Practical experience Ford Kuga PHEV: Owners on their plug-in hybrid SUV

The Dutch Ford importer has also seen that the Ford Kuga PHEV is interesting. It deleted the 1.5-liter EcoBoost from the price lists at the end of last year, so that the SUV is now only available with a plug. This 2.5 with electric support delivers 225 hp power to the front wheels, an automatic transmission with CVT character provides the gears. Although…more on that later.

Space supply and seating comfort

The Kuga is of course an SUV-like in the Focus segment and must therefore be able to fulfill both the role of a business and family car. Whether that works? “Spacious!”, this driver writes as a plus, “even I, at 1.92 meters, have a lot of headroom behind the wheel. That was part of the reason to buy the car.” Others also praise the space. “I have room left in the back seat when I sit behind myself (6 feet). And the boot space is also fine,” writes the driver of a 2020 Kuga PHEV Titanium.

People are therefore very enthusiastic about the space available, but that does not automatically guarantee a comfortable seat. Several owners complain about the seats fitted by Ford. “The seat of the electrically adjustable chair is unfortunately too short (and I am not particularly tall) and also too flat. Despite the attitude, I have not yet found a good position and that will not be easy given the short seat”, is one of these experiences. The optional, multi-adjustable seats that another driver opted for also turn out to be imperfect. “The seats are on the short side and the lateral support could also be better. I have taken the most expensive 10-way adjustable seats, but it remains a bit less compared to the perfect seats in the Volvo V60.”

Not everyone thinks the furniture is fantastic in the back either. “Clearly a less good point is the position of the rear seats. After 2 hours of driving, I heard our sons complain about pain in the buttocks,” writes the driver of a Kuga ST-Line who calls the front seats “pretty good”. In any case, there is no lack of luxury: “The space on board is very pleasant for the tall sons in the back. They were also very pleased with the heated seats in the back,” writes this enthusiastic user.

Driving characteristics Kuga according to owners

For many people, the Ford brand is synonymous with driving dynamics. Whether the more than 1,700 kg heavy Kuga also offers that? This driver has a clear opinion on this. “Autoweek articles often talk about the excellent handling of Ford cars, but I can’t say it beats any of the cars I’ve driven in previous years. So that’s a bit of a setback. Especially on roundabouts, I find the car rather leaning over and rolling over its longitudinal axis. It is also difficult with speed bumps due to the high weight, the car really drops through its hooves.”

Also at higher speeds, the weight seems to play tricks on the Kuga. “The car is quite heavy and the emphasis of the whole car is economy. You notice that when evading at high speeds (+ 160 km/h in Germany) and with an empty battery, the car is also considerably less smooth at high speeds,” writes an ST Line driver. He then qualifies: “But that is part of choosing this type of car, it is not a real sports car, of course.”

The driver of a 2023 Kuga PHEV pays extra attention to the powertrain. “Now for the PHEV thing, this works very nicely. This technique has been ‘copied’ well at Toyota, of course, a large block that works according to the Atkinson principle with an e-CVT transmission, and this whole thing works really well,” he says. “I am very happy that Ford has made artificial gears in it, so that you still get the feeling that the box is shifting.”

Ford Kuga pre facelift.

Electric driving with the Kuga

We notice from the tone in the reviews that Ford appeals to a wider audience with this car. Where we sometimes read in other models of the brand how good the road holding is in fast corners, most Kuga PHEV drivers apparently take it a bit easier. This is also apparent when we look at the electric driving range. Several drivers achieve values ​​above the 56 kilometers specified by Ford. “The maximum I have driven this summer on one battery charge is 84 km,” writes one of those drivers. “Under favorable conditions and maximum speed of 95 km/h. You really have to do your best, also accelerate slowly, but it is possible!” In addition, this very consistently plugging driver reports an average fuel consumption of 1 in 80.

“The car also performs great as a caravan tractor,” writes another driver. “I then opt for the driving mode ‘Eco’ in combination with ‘EV later’. I left with a full battery. The set driving mode drains the battery to 80 percent. Every regenerated electric kilometer is used immediately. Of the 1300 kilometers on the way to France, this means that more than 300 kilometers can be driven electrically. This combination is (even without a caravan) the most economical. With a caravan a fuel consumption of 1 to 13.9: I have not succeeded in this with any other car.”

Infotainment and connectivity

Ford has long supplied cars with its own Sync system, of which Kuga drivers are looking at version 3. “The Sync 3 system is not very sophisticated or always intuitive,” says a Kuga PHEV Vignale driver, “you can clearly see that car manufacturers are not software developers. There were occasional issues with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.”

Another rider makes a contribution. “The media system is equipped with Sync 3 and that works reasonably well. However, the speech recognition is pitiful, what an annoyance! I now manually put the destination in the navigation. Apple CarPlay (with Siri) can solve this, but unfortunately it only works wired and not wireless.”

Disturbances and irritations

As mentioned, the Ford Kuga PHEV was recalled due to possible battery pack defects. Every example built before June 26, 2020 received a replacement battery. People had to wait a relatively long time for the implementation of this recall campaign, it took a while before Ford had enough new battery packs at its disposal. In the meantime, they compensated riders with a fuel credit for missed electric miles. “As a Kuga PHEV driver, we have all had the battery issues,” reports an affected owner, “But that was resolved in March 2021. Ford has neatly paid out a fuel credit. That eases the pain.” Another driver endorses this experience: “In a cover letter I received when picking up the Kuga, Ford gives an additional fuel slip for the inconvenience of 300 euros, on top of the other fuel slip, and an extended warranty. I’m glad we can end this like this.” This driver also reports a problem in the steering system, which is also reported by another owner.

It doesn’t mean that the Kuga is now a completely trouble-free car. For example, several owners think that the hat shelf is constructed rickety. “My luggage cover is really sensitive to wind. In a strong wind, it can blow out of its mounting and damage it just like that. Miss,” concludes this driver. And, like many electric cars and plug-ins, the Kuga can also be stranded with an empty 12V battery. One rider experienced this twice.

Experiences with the Kuga Plug-in Hybrid are therefore, after some start-up problems, mainly positive. This Kuga is said to not drive as sharply as one would expect from a Ford, but the smooth and economical powertrain makes up for a lot. The electric range also doesn’t seem like a wash, the Ford regularly performs even better than promised. There is certainly no lack of space, but according to many owners, the seats and infotainment system can be improved. Good news: it looks like the updated Ford Kuga will have a new infotainment system.