Yet another joins the hybrid ranks, and this one is from Korean automaker Kia. The company introduced its new Kia Optima Hybrid Sedan at the 2010 LA Auto Show, and the vehicle is slated to make its US market debut early next year.
It’s equipped with a parallel hybrid system, where a 2.4 litre Theta II Atkinson cycle petrol engine is mated to a small electric motor and drives the front wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission, without the traditional torque converter.
The car’s 30kW Interior Permanent Magnet (IPM) synchronous electric motor – described by Kia engineers as a Transmission-Mounted-Electric-Drive (TMED) – sits within the car’s extended transmission casing between the petrol engine and the automatic gearbox, and is the world’s first oil-cooled system.
A special clutch is fitted between the engine and motor, enabling the petrol engine to be de-coupled from the powertrain so that Optima can be operated in zero-emissions, full-electric drive mode from standstill up to 100 kph. Such is the configuration that a high-capacity electric motor and generator isn’t required, thus saving weight and cost.
When setting off, the Optima Hybrid operates in Electric Mode, and as the vehicle speed rises, the 8.5 kW Hybrid Starter motor/Generator (HSG) starts the petrol engine and the clutch is closed, allowing the engine to take over the task of propelling the car. The electric motor switches into hybrid operation and serves as both a secondary engine (during full acceleration and hill-climbing) and a generator to recharge the battery pack as necessary.
The motor offers 30 kW (40 hp) and 205 Nm of torque from 0 to 1400 rpm in electric mode, and the combined hybrid powertrain of electric motor and engine puts out 154 kW (206 hp) and 265 Nm. Performance specs include a 0-100 kph time of 9.2 seconds, a top speed of 195 kph and a combined fuel economy of 6.2 litres per 100km, which is a significant improvement over a bog standard Optima.
Battery-wise, the car employs a 34 kW lithium polymer battery array developed in partnership with LG Chem. Compared with nickel-metal hydride batteries, lithium polymer batteries weigh 20-30% less, occupy 40% less volume, are 10% more efficient and can hold their charge 25% longer than NiMh units.
So reliable is the battery pack, which weighs in at just 43.6 kg, that a replacement isn’t needed for at least 10 years/250,000 km, says the company.
The Optima Hybrid gets a few tweaks to help it along, aerodynamically speaking – the car is lowered by 5mm and new features include an active air flap in the front grille, smooth underfloor panels, low-drag wheels and low rolling resistance tyres, all helping to reduce the drag coefficient to 0.26Cd.
Gallery after the jump.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1714]
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
At this rate, in 5 years time hybrid will probably outsell normal cars. It will only get better, from here we move on to diesel hybrid and in Malaysia hopefully NVG-Hybrid. All our taxis will be on it! I am proud to say I am one of the early adopters driving a Civic hybrid! Save our planet!
if we were to buy a car, better pull 5 years loan. By the time this loan expires, you can upgrade to hybrid straight away. no need 7 years, 9 years
agree. but here people tend to serve longer loan tenure especially those lower income e.g proton owners. sound crazy huh.. BNM should give direction straightaway. maximum tenure 5yrs only
do kia intro this car to korean people first?
the normal Kia Optima 2.4l in US $18,995(RM59k) much cheaper than in korea KRW28,250,000(~rm78k)….KIA also con their people n
For A hybrid, the sports rim is better looking than the Civic’s. :)
looks abit like sonata…don’t you reckon?
same company sharing platform…..fyi, hyundai is the holdings company of KIA
I think Korean cars are getting better and better looking.
one word -> impressive!!!
See Korean Cars and look back at Proton’s cars…..haihzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
very soon when we talk about Korean car, we won’t relate it to Proton..
bcos it is in completely different lead…higher level….
just like we do not compare Toyota or Honda with Proton…
and in fact, Korean soon can out run the japs in near future i guess….given their passion, the aggressiveness of wat they offering now!
respect the Korean, respect the Wonder girls :)!
Another feather on KIA’s cap. Another slap on Proton. If you think about it, all the funfare on EMAS – and there is nothing to show except for some tiny VIVA size car. Now Proton is publicity crazy wants in on F1. I think Proton should get their priority straight and spend more time on their car strategy and R&D pipeline.
Tony & Richard are self made people. They don’t run struggling company with needs goverment support. Proton board should put their ego aside, and run the company correctly.
If you watch Discovery Turbo, you can see backyard garages without R&D dept can convert cars into electric ones. It doesn’t really take much to build-one. All the parts are manufactured by someone, just plug and play.
Just damn frustrating when we have our own Proton, and yet we can rely on them to deliver. What does it take to kick their butt into the right mode?
Proton hopeless, 25 years later, instead of embarking on frontier technology like hybrid or electric went on ‘ciplak’ Mitsubishi. R&D? What R&D.
