How to Optimize Fuel Efficiency in a Kia Sportage Hybrid (BOOST MPGs)

[@Funkydood]

Dude! I got my wife a 2023 gas engine Sportage (2.5L, 8-shift tranny). The manual recommends 0W-20 synthetic motor oil, but we live at Puerto Rico, where temperatures run around the 80s-90s, Fahrenheit. So I upgraded to 5W-20...Man, I'm getting an average 38-42 mpg, highway miles!!! We're in love with the little SUV!!!

[@RivermanTV-]

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@vinniekrieg5441]

I'm going to keep this on my playlist, because I'm about to get a new Sportage HEV and this is super helpful, thank you!!

[@lithgowlights859]

Picked ours up today.

[@EricMalette]

2024 SX PHEV here. My current gas tank is just over half full with approximately 1200km on the counter. 1.2L/100km economy. Obviously my daily driving is almost entirely covered by the battery charge. I just traded in my 2021 SX Sportage and the gas savings is utterly ridiculous. Truly truly a great experience. Edit: one thing is I wish you could use the entire battery. My car always starts the ICE when battery is just below 1/4 power.

[@BladeCaptain-TRMN]

I don't know about the Sportage as yet, but I've owned two of the Prius (2016 in the last one), and I found that if you are in a part of town that has a lot of hills, that the sport mode in that one gets better mpg. Less work for the transmission etc so though you are not speeding, you are rolling easier in the hills. Also what you discribe in the breaking is the same in the Prius. Light breaking as much as possible keeps them charged, also it is slowed down by the recovery generator vs the actual breaks. This does tend to irritate other drivers that don'e understand why you are "Riding your breaks" lol. Another thing I found was that if I'm going to be running at a single speed for a while I will always use my cruise control as much as possible. This also saves you fuel because you are not fluctuating the gas pedal all the time. This way when I'm in town on a main road at 40 mph, my mpg is awesome. Also on the freeway, I'll jump into the Truck lane, and do the same speed they are. Five mph actually has a great impact on mpg. Even maintaining 65 is much better than 70mph.

[@johncasino9643]

Taking notes right now. Hopefully to get my sportage ex hybrid but it's 7 months and counting. Greetings from Toronto CA. Thanks for the tips buddy

[@contemporaryprimitiveman3469]

We waited 355 days for ours.

[@keithtrap8693]

Tried to get one in summer of 2022 but they wouldn't allow us to order the Navy gray interior until January 2023. Ended up not getting the 23 and they shipped us to 24 and got it the end of February. We paid an extra $1,500. So basically took us almost 2 years to get ours. Was disappointed that the Vesta Blue turn out Navy Blue, which was not the color on the internet or brochures.☹️​@@contemporaryprimitiveman3469

[@RivermanTV-]

You're welcome. Hope your Sportage arrives early!

[@vinniekrieg5441]

I just went to my dealership here in Carleton Place (near Ottawa) the other day and there was one available on the lot that I snapped up. Getting it in a week. Can't wait!!! Just moved from Toronto to CP 18 months ago and loving it. Was in TO last week and holy cow. Big changes.

[@contemporaryprimitiveman3469]

I go to the hybrid icon on the touch screen so I can monitor the gas v electric energy flow. When I’m not in traffic I do a lot of coasting and I can keep the batteries over 50%.

[@sansinutube]

What about regenerative braking, controlled using the paddle shifters? Also, how is it as a road tripping vehicle? Is it comfortable and reliable enough for long drives?

[@notmissingout9369]

I’m from the uk and today I got 60 mpg out of my sportage mine a gt line

[@nixnet83]

thanks for the tips! when accelerating from stop I do want to keep up with traffic, so the ICE almost always kicks in, after Your demonstration I will try to start it slow :) I find the "energy flow" screen more friendly than the "drive info" dude, what are You doing with Your left foot? :D It should be resting on the left side, and what You are doing looks super weird :D

[@RivermanTV-]

I was just trying to keep my foot out of the way of the camera. It would have blocked the view of the gas pedal.

[@Windjammer1969_]

On our 3rd hybrid - Prius, Ioniq, and Sportage, the last 2 of which we still own - and your recommendations seem spot on based upon our experience. Noticed that while you started out with high MPG - on non-freeway roads - by the end of your trip you were down to the rated mpg of around 38. My guess is that the Sportage simply pushes too much air around to get spectacular mpg at highway speeds, and the elevated height of the AWD versions clearly makes that worse (38 mpg rated vs 44 rated for the FWD version, which sits closer to the ground). One way that the Sportage resembles our older hybrids - and particularly the Ioniq - is that it likes to run when "warmed up" - short trips, even on surface streets, return much lower mpg when the engine starts out cold. Our Sportage still has relatively low miles on in (around 2,700), and mpg trend has been upward since purchase - not dramatically, but consistently. Currently sits at 33.3 overall (per its own computer), with the current tank sitting at 35.5. My "goal" is to achieve 34+ on trips, and to come close to the 38 mark in daily driving - something you achieved on the recorded trip in this video. Thanks for posting!

[@RivermanTV-]

Totally agree. It can perform well at highway speeds but the amount of air resistance is an important factor in my opinion. Any sort of headwind will keep the vehicle from using the electric mode. I've still averaged over 40 on mostly highway trips, but the external factors have to fall into place for that to happen. Glad my experience and interpretation wasn't too far off with this car.

[@twinblues]

I just bought a Sportage hybrid but the accumulated trip says I’m getting 32 mpg with approx 800 miles driven. Do you use the regenerated braking controls to help with the battery charge?

