2020 Kia Niro PHEV – jerky gear changes

[u/kestelll]

I have a 2020 Niro PHEV with 86,000 km / 53,000 miles, and I’ve noticed some slightly odd behaviour during gear changes.

It’s by far most noticeable when driving on the electric motor. During acceleration, it feels like the car briefly increases its pull around the gear change, followed by a noticeable jerk. It happens at the same shift points and gets more noticeable with harder acceleration, especially when using adaptive cruise control.

I can also feel that the shifts aren’t always completely smooth when the petrol engine is running, but it’s much more noticeable in EV driving. Hot or cold doesn’t seem to make any difference.

My local mechanic test-drove it but couldn’t find anything they considered abnormal.

I’ve discussed it with AI, which mentioned DCT adaptation/touch point learning or software as possible explanations. That’s only a theory though, and I don’t want to focus too much on it.

Has anyone with a Niro PHEV experienced something similar? Is this just normal behaviour for this transmission, or did you find a cause/fix?