Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June 5th

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

Prius is still the King.

If you like Hondas and can tolerate something a bit smaller, the Insight is still the best value out there for $18K. 42 mpg. My wife has 17K miles on her Insight, and loves it.

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

Prius > Insight II >>> Kia Thingamobile

I like Honda, and have 2 but dislike the Insight II. Not because it is small, but because it is extremely cheap. To those that think the Prius is cheap, the Honda will feel domestic.

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

We'll never know how Hyundai would package NiMH I guess. We can compare the trunk size of HSH to a standard HS and then the same with the Fusion and Camry.

Sonata trunk size shrunk from 16.4 cu.ft. to 10.7 cu.ft. So, the Lithium battery took up 5.7 cu.ft.

Fusion trunk size shrunk from 16.5 cu.ft. to 11.8 cu.ft. So, the NiMH battery took up 4.7 cu.ft.

Camry trunk size shrunk from 15.0 cu.ft. to 10.6 cu.ft. So, the NiMH battery took up 4.4 cu.ft.

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

Do we know the battery capacity differences between the 3?

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

Sonata Hybrid: 1.43 kWh (5.3Ah @270V)
Fusion Hybrid: 1.51 kWh (5.5Ah @275V)
Camry Hybrid: 1.59 kWh (6.5Ah @245V)

It is quite the opposite. TCH's NiMH HV pack has the most energy yet uses up the least amount of trunk space.

Sonata hybrid with Lithium polymer pack has the least energy but takes up the most trunk space.

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

I'm not sure about ford or hyundai, but toyota freed up some space by reducing the gas tank volume, I'm not exactly sure how. On our prii the battery doesn't take up any trunk space at all That's some great packaging versus the non hybrid prius.

Sonata has the most usable energy or usable SOC and and available power, but in this configuration it needs the most. How many bags of golf clubs can you get in each trunk? Otherwise that measure seems pretty petty. Are you going to continue arguing how bad lithium is after toyota starts shipping its pack in the phv?

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

Sounds like the Camry just needs a diet.

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

Both HSH and TCH reduced the gas tank size from 18.5 gal to 17.2 gallons. FFH has the same (17.5 gal) tank size as the non-hybrid. It appears there is room for improvement for Hyundai's HV battery packaging.

I don't know the SOC swing for it but I hope Lithium can take it and remain as reliable as the NiMH. HSH's generator is pretty anemic (8kW). Active battery SOC maintenance won't be that flexible. It may run into the same issue as Honda IMA.

 

Re: Kia press release today: Optima hybrid gets 40mpg, costs $26,500, and will be in showrooms June

it is not really good at all...



I think all of these hybrid sedans would sell a lot better if they could package it so you get proper trunk with it. Camry Hybrid is only 5% of total Camry sales.