R&D = Repeat & Dummy
do kia intro this hybrid car to korean people first?
correction….. u see korean cars u wont look back at proton cars….zzz
i’m waiting for Honda Insight. it expected will be lower price than civic hybrid…^_^ v
ive driven the honda insight and i can say driving toyota prius is a lot more refined and better driveability..it seems toyota hybrid is one step further from honda’s.
but Toyota hv less range of choice selection that will available in local plus more expensive than Honda…i also know Prius seem to be more advanced but Rm140k quite expensive…furthermore, Insight is same category with Prius (both hv win the awards for the world best hybrid b4) which is much cheaper even fuel usage may a little bit higher lah but the car price can save rm 40k for maintenance / battery replacement after 5-8yr with expected car price will be around 100k or even sightly lower less 100k but sure will higher than City…anyway Honda hybrid still the best choice value for money…
insight is a b segment car, prius is c segment???
i hear people say behind seat is very small…i believe it something like City size or even bigger a little bit….i see it going be like CITY Hybrid called Insight….
like the interior… very driver oriented design… not a big fan of the outer design.
what is your definition of driver oriented?
i believe what he meant is by the way the dash is anged towards the driver with all the controls/buttons within reach of the driver.
just like BMWs of the 80s/90s.
i think the best word here is ergonomic
This is one big muscles hybird passenger car going for US. Hope this big Americans with those present fuel burning monster car will change theirs for a greener tommorrow.
Whoa! very nice car with 0.26Cd.
Nicest looking hybrid yet…!!!
yea,agree,to me the best looking hybrids are the porsche 911 gt3 hybrid and this
lowered by 5mm? Lowered means that either the front or rear spoiler will scrape every ramp either coming up or going down. I have a camry hybrid. Even if i use the one wheel down technique the spoilers scrape at almost every ramp!!!!
Kereta ni cantik sangat!! Haraplah proton bergantung dengan Kia supaya dapat rebadge hybrid ni! >.<
haish.. kamu nih. Proton kan dah ada enjin hybrid sendiri. Exora hybrid dah menang kat UK baru baru ni. lagipun, kan Naza ada kerjasama dengan Kia… buat apa nak suruh Proton rampas periuk nasi Naza plak?
The design looks like china try to copy BMW inside out….yucks. I know its korean
ha3x….T or H brand salesman…still not awake yet
Second tat nmh…..bro u have very sharp vision
alot of bmw in this car….gear console, side air vent ala m5, weird hoffmiester kink, clamshell bonnet, shark fin antenna…etc
it looks good…but not brilliant
this car was designed by Peter Schreyer..
Waiting optima in Malaysia matket…
Waiting optima in Malaysia market…
When it will come to MY ???
AWESOME………..KIA
boleh dicalonkan ni utk anugerah Car Body Of The Year kategori asia..
sentuhan peter schreyer mmg bercitarasa… proton tak nak minta dia buat design untuk model baharu ke??? kalau dapat jemput dia datang ke proton design buat sikit2 modification pada interior & exterior model2 sedia ada untuk facelift mesti best kan???
its just getting better and better
KEH SEE (awesome)… and daring.
my personal view, i think they overdo the front grill, the rim looks dead boring and the interior looks small for a D-seg car..
should sit in it yourself, on paper optima is 1835mm width, camry is 1820mm. should check the legroom . shoulder , headroom though
I currently own an American icon the CTS, it’s not the newest model only an ’06 but I do enjoy the horse power and the deluxe package with my custom wheels on it. I was hoping that GM will NOT kill the Converj concept so I can finally have a true alternative to a great looking car with decent MPGs plus feeling good about being able to have enough horse power on the passing lane. I was very disappointed with GM and I couldn’t come to terms about why I would pay $30K for the Ford Fusion Hybrid. True, great MPGs but just decent looking car. I was looking into the Sonata, Lexus looking style, but with the modifications made to the Hybrid Sonata, yes including that weird catfish looking front grid, I decided to pass on it.
Now, I believe I have found a replacement to my gas thirsty Caddy. I was hoping KIA would keep the same sharp, great design from the SX Optima on the new Hybrid. I was very happy to see their didn’t make any drastic changes to the inspired Audi beautiful looking Optima Hybrid. Hey, I would be getting great horse power, doubling my MPGs for about the same price an entry level CTS plus all the cool gadgets and all for a decent value.
I think that hybrids are a stop gap option. They are quite economical in town, but on the highway fuel consumption is not that different. Especially at the speed that we drive at which is 130kmh+
The most unique (and useful!) feature of some hybrid is that you can run the aircond with the engine off. But, it doesn’t run on orange juice and still uses fuel. The FCX clarity (fuel cell hydrogen) is the way to go, but I probably will be in my old age before it comes to Malaysia.
Also, our Malaysian currency is becoming weaker and weaker. Income is not going up. For example, My wife in 2007 earned KRW 6M per month, it only takes her three months of her salary to buy a mid spec lacetti/optra/cruze. Maybe to afford the cars we want we will have to take out mortgage, not car loans!!! ha ha…..
what is KRW 6M?
Korean Won 6 million, I believe.
‘Also, our Malaysian currency is becoming weaker and weaker’?
dude, check ur fact here. i can simply enjoy myself going holiday overseas due to stronger MYR compared to USD. duhhhh!!!!
