If you’ve been following my Instagram Stories recently, you’ll be well aware that this year we’ve had to swap our plans for a road trip to France for a staycation with friends at Center Parcs Longleat instead, taking with us the all-new Kia XCeed PHEV for a good old test drive!

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a pretty fed up of COVID-19 having its wicked way with 2020 life! It was months ago when we’d first toyed with the idea of a driving holiday to France with some of our best mates. The plan: drive from London to South West France at the end of the French holiday season to help ‘shut up shop’ for our friend Lou’s mum and dad.

After spending a really lovely 5-days in France last summer, we were more than willing to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in, in exchange for a few days basking in the late summer sunshine with friends, whilst gorging ourselves on all of the French bread, wine and saucisson (aka French sausage) that we could get our hands on! I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to test-drive a new electric plug-in hybrid car – and a spacious SUV one at that – than to do a bit stint of driving like this… But nope!

As bad luck would have it, COVID-19 waved it’s icky little wand and put a real dampener on any South of France soujourns. What would we do instead? Could we do anything? Would lockdown restrictions put a stop to any sort of holiday at all this year, as it has unfortunately done for many folks around the world…

We looked at re-routing ourselves and heading up to Scotland, to explore the famous Scottish Highlands’ North Coast 500 instead. But trying to squash all of that driving into one wet week in September felt a bit too ambitious… even for us! The North Coast 500 is one of the must-drive routes on my bucket list, it’s just that I would much prefer to explore in Spring or Summer instead, so that we at least had a chance of some decent weather to go with the sightseeing…

Another suggestion was to book a forest break at Longleat Center Parcs… something that neither Rob nor I had ever done. When we thought back to why our families hadn’t taken us there as kids, we realised it must’ve boiled down to cost. His family always favoured a European ski trip over a UK break, whilst mine loved a beach holiday in the sunnier climes of Greece or Portugal.

Then a thought crossed both of our minds… Would we be too old to enjoy Center Parcs???

*shrugs* We wouldn’t know until we went… so, together, with two other couples, we bagged ourselves a 4-night stay at Center Parcs Longleat for a steal at £114 per person (not including food or activities) and made plans to drive the 2-hour+ journey west from Surrey to Warminster, to see what all the fuss was about… Someone mentioned they have cracking waterpark!

Our ride for the week- the all-new Kia XCeed PHEV – is a sporty alternative to the traditional SUVs you can find right now on the market. Partly down to it’s slick design, under the direction of Gregory Guillaume, Vice President of Design for Kia Motors Europe. A lovely chap I had the pleasure of meeting a few years back, when I attended another of the Kia press events.

I’d previously had the honour of test-driving the Kia ProCeed at the Castelolli race track in Barcelona - with one of my blogger pal’s, John, aka The Everyday Man. It was a thrilling experience whizzing around those bends, I can tell you! The landscape was pretty sublime too.

The all-new Kia XCeed PHEV is the fourth member of the Ceed family, built in Žilina, Slovakia and since the Ceed’s first arrival, there have been more than 1.3 million first and second generation cee’d models built. 

I feel like a bit of an old hand now at test-driving various Kia models, and was really interested to hear what my partner would think as – despite driving various cars for work – he had never driven a Kia before!

What struck us both immediately, upon setting eyes on the Kia XCeed PHEV, was the new angular headlamps, apparently designed to give the car a more assertive face. Moving around the car, to check out the charging port – positioned on the passenger side wing - it’s easy to appreciate the XCeed’s streamlined yet sturdy design. The tail lights are pretty dishy too!

Once inside, the car feels roomy. The dashboard is stylishly designed and kitted out with a HUGE 10.25-inch touchscreen satellite navigation with European mapping standard.

It’s perfect for two – but would also be great for a family of four. There’s great boot space too (291 litres with the seats up and 1,243 litres with them folded down.) Decent foot wells and lots of charging points. And let’s not forget my favourite of all modern car technologies: the sensors! I used to be a very nervous driver so, for me, any sort of new-fangled tech that makes it less likely for me to bump the car into some unseen obstacle, is a winner in my books. The reversing camera with dynamic guidelines and Smart Park Assist Systems are absolute gems. 

