- The Santa Fe Hybrid's the smart pick in Hyundai's three-row SUV family.
- A turbo-4 plus a motor and batteries nets 231 hp for good acceleration
- EPA combined gas mileage hits 36 mpg with front-wheel drive
The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe is a striking redesign of the Korean maker’s longstanding SUV model. With three rows now standard, the midsize crossover utility launched with both a conventional gasoline powertrain and a hybrid option, reasonably priced at only $500 more.
In late August, we had the chance to drive a 2024 Santa Fe Hybrid in the rolling hills around Santa Barbara, a couple of hours north of Los Angeles. Overall, we found the hybrid version of the new Santa Fe eminently practical and a pleasant place to spend time. We’d dub the hybrid the better of two powertrains in this new crossover; it’s smoother as well as more fuel-efficient.
Given the low price premium, we expect the Hybrid to find favor among families who know an EPA combined rating in the mid-30s will save them significant cash over one in the low- to mid-20s. As automakers grapple to meet increasingly tough emission limits for cars in model years 2026 to 2035, Hyundai has clearly chosen hybrids at attractive prices as one way to meet those goals. Of course it also has a growing array of electric cars—but hybrids are a rising share of its Tucson sales in the popular compact crossover segment. You can expect that to be the case for its midsize Santa Fe as well.
2025 Hyundai Santa Fe
Is that, ummm, a Land Rover?
By now, the striking design of the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe has started to appear on city and suburban streets. It’s a huge departure from previous generations, with its square, slab-sided lines earning comparisons to Land Rovers and other bluff SUVs. Even in car-jaded California, it gets looks in traffic. Remarkably, Hyundai claims a drag coefficient of 0.294, remarkable for such an upright and blocky shape—the Subaru Outback comes in at 0.34, Hyundai said—proving that fuel-sucking air drag can be tamed in different ways.
Inside, it’s airy and open, with the new Hyundai standard dashboard design of twin 12.3-inch screens on a wide horizontal tray. It’s an arrangement first seen in the Ioniq 5 battery-electric hatchback utility. Now it appears in a growing number of Hyundai models, from the Ioniq 6 EV sedan to the refreshed 2025 Tucson compact crossover.
The new hybrid powertrain consists of a 1.6-liter direct-injected inline-4, paired to a conventional 6-speed automatic transmission. Between engine and transmission sits a 47.7-kw (64-hp) electric motor, which takes its power from a 1.5-kwh lithium-ion battery. Total output of the combined powertrain is 231 hp and 271 lb-ft of torque. Unlike the smaller Tucson, though, there’s no plug-in hybrid variant offered.
2025 Hyundai Santa Fe
Acceleration: feels peppier than gasoline version
The Santa Fe Hybrid shares its powertrain with the 2025 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, but it’s a bigger and heavier vehicle. While the Tucson Hybrid is relatively quick in most driving circumstances, the Santa Fe Hybrid is less of a speed demon. We’d call it average for a three-row SUV—whereas the gasoline-only version felt average to slow when this reporter drove it back in March. Hyundai didn’t provide acceleration figures; we couldn’t test that appropriately during our drive.
The new Santa Fe design includes very effective noise suppression, and powertrain sounds are well muted—to the point that passengers may not realize they’re traveling in a hybrid at all. Engine noise when switching on is generally imperceptible, and the transitions among power sources largely go unnoticed. It speaks to the huge effort Hyundai engineers have exerted to refine their single-motor hybrid system over the 12-plus years since it hit the market.
Feeling the big utility vehicle upshift or downshift while the “EV” dash light stays illuminated will be jarring to those used to battery-electric vehicles, which of course have no gears to shift. Matching motor speed to road speed is a necessary drawback of Hyundai’s system, but crucially, it lets the Santa Fe Hybrid run electric-only in gentle higher-speed or highway traffic. That gives the best balance of performance and efficiency in typical highway-heavy U.S. driving cycles, Hyundai says. We were often surprised to look down and see the hybrid Santa Fe running in “EV” mode, even at freeway speeds or on gentle uphill slopes.
The right-hand paddle behind the steering wheel can be pulled to increase regenerative braking when coming to a stop, and there’s an “Auto” regen mode as well. That uses the Santa Fe’s existing sensors (cameras, radar, etc.) to adjust the regeneration level based on what the car senses ahead—a slowing vehicle, for instance. California highway traffic kept it busy adjusting.
Hyundai suspensions tend to be tuned for comfort over roadholding, and the Santa Fe is no exception. Drivers and passengers should find it quiet and comfortable in conventional use. Tossing it through curving canyon roads with irregular surfaces, we found it bounced a bit more than expected. But suburban families doing school runs or mall visits won’t be affected by that, most likely, or even experience it.
2025 Hyundai Santa Fe
EPA ratings: 34 or 36 mpg combined
Our Santa Fe Hybrid, built in Montgomery, Alabama, was well screwed-together and an altogether pleasant place to spend time. Full details and specs for interior volume, seating options, safety ratings, and the variety of standard and optional features can be found in our review of the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe range.
As for fuel efficiency—usually the main reason to opt for a hybrid—the EPA combined ratings for the 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid are 36 mpg for the front-wheel-drive version, or 34 mpg with the optional all-wheel drive. That’s a substantial boost over ratings for the various gasoline models, which range from 22 to 24 mpg combined.
The 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid comes in three trim levels: SEL, Limited, and Calligraphy. The SEL comes standard with 18-inch alloy wheels and a power-adjustable driver’s seat. The Limited upgrades to 20-inch wheels and adds rain-sensing wipers, a dual-pane sunroof, power-operated front passenger seat, heated rear seats, and ambient interior lighting, among a long list of niceties. The top-of-the-range Calligraphy features nappa leather seats with a massaging “relaxation” function, an ultraviolet sterilizing tray (“Can you tell this was designed during the pandemic?” one exec asked), a head-up display, and multiple appearance items that embellish the design.
The Santa Fe Hybrid SEL starts at $38,615, with the Limited adding another $6,900 on top of that. A Hybrid Calligraphy version stickers at $48,665, plus options. All-wheel drive is an $1,800 option on any trim. All prices include the mandatory $1,415 delivery fee.
Hyundai provided airfare, lodging, and meals to enable Green Car Reports to bring you this test drive review.
