The 2022 Kia Carnival is a handsome minivan, but it needs a hybrid option

I am not shy about my affection for minivans. And so, regardless of having no children and nonetheless being in the course of a pandemic that makes it harmful to spend time with different folks in small enclosed areas, when Kia requested if I wished to spend a while with its new $32,100 Carnival minivan I mentioned sure. As a result of, as already famous, minivans are great.

They’re good-looking, too, not less than after we’re speaking concerning the Carnival. Kia’s designers went with a two-box form and embraced the boxiness. To my eye the proportions are spot-on, significantly in profile the place its form falls halfway between hatchback and station wagon, however scaled up by 20 %.

Distinguishing options embody the model’s huge “tiger nostril” grille up entrance and, since our check automotive was the Carnival SX (MSRP: $41,100), a textured chrome panel on the C pillar that provides you one thing fascinating to have a look at up shut. My photographs fail to do justice to the non-compulsory ($495) ceramic silver paint, which sparkled with pink and gold flecks within the daylight. Along with the SX’s black alloy wheels and the silver accents, all of it works fairly properly.

The within is voluminous in the best way you desire a folks service to be, and it is even accessible in both an eight-seat structure (as was the case for our check Carnival) with a center row that slides and could be eliminated or as a seven-seater with a pair of reclining, heated, and ventilated captain’s chairs for the center row. In each instances, the third row can fold flat into the ground to extend cargo room from 40.2 cubic toes (1,138 L) to 86.9 cubic toes (2,460 L). The third row can be solely actually a three-seat row for young children.

As I’ve written earlier than, Kia’s UVO infotainment system is definitely fairly first rate, with a UI that at instances jogs my memory of the outdated days of pre-OS X Macintoshes. Being an SX trim, our check Carnival additionally had screens constructed into the seatbacks of each entrance seats. These have a children mode, and the screens can even mirror a telephone through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Every row has its personal USB-A ports, however telephone casting additionally works wirelessly, and there’s a wi-fi charging pad constructed into the middle console.

Past that, there is a good suite of superior driver help techniques as normal, together with automated emergency braking, blind spot screens, rear cross-traffic alerts, lane retaining (adaptive cruise management with stop-and-go is normal on EX and SX trims), and headlights that robotically dip for oncoming visitors.

It is an excellent minivan, however I’ve bought one criticism

Behind the tiger’s nostril (or below the hood in the event you favor), there is a 3.5 L V6, which generates 290 hp (216 kW) and 262 lb-ft (355 Nm), sending energy to the entrance wheels through Kia’s in-house eight pace automated transmission. It is rated at a mixed 22 mpg (10.69 L/100 km), which implies it is time for my one huge criticism concerning the Carnival: Why did not Kia not less than make it a hybrid?

It is not like Kia (and company sibling Hyundai) would not know the way to electrify a car; its hybrids are among the greatest within the business, and its in all probability the mainstream OEM that is closest to Tesla by way of electrical powertrain effectivity. However for some purpose, similar to the extremely in style Telluride and Pallisade SUVs, you don’t have any different right here however pure fossil energy. To make issues worse, the Carnival shares a platform with the Kia Sorento SUV, and that is an environment friendly hybrid!

The Carnival is level-pegged with the Honda Odyssey by way of effectivity, nevertheless it’s blown away by the 35 mpg (6.72 L/100 km) hybrid Toyota Sienna and plug-in hybrid Chrysler Pacifica (which is able to do about 28 miles on a full battery earlier than you even must trouble the engine and 30 mpg, 7.84 L/100 km, even when the battery is empty ).

An electrical motor would additionally enhance the driving expertise. Not that it is missing—the decrease heart of gravity in a minivan in comparison with a three-row SUV provides the minivan an inherent benefit by way of dealing with, and the journey was easy and absorbed highway imperfections properly. Kia says that the Carnival is stiffer than the outdated Sedona it replaces, because of extra high-strength metal within the chassis. It is also bought extra sound deadening and insulation to maintain the within calm and serene at freeway cruising speeds.

However as anybody who’s hung out in an electrified automotive is aware of, the moment torque of an electrical motor is difficult to beat, significantly with greater, heavier automobiles. The automotive rumor mill does recommend {that a} hybrid and ultimately even a full battery electrical Carnival might seem as soon as Kia wraps up the Stinger manufacturing line, however I need to stress that Kia itself has mentioned nothing to that impact.

Itemizing picture by Jonathan Gitlin