The Kia Telluride concept has been revealed at the Detroit Motor Show offering a glimpse of what a what a large SUV from Kia could look like.
BASED ON the Sorento, the Kia Telluride concept “reveals the brand’s interest in potentially offering a premium SUV positioned above the current hot-selling Sorento,” Kia said.
“The Kia Telluride makes an aesthetic statement for the Kia brand as a bold, all-new luxury SUV with an abundance of advanced technology, focusing particular attention on the experience and comfort of second-row occupants,” said Tom Kearns, chief designer, Kia Design Center America (KDCA). “Longer, wider and taller than the recently redesigned Sorento CUV, Telluride allows us to envision what a full-size seven-passenger SUV from Kia could look like.”
The Kia Telluride’s front and back doors are hinged opposite to each other meaning the doors can be opened up to 90-degrees creating a huge open space “into the panoramic interior space and revealing a technological showcase”.
A seven-seater, the third-row seats fold flat into the floor, while the second row seats can be reclined nearly flat, and include foldaway footrests. Nice. “All four seats include a series of precise diamond-cut openings in the seatback, each embedded with Smart Sensors to capture a passenger’s vital health information,” Kia said. This health information is then displayed on the individual door panels… okay. And it gets weirder, “wing-shaped LED panel mounted beneath the oversized sunroof that displays a pattern of therapeutic light to treat desynchronosis (jetlag) and improve the passengers’ energy levels”. Wow. Just wow.
The Telluride also offers swipe technology to allow back seat passengers to scroll through music and then either play that through the vehicle’s sound system or via wireless headphones.
At 180.08cm tall, 200.91cm wide and 500.12cm long, Telluride is 11.17cm taller, 11.93cm wider, and a sizable 24.13cm longer than the current Sorento. Underpinning the Telluride is a modified Sorento chassis with a wheelbase stretched 30.22cm to 308.10cm.
Telluride’s front end incorporates a much larger version of Kia’s signature tiger nose grille, along with recessed quad-LED headlamps, horizontal LED indicator lights, and a polished-metal skid plate below the bumper. At the back, thin vertical taillights align with the modern design language of the SUV, while consistent styling cues across the front and rear door handles, and dual exhaust tips.
A finger-print activated push-button start activates the Telluride’s PHEV powertrain. Utilizing a 3.5-litre V6 engine and electric motor, Telluride’s transverse-mounted powertrain combines to produce 298kW (201kW from V6 and 97kW from the electric motor) while returning more than 7.84L/100km on the highway. Power is routed to all four wheels “via an advanced all-wheel drive system”.
Kia said it has no plans to bring the Telluride to market, but we reckon it won’t be long before we see a larger-than Sorento SUV in Kia’s lineup.
