Few midsize crossover SUVs are as versatile as the 2025 Kia Sorento. For example, you can choose a basic but affordable model, a powerful turbocharged version ready to head off-road, or an upscale and technologically sophisticated variant. In addition, Kia offers the 2025 Sorento with four-cylinder, turbocharged four-cylinder, turbocharged hybrid, and turbocharged plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
This year, the electrified Sorento Hybrid and Sorento Plug-in Hybrid get the same changes Kia made to last year’s gas-only models. The highlights include:
JD Power previously published a review of the 2024 Kia Sorento X-Pro with a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. This review focuses on the Sorento Plug-in Hybrid model’s updates for 2025 and how they potentially impact its overall consumer appeal.
For this 2025 Sorento PHEV review, Kia provided a test vehicle with SX Prestige trim and optional carpeted floor mats. The test vehicle’s price was $54,690, including the $1,375 destination charge to ship the SUV from the assembly plant in Hwasung, South Korea, to your local dealership. It is not eligible for a federal rebate, but as of this writing, Kia is offering lease incentives up to $5,400 to lower monthly payments.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Kia offers the 2025 Sorento PHEV in EX and SX Prestige trim levels, but they look the same on the outside. The SX Prestige commands a $5,100 premium but adds such a long list of comfort, convenience, and technology upgrades that the added expense seems worthwhile.
Compared to last year’s Sorento PHEV, the refreshed 2025 model gets a new front end that swaps a horizontal orientation for a vertical arrangement with Amber Star Map lighting. The automaker has already made a similar change with the 2025 Carnival minivan, and a similar look is coming soon to the 2026 Sportage. In the back, the 2025 Sorento PHEV retains its dual-blade taillights.
The updated interior incorporates a sophisticated new 24-inch panoramic display. Kia also consolidates the infotainment, stereo, and climate controls into a new dual-purpose touch-sensing panel, an approach to these functions that Kia first introduced in the EV6 electric vehicle.
In the Sorento, that touch-panel design is easy enough to use but still requires more concentration and effort than is preferable. I recommend keeping it on the climate settings, swiping the upper touchscreen to access infotainment menus, and operating the steering wheel controls for volume and tuning.
Kia needed to update the Sorento’s infotainment system, and the new 12.3-inch touchscreen display running the automaker’s latest Connected Car Navigation Cockpit technology is a big step forward in response time, graphics, and overall sophistication. Unfortunately, the test vehicle’s Kia Connect connected services technology wasn’t active, so its digital voice assistant didn’t work.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, so I paired my iPhone to the system and asked Siri for directions to various destinations during an 850-mile family road trip. That worked perfectly. We also streamed a road-trip playlist through the SX Prestige’s decent-sounding 12-speaker Bose audio system.
The new infotainment system offers multi-device Bluetooth pairing, and an active Kia Connect subscription supports digital key technology while providing access to a Wi-Fi hotspot. The SX Prestige also features a digital rear camera mirror for improved visibility.
Kia adds more safety features to the 2025 Sorento PHEV. The standard collection of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) grows longer with new pedestrian and cyclist detection capabilities and an intersection turn assistance system. With SX Prestige trim, the adaptive cruise control adds new machine-learning technology to improve its performance over time.
On our road trip, I gave the Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA 2) hands-on semi-autonomous driving system plenty of time to convince me it was learning anything. After 90 minutes of driving, it may have been better at managing speed and distance, but it’s hard to know for sure since traffic conditions are constantly variable.
Unfortunately, the constant steering corrections, delayed lane-change functionality, and regular warnings to return my hands to the steering wheel even though they were already on the rim wore out my patience. By the time my family had traveled from our Los Angeles suburb to Santa Maria, I had turned HDA 2 off and didn’t use it again during the trip.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Kia takes an unusual approach to its plug-in hybrid powertrain. The gas engine is a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder instead of a normally aspirated Atkinson-cycle power plant. A traditional six-speed automatic delivers the power to a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive (AWD) system instead of a typical continuously variable transmission (CVT) and a separate electric motor to power the rear wheels. The AWD has a center-locking differential too, though with just 6.9 inches of ground clearance, off-roading is not advisable.
Total output measures 261 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Juiced by a 14-kilowatt-hour (kWh) lithium-ion polymer battery, the electric motor offers 91 hp and 224 lb-ft of torque, and the estimated electric-only driving range is 31 miles. After the Sorento PHEV has traveled that distance, the gasoline engine kicks in and delivers an estimated 33 mpg in combined driving. Under hard acceleration, the Sorento PHEV scoots to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds, according to Kia.
Using a 240-volt home charging station, you can recharge the Sorento PHEV’s battery in four hours. I used a standard household outlet, which easily kept the SUV topped off for local errands, running on nothing but electricity.
Upon departure on the road trip with a full battery, the range indicator said the SUV would provide 31 miles of electric-only driving. With four people and carry-on luggage aboard, the Sorento PHEV traveled 31.3 miles before the gas engine turned on. That travel included an 800-foot descent from our L.A. suburb to near sea level.
After the gas engine turned on, the Sorento PHEV supplied satisfying acceleration and passing power and returned 29.8 mpg during the trip. Road noise is evident on the highway, and the steering feels too heavy and vague, but otherwise, the Sorento offered a good mix of ride and handling. The added electric motor and battery weight aren’t noticeable, and the brakes feel natural when used.
Though the SX Prestige offers 14-way power driver’s seat adjustment (10-way for the front passenger), heating, and ventilation, I did not find it comfortable after hours of driving. That meant the small 12.4-gallon fuel tank’s need for frequent refills wasn’t the liability you might expect; it was good to get out and stretch.
My teenagers reported the second-row captain’s chairs as satisfactory, with easy access to USB charging ports, plenty of legroom, and the ability to nap in them easily. Behind them, with the third-row seat folded down, we easily carried our luggage for a long weekend in the 38.5 cubic-foot cargo area. It expands to 75.5 cu-ft with the second-row chairs folded down.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Among the plug-in hybrid SUVs that exist, the 2025 Kia Sorento PHEV occupies a niche between the smaller and more affordable Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and the more powerful and upscale Mazda CX-90 PHEV. It offers genuinely useful three-row seating (with the second-row seats moved forward), a decent electric-only driving range, and plenty of style and technology for a relatively reasonable price.
However, if you can live without a third-row seat, you can expand the possibilities. For off-roading, the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe or Wrangler 4xe is suitable. For cavernous cargo space and a more dynamic driving character, the Mazda CX-70 PHEV is a good choice. And to save some money while getting more than 40 miles of electric range, the smaller Toyota RAV4 Prime is an appealing alternative.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran automotive journalist with 30 years of experience in the field and has held automotive editorial leadership positions at Edmunds, JD Power, and The New York Daily News. Today, Chris owns a content agency called Speedy Daddy Media, and in addition to JDPower.com, his work appears on Capital One Auto Navigator, CarGurus, and Edmunds.
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