Kia debut the brand new Optima T Hybrid

The opening two days of the Paris motor show provided us with some fantastic news for the automotive industry. Many manufacturers debuted some brand new vehicle additions to their line ups which included all sectors of the car industry including sports cars, SUV vehicles and hybrid models. The hybrid vehicle sector alongside the SUV division is one of the quickest expanding sectors in the car industry right now and the Korean manufacturer Kia have officially revealed their brand new addition to the line up which comes to us in the shape and form of the brand new Optima T hybrid model. Kia has worked on some brand new technology for the Optima hybrid that could set it apart from other contenders on the road such as the i3 from BMW. The Optima is a big selling Sedan style model which was first brought into play back in the year 2000 with the latest third generation addition making it onto our roads in 2011.

How does Kia's new technology affect the hybrid sector?

So in regards to what it is that powers the vehicle, we see that the Korean brand have officially included the fitting of a 1.7 litre,CRDi turbo diesel engine which is of course joined along side by the addition of an electric motor. This is where the new technology comes into play as the motor is powered by a 48V lead carbon battery. Thanks to this addition, we see electric power alone is run at slower speeds for the vehicle which will help the cars battery to maintain a charge for longer periods of time. An improved increase on power and C02 emissions is set to be the final result. An electric supercharger has also been confirmed to come along with the Optima T hybrid this helps to boost the performance when the car is travelling at lower speeds.

At this moment in time, the Optima T hybrid is just a concept machine. There is no official word as to whether the vehicle will officially make into production into the near future or not but we do know that the technology used in the car will be incorporated into hybrid vehicles from the brand into the future.

Will this new hybrid technology be used by other companies in the future?

This is an incredible advancement in the future technology for our cars but with the Kia brand bringing in all this new technology, will it catch on amongst other rival brands such as Audi with the confirmed R8 e tron and Mercedes with their B Class models in the future?. Production is not confirmed for the Optima T hybrid as of yet but the technological advancements in hybrid technology will definitely be used in future development.