2025 Kia Sportage Hybrid Poor Mileage / Poor Customer Service

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AndrewHM

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I recently leased a 2025 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige. With under 900 miles the EMC (Electric Motor Controller) went out. After five weeks in the shop it was finally replaced but with the worst customer service I've experienced with a new car. This is my first (and probably last) Kia.
What really gets me though is that I'm only averaging roughly 20 to 22 mpg with 1,500 miles on the vehicle. I have a light foot, am not carrying any cargo and the wheels are all inflated properly. I called Kia and they said it was the cold weather. No one mentioned that my mileage would essentially be cut in half with cold weather when I was looking at the car. It's supposed to get close to 40 mpg city/hwy. While the vehicle has some spiffy features the main reason I got it was for the mileage. Not too happy right about now.
 
I just picked up the same car. Hybrid SX Prestige. I've only had it a few days, but I notice the same thing. I'm getting about 23-25 MPG. A little shocked by that.
 
I have that car for a good week now. Started out at 25mpg or so but continued to get better. I am at 31mpg for city driving now and it is rather cold here.
That said, while it probably needs some break-in, 20-22 mpg does not sound right. My F350 diesel sometimes does better.
 
JerryBurks said:
I have that car for a good week now. Started out at 25mpg or so but continued to get better. I am at 31mpg for city driving now and it is rather cold here.
That said, while it probably needs some break-in, 20-22 mpg does not sound right. My F350 diesel sometimes does better.
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Thanks for that info. What's the temp where you're at? It's been in the teens and low twenties here...
 
There is a 'break in' time with the hybrids around 1000-10000 miles (cant remember how many it is) and after that you'll start to see the higher mpg.
Our 2025 at 900 miles is averaging 40 mpg
 
Just picked up my 2025 Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige 2 days ago. Still learning all the features. What’s the best place to get mpg so I can share on forum. I’m in AZ.
 
JerryBurks said:
I have that car for a good week now. Started out at 25mpg or so but continued to get better. I am at 31mpg for city driving now and it is rather cold here.
That said, while it probably needs some break-in, 20-22 mpg does not sound right. My F350 diesel sometimes does better.
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Mileage will increase!! My recent experience on a new Tundra was thru 10K mi. and the Sportage owners manual says thru 4K mi. At just 300 miles we’re at 32.6 mpg on the dash in ECO mode and we live in a very hilly area with stop lights every 1/4 mi or less.
 
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I'm averaging 30mpg. Lx hybrid. Just hit 1k miles. I deliver newspapers. Really hoping it gets better. Makes me miss my Niro.
 
I joined the forums after seeing others have a similar situation. I have a 2023 Sportage hybrid and it has nearly 14,000 miles now. It definitely doesn't do as well in cold weather and right now temps are up and down here in the Detroit area. Didn't notice this last winter. What was alarming to me was driving 11 miles to work with my dash showing 377 miles to empty, and I got here and was wandering our terminal yard checking equipment, so it's mainly staying on electric mode. Right now I have 11 miles recorded since I left home but the miles left to empty now shows 342. So 11 miles driven and 35 gas miles used!
There are also times where the car will sit and it will bounce back and forth from electric to engine several times in the span of a minute. Gas mileage this winter definitely has averaged mid 20s with a mix of highway and local roads.
 
JLoomis said:
I joined the forums after seeing others have a similar situation. I have a 2023 Sportage hybrid and it has nearly 14,000 miles now. It definitely doesn't do as well in cold weather and right now temps are up and down here in the Detroit area. Didn't notice this last winter. What was alarming to me was driving 11 miles to work with my dash showing 377 miles to empty, and I got here and was wandering our terminal yard checking equipment, so it's mainly staying on electric mode. Right now I have 11 miles recorded since I left home but the miles left to empty now shows 342. So 11 miles driven and 35 gas miles used!
There are also times where the car will sit and it will bounce back and forth from electric to engine several times in the span of a minute. Gas mileage this winter definitely has averaged mid 20s with a mix of highway and local roads.
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What are you averaging for MPG in the summer? Roof rack? Driving faster than low 70's on the highway? Sounds like your recent 11/342 issue isn't much to worry about. If you were idling a lot in the terminal yard, the MPG computer is "extrapolating" what your range will be based on current gas usage. So if you are using some gas, but not moving much, it calculates your range based on your current MPG from the last fill-up, and it would have been reduced greatly in the yard, so extrapolated out to a much lower remaining range.

