The KIA XCeed is described by the brand as a car that is a "trend-setting crossover coupé with high seating, agile handling and advanced technology." Check out our review of the KIA XCeed below...
The KIA XCeed reviewers
My partner and I were heading on our staycation to Wales from London. We needed a car that we would feel confident tackling the city traffic in, was comfortable enough to make the multiple hours on the M25 feel somewhat enjoyable, and could take us from city to countryside for an affordable price on petrol. Here's what we thought of the KIA XCeed…
First impressions of the KIA XCeed
At first look, the XCeed is sleek, glossy and gorgeous to look at. Stepping into the vehicle felt like a taste of modern luxury as the seat automatically adjusted itself so my arms were perfectly aligned with the steering wheel, and a cool breeze flushed air onto my back.
After taking the hybrid for a quick trial drive before we embarked on our seven-hour journey, I was most impressed by the parking sensors and rearview camera - an exciting uplevel from my current car.
© KIAThe KIA XCeed is gorgeous to look at
What really struck me, however, was the car's automatic park feature, which allowed me to sit back and *literally* relax as the five-seater swung itself seamlessly into a parallel parking space outside my front door.
How the KIA XCeed drives
This is a superb car to drive. The first trip was a small in-city taster, navigating my way through London to pick up my boyfriend from work. While this car is far from compact, I felt incredibly safe and secure in the driving seat. When our road trip started the next day at 5am, I fell instantly in love with the ability to start the engine in electric mode and weave through the streets onto the motorway whilst barely making a sound – and I'm sure my neighbours appreciated not being woken up by the roar of an engine.
Cruise control was easily the XCeed's best feature during our journey. I'm a fairly confident driver, but the uncertainty of motorways can sometimes make me nervous when switching in between lanes. When I turned on the car's cruise control and set my speed, I found the XCeed not only stayed a safe distance away from the vehicles in front of me, but also alerted me if a car was overtaking, and kept the wheels in lane.
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I barely needed to touch the wheel and could let my feet relax by the pedals as we soared through the middle lane on the M25 and out of the city. It doesn't get much simpler than driving a car like the XCeed – I've never found driving easier.
What the KIA XCeed is like for passengers
As there were only two of us on our roadtrip to Wales, we really only got to trial the front seat – but neither of us were disappointed. With dual AC controls and electric seat adjustments, driving in the XCeed as a passenger felt both comfortable and extremely safe.
© KIAThe car has a range of advanced technology
As my boyfriend drove down the windy twists and turns of Snowdon, I discovered the ability to open up the glass roof of the car to peer at the sky. Enjoying the view during a fluorescent pink sunset as we whipped past trees was easily one of the highlights of the roadtrip for me.
The XCeed also has a fantastic sound system, complete with radio stations, Bluetooth audio and even an archive of white noise sounds – ideal for longer drives. I loved listening to the sound of tropical rainfall and ocean waves as we cruised down the motorway.
What's the KIA XCeed hybrid option like?
Driving the XCeed was my first time driving an electric car, but the transition to using a hybrid felt totally seamless. As an individual who is incredibly conscious of the environment and my personal contribution to climate change, driving the car through London whilst in electric mode felt both peaceful and pleasing knowing I was doing my bit to limit emissions in the city.
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A 36 mile electric range may be typical for hybrid cars, but I did find this slightly limiting when using the car in hybrid mode. Despite the regenerative battery that recharges upon breaking, we didn't find the electric elements of the car that helpful during the several hours we spent doing 60mph on the M25. The car had a relatively full amount of battery before we set off, but within a couple of hours the charge had drained so quickly we couldn't even use the car in hybrid mode – petrol seemed to be our only option.
We were lucky enough to find an electric car charging point at our hotel carpark, so we plugged in our XCeed during breakfast and returned to a fully charged car ready for hybrid driving just 2 hours later.
The car's hybrid capability did impact the price on petrol too. We were able to do over 600 miles on a tank and a half of petrol, which would have been far less economic in my 10-year-old Toyota Aygo.
© KIAThe KIA has a hybrid option so you can drive in electric mode
Downsides of the KIA XCeed
There were very few downsides to the KIA XCeed, but one that was notably irritating was how difficult we found it initially to connect our phones to the Bluetooth Audio – meaning getting our karaoke on to our specially made roadtrip playlist was far less intuitive than expected.
I'm not usually one to struggle with technical abilities, but I did find myself having to Google this one. When we realised the connection had to be initiated via a control on the steering wheel, rather than the touch screen control pad, I did wonder if we would have ever discovered how to connect our phones had I not looked up how to do it.
Another thing worth noting is that the size of this car may not be suitable for families with older children, as legroom in the back seat was pretty compact. If you're driving for two, or have young children on car seats, I can't imagine the space would be a problem – but if you have regular adult passengers you may want to give the KIA XCeed a re-think.
KIA XCeed PHEV expert opinion
HELLO!'s motoring expert Gareth Herincx gives the lowdown: "The KIA XCeed is the good-looking “urban crossover” version of the regular Ceed hatchback (an affordable rival to the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf). Similar, but with a slightly raised ride height and more rugged look, the XCeed is also available as an impressive plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with an electric-only range of up to 36 miles. In other words, if you can charge from home and you have a short commute to work or you just drive locally, your visits to the petrol station could be extremely rare events.
"It takes just over two hours to charge up the battery and on longer journeys when the petrol engine kicks in, an average of 55-60mpg is very possible. Generously equipped, comfortable, safe and entertaining to drive, it's also blessed with KIA's reputation for reliability and a superb seven-year warranty."
KIA XCeed PHEV facts
- Price: from £31,805
- Engine (plug-in hybrid): 1.6-litre petrol turbo/8.9 kWh battery (combined 139bhp)
- Transmission: six-speed automatic
- 0-60mph: 10.6 secs
- Economy: up to 201.8mpg
- Emissions: 32g/km
- Luggage capacity (291 litres or 1,243 litres with the rear seats folded)
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