For this new generation, the Kuga completely changes its look. Its face is more in line with that of other Ford, and the designers sought to create a rear face and a profile giving off a more precious, more "premium" look. The new Kuga being longer, wider but also lower, the proportions are also a little more dynamic. The rear space is obviously revised upward, and the trunk is 475 liters on the classic versions (411 liters for the plug-in hybrid version), or even 645 liters by advancing the seat as far as possible, which slides over 15 cm.
The environment is typically Ford, with the quality of materials and assembly that this implies. We find the touch screen of the SYNC multimedia system at the top of the dashboard, in the "tablet" position, and the Kuga is entitled to a digital dashboard whose display style varies according to the driving mode chosen. Finally, when it comes to driving aids, there is everything you need for semi-autonomous highway driving. We are perfectly within the norm. In the catalog, there is everything: 2 versions of the classic 1.5 petrol (120 or 150 hp), two different diesel blocks (1.5 120 hp or 2.0 190 hp) and three hybrid proposals: a light, a classic and a rechargeable.
Effective light hybridization
The classic, which will arrive towards the end of the year, is a Toyota-style hybrid, which therefore allows real (small) 100% electric phases, but which should not be connected. The light hybridization, already available, is associated with the 2.0 diesel engine, the whole claiming 150hp. No electric phases here, but a 48V system and an alternator-starter which with a little boost reduces consumption and emissions: 5.0 l / 100 km and 132gCO2 / km, against 5.5 l and 155 g for the 2.0 120ch classic diesel.
We tried this version in ST Line finish, with a more sporty look and chassis settings. At the wheel, he gives a greater impression of dynamism than most of his rivals and on the small country roads of our test, he knows how to please. As for the hybrid system, if it is useless on the highway, where the average was more than 6 l / 100 km, it is effective outside since after the highway, the consumption has dropped towards 5 liters, despite our… enthusiasm on the routes described above!
Top rechargeable hybrid
But the most impressive is the Kuga "plug-in", whose 2.5 petrol engine and electric motor together deliver 225 hp. There, Ford did not miss!
When we took possession of the vehicle after another journalist, the battery charge indicator displayed 49%. The manufacturer announcing a theoretical autonomy of 56 km, we hoped at best to draw 20 km from the remaining charge. But under certainly favorable conditions, and with a certain sense of eco driving (which does not mean that we were dragging miserably), these 49% gave us… 46 km! At this stage, knowing that in most rechargeable hybrids, the hybrid mode is neglected and that once "dry", the batteries become a dead weight, we expected to see the consumption explode. Well, no: the hybrid mode of the Kuga is very efficient, and the small "electric kilometer" indicator built into the on-board computer tells us that we have been running on electricity almost half the time.
Crazy, but the moment of truth remained. All this had been done on the secondary network, then the route ended with 30 kilometers of motorway, therefore without the help of electricity. Fatal? Ultimate surprise: regulator stalled at 120 km / h, the 2.5 petrol engine (we insist: petrol!) Contented itself with these 30 terminals of 6.0 l / 100 km! Final assessment of a 138 km route, including 46 km in electric mode, 30 km on motorway with petrol only, and the rest in hybrid mode: 3.6 l / 100 km, proof with the image below. which is, unlike the others, actually taken by us. In the family plug-in hybrid SUV category, The Ford Kuga is, in our humble opinion, the master buyer of the moment.
The new Ford Kuga (petrol 120 hp) starts at € 26,600.
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The Ford Kuga 2.5 PHEV in a few figures
- Engine: 4 cyl., Petrol, 2,490 cc + electric motor; 225hp; NC couple.
- Transmission: to the front wheels.
- Gearbox: 8-speed auto.
- L / W / H (mm): 4.614 / 1.883 / 1.675
- Curb weight (kg): 1.844
- Boot capacity (l): 411 - 1,481
- 0 to 100 km / h (sec.): 7.5
- Maximum speed (km / h): 235
- Mixed consumption (l / 100 km): 1.4
- Electric range (km): 56
- CO2 (g / km): 32
- Price (€): 38.600
- CO2
- Diesel
- Ford
- SUV
- Toyota
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