- The refreshed compact crossover introduces a extra user-friendly infotainment interface
- Hybrid and plug-in hybrid fashions get a modest increase of horsepower
- The 2026 Sportage goes on sale within the spring of 2025
Three years after its launch, Kia is giving its Sportage compact crossover a mid-cycle refresh whereas persevering with to supply each hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants.
Debuting on the 2024 Los Angeles auto present, the 2026 Kia Sportage wears new entrance finish styling, with stacked LED headlights and amber daytime operating lights much like the bigger Kia Sorento mid-size crossover and the Carnival minivan. It is one more dramatic look to switch the one the Sportage has worn since its final redesign for the 2023 mannequin yr.
Hybrid fashions add two new grades—S and X-Line—which are amongst these outfitted with a brand new curved 12.3-inch touchscreen that includes wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Solely wired variations have been beforehand obtainable with the bigger elective display.
The up to date infotainment system is amongst a number of new tech options for 2026. Others embrace a ten.0-inch head-up show, digital key performance that permits the motive force to make use of a smartphone instead of the important thing fob, and up to date variations of Kia’s forward-collision warning system and Freeway Driving Help 2 freeway driver support.
Each the Sportage hybrid and plug-in hybrid proceed to make use of a 1.6-liter turbo-4 and 6-speed computerized transmission, with an electrical motor sandwiched in between. Plug-in hybrids have a extra highly effective electrical motor and a bigger battery pack. Outputs rise by 4 hp for the hybrid, to 231 hp, and seven hp for the plug-in hybrid, for 268 hp.
Entrance-wheel drive is commonplace with the hybrid powertrain, whereas all-wheel drive is elective, and commonplace on the plug-in hybrid. X-Line fashions add a Terrain mode for the all-wheel drive system for 2026, with settings for Snow, Mud, and Sand.
It is unclear if the small will increase in energy will have an effect on gasoline financial system. The Sportage hybrid is presently EPA-rated at 43 mpg mixed with front-wheel drive and 38 mpg mixed with all-wheel drive. The plug-in hybrid is rated at 34 miles of electrical vary, and 35 mpg mixed after that.
Kia expects 2026 Sportage fashions to succeed in U.S. dealerships within the second quarter of 2025, with costs to be introduced nearer to that point. When it arrives, the up to date Sportage will proceed to compete in opposition to the Hyundai Tucson, and Toyota RAV4—all of which supply hybrid and plug-in hybrid choices—in addition to the Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-50, which can be found as a hybrid however not as a plug-in hybrid.