[@Windjammer1969_]

@@twinblues Our EX Hybrid was in the low 30s past the 1,000 mark - maybe even up to 1,500 miles. Accumulated score is around 34.5 currently (3,800 miles on the nose), but mpg has been climbing steadily, and last 4 fills have averaged over 36 mpg. Highest we've seen for a tank fill was 38.1 mpg. Driving habits matter a lot: Short trips with a cold engine = poor mpg. We have a couple of routine trips in the 9 - 12 mile range (one direction): on the way out, with a cold engine, car used to return High 20s - but return trip, even with as much as a 2-hour stay, would score high 30s. CURRENTLY, those same trips produce Low 30's out-bound, but high-30s to low 40s on the trip home. (On Fri, the 9 mile outbound = 32+, & return home = 44+). AFAIK (!), there are no Specific 'regenerative braking' settings on our '24 EX hybrid - seems like a setting that might be found on the plug-in hybrid version?

[@twinblues]

Thanks. I might be confused but I’m referring to the plus minus paddle shifters behind the wheel. I initially thought these paddles were for downshifting the transmission but in some Kia videos they talk about these being regenerative braking controls and gear shift when in sport mode. But I can’t find a specific video about them for the 2024 Sportage hybrid EX, and the manual is not helpful either. Do you know what those are for? Thanks kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4Wxg4WvjpuGjM0feature=shared

[@Windjammer1969_]

@@twinblues The video link you provided applies to EV models - not to Hybrids. AFAIK, the Paddle Shifters on the Sportage Hybrid simply switch the car into "manual" gear selection mode, providing greater leeway to select the gear YOU would like the car to be in, as opposed to relying entirely on the automatic gear selection. (p6 -19 in manual for details) You are correct that the manual does not provide a lot of detail about the paddle shifter ("Manual Mode"), but I would EXPECT it to try to avoid problematic shifting commands - for instance, trying to do multiple downshifts at 70 mph (!) which could over-rev the engine. (All the same, I am NOT going to deliberately TEST its parameters / safety boundaries!) I used manual mode fairly frequently during the break in period, as Kia advises AVOIDING Constant Engine speeds at that time. Have also used it a handful of times when Passing someone, and have been pleased with how well the system responds (at least in Smart or Sport modes). The Sportage is NOT a "Sports car," but it has surprisingly good acceleration if pushed - albeit at the cost of higher fuel consumption, of course! My suggestion - based on our own experience and that reported by other owners - is to be Patient for the first 1,500 - 3,000 miles (Manual calls out a 4,000 Mile "Settling in" period!), keep your tire pressure in spec, check your oil / other fluids (our EX has not yet used any Perceptible amount of oil), and expect that MPG will gradually improve over time - assuming the car is driven with some care and not either RACED from stop light to stop light or always driven on short trips with a cold engine. Good Luck!

[@bodhidogculture]

Thanks for the great info. Is your sportage AWD?

[@RivermanTV-]

@@bodhidogculture it is

[@NewYorksFinest1]

I have the 23 kia sportage hybrid. I do mostly freeway driving 70-80 mph and I try to keep it in electric mode as much as possible but as soon as there's an incline, it switches to the gas engine

[@RivermanTV-]

Happens to me too and it's kind of frustrating!

[@contemporaryprimitiveman3469]

When we got about 3500 miles on it, our mpg increased from 31.5 to 36.5 almost suddenly. Might have been a software update?

[@keithtrap8693]

Does your battery ever go up to full charge? Ours seems like the electric motor kicks out when it gets just below half battery charge. Vehicle is 3 months old and wondering if there is an issue with the battery. Supposedly has a 68 kilowatt battery which should run the Electric Motor for quite a ways. On the interstate when I back off it only goes about a mile before kicking in the engine. I just wish they would have engineered so I didn't have to let off the pedal all the time to get the gas mileage. Just seems redundant compared to Toyota who gets much better gas mileage driving it normally. Glad to have your input though and thanks for the video.

[@RivermanTV-]

It rarely goes to full charge in my experience. It does happen but it's infrequent. I agree with what you are saying though. My experience has been that the more miles I've driven, the better it has gotten with switching and staying in electric mode.

[@Windjammer1969_]

Battery Gauge is split into 4 quarters, each of which is sub-divided by 3 "segments." The highest it has reached - that I have NOTICED - is 1 segment into the top quarter: once it reaches that point, the car moves to EV mode on its own accord. The Lowest the battery gauge normally gets is 1 segment Above the lowest quarter mark - although I THINK it has dropped to just level with the lowest quarter a couple of times. At "subdivision" speeds, our EX will hold EV for at least a mile - assuming a very light foot on the gas pedal. That is farther then my wife's Ioniq Hybrid will hold EV (to be fair that is a 2017 model), so I have been very pleased with that result. On the highway, the Sportage simply pushes too much air to go very far in EV mode - unless cruising Downhill. Have been paying less CONSCIOUS attention to the "Speed Up, Ease Off" to activate EV mode - it would be "interesting" to compare that against simply letting the 'System' decide when to switch, but running such a comparison seems overly fussy.

[@DonnaDiane74]

Soooo...Do you end up trading fuel costs for brake pads?? 🤔

[@RivermanTV-]

Not in my experience. I'm almost to 70k miles without a single brake change. That's longer than other cars I've owned. I'm sure I'll be due soon though.

[@LSRWinter3406]

Regen breaking at light applications doesn't actually use the pads until the pressure applied exceeds the max capable of the hybrid system.

[@RivermanTV-]

@@LSRWinter3406 thanks for sharing this. I was unaware.

[@nocoffeenogame]

I drive a Ford cmax hybrid. 138,000 miles on it. I have actually never changed my breaks, and they are still going strong lol