Kia Carnival Hybrid fuel consumption revealed – beats diesel and petrol models

Exclusive: The upcoming Kia Carnival Hybrid will become the most fuel-efficient version of Australia’s favourite people-mover.

Kia’s first petrol-electric version of the Carnival will offer an official combined fuel consumption figure of 5.8 litres per 100km, according to the federal government’s Green Vehicle Guide website.

This improves on the 6.5L/100km of the four-cylinder turbo diesel model that has traditionally been the most frugal Carnival, while it betters the petrol V6’s 9.6L/100km by 40 per cent.

Kia Australia has yet to confirm fuel consumption for the Hybrid Carnival, which is being launched about a month later than the facelifted petrol and diesel models arriving this month.

Pricing, however, will be released at 5pm this Thursday (16th May).

The Carnival Hybrid features a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol hybrid powertrain shared with the Sportage and Sorento Hybrids, though with higher 183kW/367Nm outputs – up from 169kW/350Nm.

It is matched to a six-speed automatic transmission, which exclusively powers the front wheels like all other Carnivals.

The Lexus LM350h remains the most efficient hybrid in the segment with 5.5L/100km, though the posh people-mover costs more than $160,000.

The seven-seater Volkswagen Caddy Maxi is a more natural rival and comes with official consumption figure of 4.9L/100km for TDI diesel variants.