2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid review: Feelin’ fancy

Staying the middle child is under no circumstances enjoyment, but the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid helps make the most of it. Hanging out between the three-row Palisade and its at any time-so-marginally scaled-down Tucson sibling, the Santa Fe relies on a fancier solution to spouse and children-friendliness in buy to justify its existence, and a new hybrid powertrain gives people today a further reason to examine out this midsizer, as nicely.

Posh getup

The Santa Fe and Palisade count on several of the very same structure staples, which is quite a lot a excellent issue. The Santa Fe is a handsome midsize SUV. Its maw could be a small major for some people’s preferences, but I believe it integrates nicely with break up-stage headlights and a variety of parts of silver trim on the lower element of the human body. It really is handsome sufficient to gain a compliment or two without the need of going way too really hard in the styling paint, which is additional of the Tucson’s arena. And now that hybrids are offered across approximately all of Hyundai’s lineup, you might be not going to discover any garish brightwork signaling electrification it really is as typical as any other crossover out there.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s inside definitely ramps up the plushness. My Confined-trim tester rings in at $forty one,290 such as $1,185 for spot, and irrespective of hovering around the regular new-automobile transaction value in 2021, it must make people truly feel like they have moved up a class. The leather-based seats are comfy and supportive, and they are both heated and cooled. Delicate supplies protect all the pertinent touch factors, and build high quality is large all-around. The textured finish of the entrance doorway speaker grilles may possibly be my favorite element.

An digital drive-button shifter hangs out on a middle console that rides type of large, but it helps make home for a positively cavernous storage cubby underneath. If that is not sufficient, you can find a sizable pocket beneath the middle armrest, and the doorway playing cards are deep sufficient for added bottles, masks, snacks, you identify it. An additional clever touch below is the wireless telephone charger, which you slot your telephone into vertically, stopping it from sliding around and losing connection while driving. Out back, you can find an ample 36.4 cubic ft of cargo place, which is on par with the outgoing Jeep Grand Cherokee, and it really is mild several years ahead of the Chevy Blazer and Toyota Venza, but the Honda Passport has it conquer with a shade about fifty cubes powering the 2nd row.

Plush driving at a value

The 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid would not just seem extravagant, it feels it, way too. The 1st issue I observe is how dang tranquil the inside is at velocity. Even about some of Michigan’s gnarlier roads, the Santa Fe Hybrid permits quite couple aural annoyances into the cabin, and all those that do make it inside of come mainly from the powertrain on the other aspect of the firewall. The ride high quality is outstanding, with fastened dampers mitigating all but the harshest highway surfaces, retaining up that luxurious-adjacent sensation.

Less than the Santa Fe Hybrid’s hood is the very same hybrid-electric powered powertrain that can be discovered in the marginally scaled-down Tucson Hybrid. A 1.six-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder motor brings together with an electric powered motor to make a web 226 horsepower, which is fed to all 4 wheels (normal!) via a 6-velocity computerized transmission. This powertrain is not going to get any awards for seem high quality, coming off a small tractor-ish for my taste, but you can find a sufficient amount of ahead movement on faucet. Off-the-line acceleration feels potent many thanks to that electric powered motor, and I can hardly truly feel the transfer from electric powered to ICE propulsion. It only definitely trips up when I try to depart a stop signal way too promptly, as the powertrain requires an added pair of ticks to determine out what it needs to do. The Santa Fe Hybrid does come with a method swap, but I discover the automobile at its greatest when almost everything is left in its default state.

The powertrain will do a great position acclimating people to the hybrid existence, but gas economic system leaves a bit to be desired. The EPA estimates the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid’s hydrocarbon thrift at 33 mpg town, 30 mpg freeway and 32 mpg combined. That is greater than gas-only opponents will muster, but it pales in comparison to the crossover’s principal competitor, the Toyota Venza, which can realize forty mpg in the town and 37 on the freeway.   

Outstanding tech

Hyundai has lengthy offered one of my favorite infotainment units, and its latest iteration in the 2021 Santa Fe Hybrid only helps make it greater. A 10.three-inch screen rises from the middle of the dashboard, carrying the latest variation of Hyundai’s telematics, which has been reskinned to match the latest from sister model Genesis. The consequence is additional visually captivating, with a minimalist home screen and a menu web page that places all the crucial things inside access. Apple CarPlay and Android Vehicle are, as you could expect, normal across the lineup. A 2nd screen resides in the gauge cluster, offering the standard speedometer and hybrid power meter, in addition to a configurable portion that lets me monitor gas economic system, hybrid process operation, what is enjoying on the radio, the standard.

Korean automakers have standardized a lengthy list of lively and passive protection units, and the Santa Fe Hybrid keeps that going. Typical kit incorporates ahead-collision warning, computerized emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-retaining assist and total-velocity adaptive cruise management. Freeway Generate Help brings together some of these functions to keep the car in its lane at the tempo of traffic, and as significantly as hands-on units go, it really is a excellent one, controlling its position nicely without the need of swaying or bouncing about.

Down to brass tacks

At $forty one,290 out the doorway, the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is rather darn affordable for some thing this extravagant, even additional so when you contemplate the base design can be experienced for a hair beneath $35,000. Whilst gas-powered opponents abound, from the Chevy Blazer to the Honda Passport, its principal electrified competitor is the Toyota Venza, which has the Hyundai conquer on gas economic system and in general luxuriousness, and the two are rather evenly matched on value. It is, on the other hand, styled like a glass of home-temperature milk. There is certainly also the issue of the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, which gives up a small bit of place inside of and out, but it has additional evocative styling, presenting a situation the place a car’s most important competitor may possibly be contacting from inside of the household.

The 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is completely truly worth your time. Whilst the performance could be greater, a easy powertrain and a posh stature have the makings for fairly the benefit play in its value range, supplying people a great way to relieve into electrification.