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Korean brand Kia is working on a hybrid petrol-electric version of its Rio sedan, which may retail for less than $25,000 in New Zealand when it reaches the production stage - possibly in early 2009.
That would make it $10,000 below the price of the current Honda Civic Hybrid and $18,000 below Toyota's Prius. Kia has 3000 hybrid cars on trial in its home market and it is planning to make the petrol-electric Rio small sedan available to the public once evaluation is complete.
The Rio hybrid uses a 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine (67kW, 126Nm) and an electric motor (12kW, 95Nm) coupled to a continuously variable automatic transmission.
Kia's hybrid system differs from the Honda Civic and Toyota Prius because it doesn't generate energy from braking - instead, it recharges when the car is coasting.
The Rio engine also turns itself off at idle and the battery can run the air-con, headlights and audio system. The electric motor assists the petrol engine when starting, accelerating or when the engine is under load, and switches off when the car is at cruising speed.
Kia says the average fuel consumption of the Rio hybrid has been tested at 5.3 litres per 100km.
