- Biggest price hike applies to base front-wheel-drive Sportage Hybrid
- 2025 Sportage Hybrid remains cheaper than rivals if AWD isn’t a priority
- Sportage PHEV carries over at 34 miles of range, includes AWD
Kia has carried over its Sportage Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid lineups for the 2025 model year. And while there are few changes to these models’ mix of practicality, pep, gas mileage, or plug-in electric range, prices have gone up.
Including the $1,375 destination fee, the Sportage Hybrid starts at $29,965 in base LX front-wheel-drive form, with AWD adding $1,800. Altogether, that’s a hike of $1,400 over 2024 pricing, or 5% at the base level. Mid-level 2025 Sportage Hybrid EX models start at $33,765 and include AWD—as do top Sportage Hybrid SX-Prestige trims at $38,965.
The Sportage Plug-in Hybrid remains only offered in top-trim versions, with all-wheel drive. That includes the Sportage PHEV X-Line at $41,065 and the X-Line Prestige at $45,565. Those reflect more modest price hikes of just $200 and $100, respectively, going into 2025.
For 2025, Sportage X-Line trims get a “dark themed exterior design enhancement,” including gloss-black front and rear bumper and side sill treatments, black badging, and gloss-black alloy wheels. EX trims can be optioned up with a Premium Package bringing the panoramic sunroof and power tailgate.
The Sportage was redesigned for 2023, and it’s carried over in the same form since then with only slight feature and pricing changes. At the time it came out, DriftBreath Reports declared the Kia Sportage Hybrid as the model in the lineup making the most sense. The 2025 Sportage is expected to carry over its EPA ratings from 2024, when the Sportage Hybrid returned 42 mpg city, 44 highway, 43 combined with front-wheel drive and 38 mpg in all three respects with AWD. The Sportage PHEV goes 34 miles all-electric then gets 35 mpg combined as a hybrid.
Both the hybrid and plug-in hybrid have a 177-hp, 1.6-liter turbo-4 engine as part of their hybrid systems packaging an electric motor together with a 6-speed automatic transmission that can take the engine out of the mix when enough charge permits.
The plug-in hybrid gets a much larger battery—13.8 kwh versus the hybrid’s 1.49 kwh, as well as higher electric motor power (66.9 kw versus 44 kw), so as to permit a wider range of electric-only driving and a higher output for the system overall (227 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque for the hybrid, versus 261 and 258 lb-ft for the PHEV).
Rivals to the Sportage Hybrid include the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, and the Honda CR-V Hybrid, among others. They’re all priced in the same range if you want all-wheel drive, but if you can do well with front-wheel drive, the Sportage Hybrid remains cheaper. The 2024 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid starts at $33,950 but includes all-wheel drive, while the 2024 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid starts at $33,075 and also includes AWD. The CR-V Hybrid starts at $35,400 if AWD is needed. The plug-in hybrid Toyota RAV4 Prime starts at $45,040, but it offers a higher level of performance and more electric miles.
