Kia Optima Sportswagon PHEV 2017 first drive

Conflicted things, hybrids.

They can be refined with near-silent motors, can give huge fuel economy around town and have decent acceleration thanks to instant torque. But they're not very frugal at higher speeds, they're heavy and they often have clumsy handling. 

Kia’s electrification efforts aren't to be sniffed at; it has the Kia Niro hybrid, Niro PHEV, Optima PHEV and now the Optima Sportswagon PHEV. Holding down the pure-electric end of things is the Soul EV, and there’s a promise of more EVs to come. 

Here, we're testing the plug-in variant of the comely new Optima Sportswagon estate on UK roads to find out if it can compete with its fearsome line-up of rivals. Most of these are more premium segment offerings, such as the BMW 330e, Lexus IS 300h, Mercedes-Benz C350e and Volkswagen Passat GTE, but with its £35,145 price tag, the Optima also takes on the volume-selling Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. 

In estate form, though, its rivals are limited to the Passat GTE and C350e estates, and it'll have its work cut out if it's to match up to the sporty Passat and big-selling C-Class. As the industry gears up for ever-more electrification, though, this is a class that's about to get incredibly crowded incredibly quickly.

Refined. Almost spookily so. The switch between electric and petrol is practically unnoticeable, and Kia claims 38 miles of electric-only driving. There’s next to no wind noise at sub-motorway speeds, with only a little turbulence from the door mirrors rustling over your right shoulder when you approach 70mph. 

It’s the same with road noise, even if it is slightly more pronounced and a little intrusive at times – presumably because of the car’s excess heft over the standard Optima Sportswagon.

There is moderate noise at motorway speeds, though, but thankfully the Harman Kardon sound system is more than up to the job of drowning it out. This stereo is standard, too; in fact, no optional extras were added to the car on test. 

Kia appears to have put real effort into the ride. It's nicely damped and comfortable, although it is a little fidgety and doesn’t settle at motorway speeds. It's better at 40mph or less. 

Where the extra 200kg over the standard Optima Sportswagon is really noticeable is in corners. Change lanes sharply or take a tight roundabout at a pace quicker than leisurely, and despite the excellent grip, you can feel the car shift its weight from one side to the other. That makes the car feel cumbersome, flabby and less confidence-inspiring than it should, which is a bit conflicting with the reasonably punchy acceleration.