USD is crashing. USD will become just paper for people to use to light fire and heat their home.
compare to other currency especially yen and you will be cursing your luck.
I think that hybrids are a stop gap option. They are quite economical in town, but on the highway fuel consumption is not that different. Especially at the speed that we drive at which is 130kmh+
——————————————————————————————————————
Thats why a diesel hybrid is much better compared to petrol hybrid….low speed will be using the batt whle at 130kph, the diesel is running more economical than a petrol. Yeap, Peugeot got it right wt their hybrid diesel 3008
On the spec sheet this really beats the toyota camry hybrid. I suppose the later comers have more time to build up the spec. Still, if the G revises the tax, and there’s more competition, it will be cheaper to buy hybrids. Hybrid components too are dropping in price, Toyota Australia some time back says that the hybrid components add just under RM 10K to the price of a normal camry. However, looking beyond hybrids, in california, Shell and Honda have come up with Fuel Cell technology that runs on hydrogen, with shell providing the “Gas” stations, California reducing the tax and Honda providing the cars (Clarity FCX). Cost is the same as leasing a camry hybrid…
nice looking car…when the petrol version coming to m’sia?
fuhh!!! so nice looking kia know…….compare old model in malaysia…how about maintanance is’t expensive?
Just check the Naza website…maintenane for the Forte is cheaper compared to the Honda City..Kia only 10,000km service interval compared to Honda 5,000km…and pricing for each service is comparable/cheaper to most Japs
Another NICE looking Korean car.Unfortunately,the performance will not match the looks!
ALL Kia cars have been like this so far.EG: FOrte,FOrte Koup,The NEw Kia SPortage….
Kia,PLS improve your engine performance first .No use being in a nice looking car,but engine is lousy!
Another manufacturer joining the hybrid family next year, welcome :]. But… it does not qualify for the tax incentives right? Since it’s using a 2.4L engine.
I think from the next 10-20 years onwards those petrol or diesel hybrids will take over from those conventional petrol/diesel vehicles because they’re just not as efficient and they’re wasting so much fuel in traffic. And most importantly to reduce those emissions massively.
Eventually we’ll run out of fossil fuels, which we’ll then have to switch to electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells or others (for those who could afford).
Again, hybrids don’t run on orange juice. I’ve said that again and again. The real challenge is, can a car tomorrow be as convenient as a car of today. Can you walk into your car, and not worry, like your handphone if it’s fully charged ? The answer is fuel cell technology, where the fuel is not fossil based and limitless, and you go to the “gas” station to fill up. The car of tommorrow must be as convenient as the car of today and i believe, the answer is hydrogen fuel cell technology. Follow what’s happening in california. Motoring firsts seem to always happen there first. Check out honda clarity FCX. After all, its available at a leasing cost similar to a camry hybrid.
Ya I love the FCX Clarity, it emits only water man :]. The cost is still a little expensive since it’s still a relatively new technology. But the price will come down just like the cars running with petrol since long time ago.
One of the main problem for now is the storage of hydrogen, once that is solved the infrastructure could be fixed in place all around the world just like fuel stations today. Then it’ll truly be convenient.
Hopefully in 40-50 years time we’ll see these hydrogen cars replacing most cars of today. The future of emission free traveling is waiting for us :)…!!! We’ll be quite old but we could be enjoying those by the time :D……
malaysia cannot afford to wait that long. malaysia’s petroluem reserve is estimated to last not more than 25 years from now. after that, m’sia will become net importer – i just cant imagine how high the petrol price will be.
The fuel price will be sky high then. But it won’t affect those who drive hybrids and those who knows hyper-miling techniques that much. Or you’ll have to be dam rich to drive a car, truly ‘luxurious’.
i waited so long…when it can reach malaysia??!!!!
looks whos the 2011 Mediocrity now…ahahah
This Optima should be the same as the 2011 Sonata Hybrid (cd of 0.25) that has been testdriven: “Hyundai quotes a total combined power estimate of 209 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 194 pound-feet of torque. Both figures are actually slightly better than the gas-powered Sonata’s 198 hp and 184 lb-ft, although obviously the Hybrid is heavier. The gas-only car already has class-leading fuel economy figures of 22 miles per gallon in the city and 35 on the highway, while Hyundai estimates the hybrid will drum up 37 mpg in the urban cycle and 39 mpg out on the highway. As we’ve already observed over 40 mpg on the highway in a non-hybrid Sonata, we’re guessing that the factory estimates may be under-reported a bit. Even still, as with most hybrids, you’re really only likely to garner huge fuel savings – about 40 percent – if most of your driving is conducted in the city, not out on the open road. Either way, Hyundai has yet to officially reveal any other performance metrics, but we did note a Powerpoint slide suggesting 0-62 mph in 9.2 seconds, which seems a tad conservative.’
The Koreans are not just focusing on hybrids. They’re also trying out alternative fuels and EVs. I’m sure the Japanese are the same. Hybrids are only a temporary solution and they’re just here to fulfill market demand.
when this car is coming to malaysia?