I also live in a varied temperature area and I average low 30's in winter (50/50 highway) and closer to 38 in summer. My average MPG over 30K mi total is just short of 35 MPG. If you cycle through the trip displays you will find your total MPG. Is it in the mid-30's? That's really great for such a large, AWD car w/good power. If you read RAV4 or CRV hybrid forums, you will see the exact same MPG complaints. CA & FL warm weather, stop-&-go, hybrid drivers get much better MPG. Its just the nature of hybrid car tech.
 
It's 31.2 mpg so far. So yeah, it's not bad when you take the winter with the summer. And that's a good explanation for why it loses miles to empty readings. Always thought that just idling in electric mode would just keep it from using any gas. But it seems to cycle despite the electric gauge still being mostly full.
 
Since picking up my 2023 EX Hybrid in May of 2023, I have driven just short of 19,000 miles and have averaged 38.5 MPG. My last couple of fill ups have been just over 41 MPG. I live in the high mountains of WV. so a lot of up and down hills or Interstate highway driving. Not too much city driving.
 
We have almost 10k on a 2024 Prestige Hybrid and it seems to do the best in metro type traffic with a lot of coasting and stop and go. Slower type of driving. When we drive over 65 the EV rarely kicks in. 25-26 mpg is basically it. Winter is definitely worse as is expected. The entire life average is 28 so far. You would think a 1.6 liter turbo would be better than that at interstate speeds. I’m guessing the charging system take a lot of power. The Toyota Rav 4 hybrids are still much better at highway speeds. But the price tag is higher.
 
When shopping for a new car 2 years ago, my final choice came down to the Kia Sportage Hybrid or the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. The deciding factor was a 6-month wait (according to the Toyota dealer OR find a Sportage Hybrid on a lot somewhere. I kept browsing the inventory of Kia dealers within reasonable driving range and finally hit upon the car I ended up buying. I contacted the dealer. I was told that the car was at the port of Philadelphia and they were awaiting shipment to their dealership. I told them I would buy it, sight unseen. I would have been happy to buy the Rav4 due to its somewhat better mileage estimates.

I am not sure if availability of hybrids is still as much of an issue.
 
AndrewHM said:
I recently leased a 2025 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige. With under 900 miles the EMC (Electric Motor Controller) went out. After five weeks in the shop it was finally replaced but with the worst customer service I've experienced with a new car. This is my first (and probably last) Kia.
What really gets me though is that I'm only averaging roughly 20 to 22 mpg with 1,500 miles on the vehicle. I have a light foot, am not carrying any cargo and the wheels are all inflated properly. I called Kia and they said it was the cold weather. No one mentioned that my mileage would essentially be cut in half with cold weather when I was looking at the car. It's supposed to get close to 40 mpg city/hwy. While the vehicle has some spiffy features the main reason I got it was for the mileage. Not too happy right about now.
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I have my 2024 since Aug, of 24. It has about 8300 miles. I am averaging 34 since day 1. That includes a NY to Florida round trip(2600 mi) and 3 round trips from NY to Maine(600 mi. each).
 
A couple of months ago, I took my 2023 Sportage EX Hybrid to the dealer for an update of software related to battery charging, as I understood it. Since then my mileage has noticeably improved. I am now getting well over 40 MPG each tankful. Since the last fill-up, I have driven 197.4 miles and averaged 44.6 MPG.

If you got the "recall" notice for this service, I highly recommend taking it in. There was no charge for this software update.
 
The mileage they rate as 38 mpg is based upon driving slow, 55-65. I can get the 38 MPG driving like that. However I typically drive at 80 MPH otherwise I would get shot in CA for driving too slow. With the 80MPH I get 30-32 MPG per tank of gas.
 
Dynasty said:
The mileage they rate as 38 mpg is based upon driving slow, 55-65. I can get the 38 MPG driving like that. However I typically drive at 80 MPH otherwise I would get shot in CA for driving too slow. With the 80MPH I get 30-32 MPG per tank of gas.
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You will never get max efficiency driving faster than speed limit. And a higher chance to get pulled over by cops. The rated mileage is assuming the ideal road condition and driving within speed limits. The faster you go the wind resistance increases which will reduce mileage.
 
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