Kia Carnival hybrid minivan coming this summer season

CHICAGO – Kia Motors is including a hybrid mannequin to its Carnival minivan to satisfy growing client demand for the know-how and help in assembly tightening federal gasoline economic system requirements.

Hybrids are a growing option for automakers as they attempt to make autos extra environment friendly and keep away from expensive federal gasoline economic system and emissions requirements. They’re additionally cheaper and a much less dramatic adjustment for shoppers who need to go greener however aren’t able to buy all-electric autos.

EV gross sales have been slower than anticipated within the U.S. auto trade.

Hybrid autos usually embody a conventional inside combustion engine mixed with EV applied sciences akin to an electrical motor and small battery. They perform like conventional autos and don’t should be plugged in like EVs or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The Carnival hybrid, introduced on the Chicago Auto Present, is predicted to go on sale alongside an up to date model of the normal minivan in the summertime. Each fashions function up to date styling and inside applied sciences in contrast with the present mannequin, which made waves within the household hauler phase for its SUV-inspired design when it was introduced in 2021.

Kia didn’t launch pricing or gasoline economic system expectations for the brand new fashions. The present Carnival begins from about $33,000 to $47,000. With a 3.5-liter V6 engine, it achieves up to 20.6 miles per gallon combined metropolis/freeway, with a complete vary of 418 miles.

That V6 engine will proceed to be supplied alongside the 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo-hybrid engine that produces 242 horsepower and 271 foot-pounds of torque, in accordance with Kia.

Kia expects the hybrid mannequin to account for half of the Carnival’s gross sales, in accordance with the corporate.

It is going to be Kia’s fourth hybrid. The automaker additionally affords three plug-in hybrid electrical autos.

Apart from the hybrid possibility, the up to date minivan features a redesigned back and front, together with new lights and a bigger, extra open grille on the entrance of the car. The up to date inside contains Kia’s new infotainment system and different newer tech. It continues to supply “VIP lounge seating” with energy controls and leg extensions, very like a conventional reclining chair.

Whereas the U.S. minivan phase is a far cry from its peak of roughly 1.5 million autos within the mid-Nineties, some auto corporations akin to Hyundai and Chrysler stay within the class.

Kia mother or father Hyundai, which offered fewer than 44,000 Carnivals final yr, achieved 14% market share of the roughly 305,500-unit minivan market final yr within the U.S., in accordance with auto knowledge agency Motor Intelligence.

Chrysler was the phase chief final yr with gross sales of its Pacifica minivan, together with a plug-in hybrid electrical model, at greater than 120,550 items, or roughly 40% market share.