The PHEV segment is a rather overlooked segment of the car market, and it shouldn’t be the case as it serves as a great midway point between regular cars and EVs. On top of that, many automakers have PHEV options in their lineup, so car shoppers have a lot of PHEV options they can compare with one another. Here’s a look at three advantages that the 2022 Ford Escape PHEV has over the Kia Sportage PHEV.

1. The 2022 Ford Escape PHEV is a more affordable option

Price is probably the most important thing that car shoppers look at when buying a car, and the Ford Escape PHEV is the more affordable option. According to Edmunds, the Escape PHEV starts at about $35,500 MSRP. In comparison, the Kia Sportage PHEV starts at about $38,500 MSRP. This means that car shoppers who choose the Ford will save about $3,000 on the standard vehicle model.

In fact, Ford shoppers can even invest some of those savings and upgrade their Escape PHEV to its next trim level. The SEL trim, which is the Escape PHEV’s middle trim, starts at about $38,000 MSRP. Folks who choose this option will save a few hundred bucks compared to the standard Sportage PHEV.

Ford offers a good deal on the Escape PHEV, even if folks choose the top trim. The Titanium trim is the Escape PHEV’s top trim, starting at just under $41,000 MSRP. In comparison, the Kia only has one other trim option: the X-Line Prestige trim. That trim starts at about $43,000 MSRP, which makes it about $2,000 more expensive than Ford’s top trim.

2. Ford also gave the Escape PHEV a longer electric driving range

Not only is the Ford SUV a cheaper option, but it also has a longer electric driving range than the Kia SUV. The Ford Escape PHEV is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that works with an electric motor to get 221 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque. This is less powerful than what the Kia Sportage PHEV gets, which is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder that works with an electric motor to get 261 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque.

However, the Ford SUV’s hybrid powertrain is paired with a 14.4-kWh battery, while the Kia SUV is paired with a 13.8-kWh battery. This allows the Escape PHEV to go 37 miles in battery-only mode, while the Sportage PHEV can only go 34 miles on electric power. That’s a difference of about 3 miles, and while that seems small, it can be meaningful since PHEVs don’t come with that much electric driving range to begin with.

3. The Escape PHEV has better fuel economy than the Kia Sportage PHEV

On top of that, the Ford Escape PHEV is also the more fuel-efficient option in other driving modes. In its regular driving mode, the Ford SUV gets 43 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on highways, for 40 mpg combined. In comparison, the Kia only gets 38 mpg combined. There’s a bigger efficiency difference in hybrid driving mode, however.

The Escape PHEV gets 117 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) in the city and 93 MPGe on highways for 105 MPGe combined. On the other hand, the Kia Sportage PHEV only gets about 84 MPGe combined. This means that, in hybrid driving mode, the Ford gets about 21 MPGe more than the Kia, and that’s a massive efficiency difference compared to the 2 mpg that separates the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in regular driving mode.