Oh! And I must say! The Apple CarPlay enabled stereo (which sounds bloomin’ excellent if you play your favourite song on full blast when no one else is in the car…) is super easy to use and connect your devices to.

So… what can you expect when it comes to actually charging and fuelling the XCeed PHEV? You will find this plug-in hybrid powertrain delivers an 8.9kWh battery pack combined with a 44.5kW electric motor and 1.6-litre Gasoline Direct injection engine[TG1] , producing 139bhp and 265Nm of torque. But what does that mean in normal speak? How far will the Kia XCeed plug-in hybrid get me on full charge??? Well, we tried it, after finding a really handing electric car charging point at Center Parcs Longleat – as well as at a number of petrol stations, supermarkets and service stations dotted along our route – and were pleasantly surprised to see that the car has an all-electric city driving[GN2]  range of up to 36.6 miles (City range for 16” wheels). Pretty handy if you’re only doing local journeys and can charge your car up at home.

I downloaded the Pod Point charging app, to hook our XCeed PHEV up to the charging points available at the carpark in Center Parcs Longleat (available from the app store) and to get a 100% fully charged battery, it cost me £1.34! Decent, eh!? I do wonder whether this would work out cheaper if you were charging at home…? Do take a peek at my Kia Soul EV post for more myth-busting and to find out everything you need to know, before buying an electric car.

Our 4-night late September break at Center Parcs was a lovely last-minute getaway. All in all, I would estimate it cost around £600 for two people, for a 4-night stay- including the cost of meals, food to cook ourselves, plenty of booze and a selection of fun activities. Top tip: Hire and reserve your bikes before you go, so that you can pick them up on arrival. The car park is a LONG way from the Fir lodges and getting around on foot can see you walking up to 30+ minutes – which is fine on a warm sunny day, but less fun if it’s chucking down and cold. I would also advise that people hire helmets. Two of the lads from our group fell off their bikes, after sliding on the wet road surface and colliding into one another. They were very very lucky to only escape with a couple of dented egos, and a lot of cuts and bruises!

So would we go back to Center Parcs? 

We really enjoyed our stay – but I guess that’s partly down to being with such brilliant company in a very beautiful part of the country. It’s always nice to have a little escapism from your everyday life, now and again.

I think Center Parcs is perfect if you can get a decent deal. I’d say it’s ideal for families looking for a fun and safe break away, that isn’t too far from home. However, the costs can add up. For example, a 4-night break for 4-people (2 adults and 2 kids), can sometimes cost upwards of £2,000 – when you factor in accommodation, food & activities, due to demand in school holidays, etc. We stayed in an executive lodge, which had an Infrared sauna, 3 double rooms with en suite, and a lovely log burner inside and a patio with BBQ area outside. Although, if we went again… next time, I’d love to try one of the treehouses or lodges with its own hot tub! Bliss!

And what about the Kia XCeed PHEV?

Delighted to say the car was a pleasure to drive (or should I say, be driven in.) Rob was super impressed at how much of a computer it felt, compared to the 20 year old MG MGF we’ve got at home. Let’s just say, it’s certainly set the bar high for any new car we own together in the future! Thank you, Kia. 

The all-new Kia XCeed Plug-in Hybrid costs from £30,695.00 - £31,295 or from £34,695 - £35,265 for the ‘first edition’ model, which features wireless phone charging. 

Click here to find out more or your nearest Kia dealer or for more reviews of the Kia XCeed PHEV take a peek at what the guys at Auto Express thought of this car.

Check out at my other Kia car blogging and test-drive experiences:

• Kia Stinger - Milan Launch, Kia Ideas Festival & South Korea tour and Stinger Seoul test-drive and Cornwall Stinger test-drive

• Kia Stonic - Hello Amsterdam Press launch

• Kia Soul EV - Tips for owning an electric car

• Kia ProCeed - Barcelona race track test-drive experience

Photography © Lucie Kerley

*Disclaimer: Kia XCeed Plug-in Hybrid Press car kindly loaned for review purposes by the Kia UK PR Team*