Embrace the future with a bright spark

This large petrol-electric hybrid saloon offers the best of both worlds, writes Alan Candy

With diesel now officially the dirty D-word, suddenly the electric era is here with a bang.

Car manufacturers are following each other like sheep, offering tempting scrappage deals on old diesel cars for new model upgrades.

A recent Kwik Fit study has found that only one in six of those considering a new car in the next two years is planning a diesel, 42 per cent opting for petrol, 19% for a hybrid and eight per cent taking the plunge for fully electric.

Significantly ,35 percent say they would not buy a new diesel, no matter how cheap it was.

The Government announcement plan to eradicate petrol and diesel engines by 2040 has also moved the game on.

There are so many all electric and hybrids around now that it takes some sorting over who does what. Then there’ s the rather tempting option, not so well known, of a plug-in hybrid, which gives the owner the have your-cake-and-eat-it solution.

It works like a normal hybrid, with combustion engine working in tandem with an electric motor, but with one significant advantage. The plug-in does what it says on the can and allows the driver to fully charge the battery from the mains supply or charging station, so you always have a range of electric power on tap.

Or you can just switch to petrol when you choose.

One such model is the Kia Optima 2.0 GDi PHEV Auto – a pricey plug-in hybrid with a mouth watering mpg and emissions combination of 176.6, an all-electric range of 33 miles, zero emissions and that classleading seven-year warranty that shifts so much metal for them.

This provides the belt-andbraces back-up of a petrol engine but allows the flexibility of on-demand electric power. As an example, if you have a short commute you could more or less run the car purely on electric power for most for the time, with the back up of petrol for longer runs.

This Optima also includes ‘energy harvesting’ technologies to help it use its battery pack power and top it up on the move.

These include a Drive Mode Select button to personalise the powertrain’s dynamics, regenerative braking, a driving style guide, an HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) select switch, plus intelligent heating, ventilation and air con to save battery power.

On the road, this long, elegant saloon, with its flowing side profile, is arguably Kia’s most graceful car.

It’s also a truly luxurious drive, as you’d expect at this expensive price, with a stack of on board equipment. It starts silently and runs whisper quiet, with impressively smooth ride quality.

Best of all, despite its complicated technology, the Optima PHEV is user friendly and boasts excellent ergonomics, with neat and logical instrumentation. Regrettably, Kia still includes an irritating personalised welcome tune on entry which I would give my eye teeth to silence, but you can’t have everything.

My advice? Embrace what’s to come, because the electric era is with us now. Diesel may be on the way out but here comes the cavalry in the shape of a rather lovely and versatile vehicle from Kia.