrooms. However, the unavoidable introduction of the Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV basically announces something very important - the coming of the Ceed hatchback hybrid and, far more importantly, the Sportage hybrid. Now, that will be really important. Yet, let's start with the basics - the Ceed Sportswagon PHEV.

2020 Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV

Specifications

Make: Array
Model: 2020 Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV
[do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Pros

Cons

Exterior

The Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV won’t be any different compared to the standard Ceed Sportswagon in terms of the overall design. Heck, I am writing about the same car here, only with a hybrid. Yet, Kia will do some tricks to make it obvious that this is not just another Ceed Sportswagon. I can only imagine aerodynamic features like the active (or completely closed) front grille and a nice diffuser in the back.

Interior

Well, if you do want a tidy, nice, and honest interior, you cannot get much more than what the Kia Ceed offers. The only difference is that it will be drizzled with PHEV stuff like special software on the infotainment screen and a differently styled gear lever. Nothing major, mind you.

All in all, the Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV's interior will be just the same as the Ceed Sportswagon interior. Basically, some kind of a knock off of the Audi A3 and the Mazda 3 interior only for a reasonable price. A really tidy setup I am telling you.

Drivetrain

As expected, the Ceed Sportswagon PHEV propulsion system will be basically the same as in the Niro hybrid. Add to this a 79-horsepower electric motor and you get something like 200+ horsepower. Thanks to a fairly large battery pack with 8.9-kWh of capacity, the Ceed Sportswagon promises to be quite raspy and happy. And, if we are to believe the official fuel consumption numbers from the Niro PHEV that returns an insane 180 mpg, the Ceed Sportswagon PHEV should be seriously efficient.

Now, a small disclaimer. That 180-mpg number (1.3 l/100 kilometers) was achieved with the NDEC test. That’s an outdated Euro test for fuel consumption that actually makes it possible for manufacturers to achieve such incredible results. In reality, personally, I expect the Ceed Sportswagon to return 40 mpg (that’s good too).

Apart from the Ceed Sportswagon PHEV, we may even see yet another Ceed hybrid - a mild-hybrid at that. Michael Cole, Kia's Chief Operating Officer for Europe, hinted at it some time ago. It will be the first Kia with a 48-volt electric system too. I kinda want to see it ASAP.

So, what does this mean for the freaking Kia Forte that we have in the U.S.?

Right now, no one actually knows, but back in 2010 Kia actually showed the Forte Hybrid at the SEMA motor show. It was powered by a 1.6-liter engine that runs on liquified petroleum and was assisted by a lithium polymer battery pack.

We wrote about it, because why not!

When all said and done, if Kia installs hybrid tech in all versions of the Ceed, we can definitely expect it here as a Forte sometime in the future. If gas prices go up again, that is!

Prices

In Germany, the Kia Ceed Sportswagon starts somewhere at $20,000 (for the one with 100 horsepower). If you want a really, really nice one with a 140 horsepower engine and a lot of gear, be ready to churn out up to $38,000. Yup, I am speaking USD here and 38 grand for a freaking Forte is insane, but Europe is a really strange place, so that’s that. I can only imagine that, in Germany, the price for the Kia Ceed Sportswagon would touch $40,000.

The U.S., however, is a completely different playground. The Niro PHEV starts at $28,500. The hypothetical Forte hybrid would be somewhere in that vicinity as well.

Competition

Toyota Auris Touring Sports Hybrid (it is a Corolla Hatchback wagon basically)

Toyota has been into hybrids for ages, and the most direct imaginable competitor to the alleged Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV could just be it. Only, the Auris Touring Sports Hybrid is seriously underpowered with combined 136 horsepower compared with the upcoming Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV.

Read our full review on the 2018 Toyota Auris Touring Sports Hybrid

Volkswagen Golf GTE

Only if it were available in the Variant (that’s SportWagen for the U.S.) guise, but it is not. This one actually has a 150 horsepower gasoline engine helped by a 102 horsepower electric motor for a combined output of 204 horsepower. And yes, it is a plug-in hybrid. There isn’t a production wagon, though. Only the concept guise.

Read our full review on the 2018 Volkswagen Golf GTE

Conclusion

Public reveal of the new Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV is likely to happen at the IAA in Frankfurt in September this year. That could set the stage for a number of awesome new hybrid cars from Kia. The hatch could follow, the same hybrid system could land in that cool ProCeed and even eventually reach the Sportage and the Forte in the US.

All in all, a spy shot of the Kia Ceed Sportswagon PHEV taken somewhere in the Arctic Circle deviously hides the Kia PHEV's intentions for the future. Although really humble, this compact Sportswagon shows incredible possibilities. For now, we know that it will come from the Kia's plant in Slovakia. Everything else is open to interpretation.