2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid First Drive Review: Still a Benchmark

Added power and tech keep the Sportage Hybrid a top pick among compact crossovers

written by Kirk Bell
edited by Steven Ewing
8/25/2025
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The Kia Sportage Hybrid gets more power and new tech for 2026.
Fuel economy is still an impressive 42 mpg combined.
Pricing starts at $31,735 including destination.

Compact crossover SUVs are today’s midsize sedans. They’re the de facto family vehicle and personal transportation for your mom, many of your friends and maybe even you. Among them, a growing number are hybrids or plug-in hybrids. The 2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid, which is just hitting dealers now, demonstrates the advantages of electrified crossovers with up to 42 mpg, plenty of space, and affordable prices.

The new Sportage Hybrid isn’t all that new. It gets a minor update to its powertrain, some more convenience equipment, a styling refresh and additional technology, but otherwise it’s the same vehicle that debuted for the 2023 model year — a vehicle that earned an Edmunds Top Rated award in both 2023 and 2024.

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The hybrid system consists of a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder teamed with a six-speed automatic transmission and a 64-horsepower electric motor mounted up front. Total output is 232 hp and 271 lb-ft of torque, up 5 hp from last year thanks to an upgrade to the electric motor.

During a drive based in Louisville, Kentucky, I learned that the horsepower bump still contributes to modest overall power, but it arrives predictably. The transmission helps the power build progressively like in most traditional four-cylinders, rather than the slushy rubber-band feel of systems with continuously variable automatics such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

The Sportage Hybrid eases into its power, and the 0-60 mph sprint takes a modest 8 seconds or so. When accelerating hard onto a freeway or performing passing maneuvers, the transmission can hang up on gears, causing the engine to respond with droning revs, especially in Sport mode. It’s a minor annoyance and only temporary. On the other hand, I never caught the transmission searching for gears or stuck in the wrong gear to deliver adequate thrust.

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The Hybrid has more power than the standard gas model, which spins up 187 hp from its 2.5-liter four-cylinder. It also gets much better fuel economy. The Hybrid tops out at 41 mpg city, 44 highway and 42 combined with front-wheel drive. Switch to the security of all-wheel drive, however, and fuel economy drops significantly to 35/36/35 mpg. That’s still much better than the 24/30/26 mpg of an all-wheel-drive gas model. According to the EPA, buyers will recoup the $1,600 cost of upgrading to the hybrid powertrain in about three years. That makes the Hybrid a smart choice.

Kia has made no changes to the Sportage’s dynamics for 2026. That’s fine because this likable crossover has the middle-of-the-road character expected of mainstream vehicles. It rides smoothly, the steering is direct with moderate weight, and handling is well controlled. However, with 8.3 inches of ground clearance, it leans enough in turns to cause head toss for passengers while cornering.

The cabin boasts useful technology and better space than expected for the class. The Sportage comes standard with a curved display that consists of dual 12.3-inch screens for gauges and infotainment. The infotainment touchscreen is smartly arranged with widgets for various controls, and it reacts quickly to inputs. An upgraded version adds navigation, a Wi-Fi hotspot, voice recognition and over-the-air updates.

Front occupants sit on roomy, comfortable seats with either cloth or synthetic leather upholstery. Manual seat controls come standard, but the SX-Prestige model I drove had 10-way driver’s seat adjustments and eight-way power adjustments for the front passenger seat.

The rear seat offers a rather expansive 41.3 inches of legroom, which left room for my 6-foot-6-inch passenger to sit behind my 5-foot-9 frame. That would be good for a full-size SUV, let alone a compact crossover.

Rear cargo space is also generous, with 36.6 cubic feet behind the second row that expands to 69.3 cubes with the rear seat folded flat. But Kia has a trick up its sleeve. The rear cargo floor can drop down a few inches to expand those figures to 39.6 cubes and 74.1 cubes, respectively. That’s midsize SUV territory.

The 2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid starts at $31,735, including a $1,445 destination fee, for a base LX model, which is the only model with front-wheel drive. That’s $1,300 more than the outgoing Sportage, but it also comes with more equipment, including stop-and-go for the adaptive cruise control system, front and rear parking sensors, LED headlights and taillights, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and drive modes (Eco, Sport and MyDrive for all with the addition of Snow, Mud and Sand for AWD versions).

The top-of-the-line Sportage HEV SX Prestige starts at $41,835 and comes with such niceties as ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, wireless smartphone charging, a hands-free power liftgate and 19-inch alloy wheels. Kia also offers S, EX and X-Line models that span the price range between the LX and SX-Prestige.

Driver assist features are also generous. The Sportage Hybrid comes standard with automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control, hands-on wheel detection, a driver-attention monitor, automatic high beams and lane keeping assistance. The SX-Prestige adds automatic emergency braking with navigation data, intersection assist, and evasive steering assist, plus side parking sensors, a surround-view camera system, rear automatic braking, remote automatic parking, a blind-spot view monitor, and a system that can handle some of the controls, including lane changes, on the highway, but still requires hands on the wheel.

No matter what model of Sportage Hybrid you, your mom or your friend chooses, you will get a practical crossover that goes easy on gas, has good interior and safety technology, offers plenty of room for people and cargo, and won’t break the bank.

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by Kirk Bell

Cars have been an important part of his life since Kirk learned to identify them by their headlights as a toddler. He grew up helping pit crew for his dad’s highly unsuccessful drag racing escapades, and he turned his knowledge of the car culture into a career when he became an editor at Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine starting in college. Kirk has been writing about full-scale cars for more than 20 years and was named to the North American Car and Truck of the Year jury in 2014. He was most recently senior editor at Motor Authority, where he specialized in luxury and performance cars. Kirk also authored and edited several car books, including the award-winning Hot Rod & Custom Chronicle and NASCAR Chronicle when was managing editor at Consumer Guide Automotive. Kirk enjoys nothing more than a track day, but he’s also a Wisconsin sport fan and he enjoys spirited drives in his 2006 Porsche 911 Carrera S.

edited by Steven Ewing

Steven Ewing is Edmunds' director of editorial content. An automotive journalist for more than half of his life, Ewing's been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and he was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. He's also contributed to publications like Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and more. Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. From testing prototype cars in the Arctic Circle to spilling a beer on a Formula 1 driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (oops), he's always got an interesting story to tell.

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