Hyundai Santa Fe 2025 review: Hybrid FWD

There are three Santa Fe variants with the base model having the option of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. The model on test for this review is the base FWD hybrid variant which is priced from $55,500, before on road costs.

This makes it almost $10K more than the model it replaces but compared to its rivals, it's the most affordable. The closest rival is the Toyota Kluger GX hybrid at $60,920 MSRP and then the Kia Sorento GT-Line Hybrid FWD at $70,330 MSRP.

2024 Hyundai Santa Fe HEV Hybrid (Image: Glen Sullivan)

Despite being a base model, the Hybrid FWD is well-specified and comes with lots of standard features and some luxury highlights are the heated front seats, powered driver's seat (with adjustable lumbar support), rear privacy glass and a suite of LED external lights.

Practical features include keyless entry, push-button start, a powered tailgate, remote start (via the key fob), a full-size spare wheel, three drive modes ('Eco', 'Sport' and 'My Drive') and dual-zone climate control.

2024 Hyundai Santa Fe HEV Hybrid (Image: Glen Sullivan)

Technology is robust throughout the car and the base model comes with dual 12.3-inch technology screens, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the Hyundai 'Bluelink' app, over the air updates, Bluetooth connectivity, a wireless charging pad, six USB-C ports and two 12-volt sockets.

Bluelink connected car services brings features like ‘Automatic Collision Notification’ an emergency call (SOS) function, geo-fencing, valet, speed and time alerts and more.

The boxier and larger shape of the new Santa Fe means the cabin is practical for most families.

The cabin up front is spacious with plenty of leg-, head- and elbow-room even when you have a full carload of people.

The middle row is wide, which means it's easy to fit adults and child seats plus the floor is flat. Middle seaters will be very comfortable on a long journey.

The third row is now a proper third row and surprisingly comfy for an adult. I'm only 168cm tall but had plenty of leg- and headroom. However, if you had a car full of adults, you might have to get Tetris-ey with seat positioning.

Individual storage is excellent for the class and there are a total of 12 cupholders throughout the car, with six of them in the middle row. There is a drink bottle holder in each door, and the front also gets large storage bins.

In the front row there are two glove boxes, a shallow storage shelf in the dashboard, an extra-large middle console (with removeable shelf) and a drawer middle rowers can access.

On top of that you get a large centre console with two dedicated phone spots and a large undershelf storage area (which fits two handbags).

Amenities throughout are great with heated front seats, two USB-C ports and reading lights per row, directional air vents in the rear rows and the third row enjoys individual fan control, as well.

Technology is well-rounded and the multimedia system is fairly easy to use but it may take a while to get used to all the customisations available. There are enough buttons, dials and touchpads to satisfy those who like that sort of thing and the digital instrument cluster is easy-to-read.

The wireless Apple CarPlay is simple to connect to and maintains the link, which is great. There's also wireless Android Auto as well as Bluetooth connectivity. Despite a 'Map' button there's no built-in satellite navigation and you have to rely on your smart phone's navigation app.

Another practical element delivered by the new larger shape is a very large boot aperture, which makes it easy to slide bigger items in and out. With the third row folded, you get 628L of capacity but you can bump it to 1949L with all rear rows folded.

The boot features a level loading space, retractable cargo cover and a powered tailgate. The tailgate is massive and also provides ample rain cover - perfect for when you have to do nappy changes on a road trip with the kiddies.

And the biggest feature of all - you can fit five child seats in this model because it has five top-tether points and four ISOFIX child seat mounts! Hurrah for large families.

The Hybrid FWD features a hybrid powertrain that combines an electric motor with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine.

They combine to produce 172kW of power and 367Nm of torque. This replaces the diesel and V6 petrol engines of the previous model, which fans may see as a sad passing. 

2024 Hyundai Santa Fe HEV Hybrid (Image: Glen Sullivan)

This particular variant has a front-wheel drive drivetrain and a six-speed auto transmission, which is mostly smooth.

The official combined fuel-cycle consumption figure is a low 5.6/100km and my real-world usage came out at 11.1L/100km!

Now, a special note for this section. My consumption figure could be a result of my particular driving style and the fact that I do so much open-roading. That's when a hybrid is at its least efficient. So bare that in mind, but that figure is surprising and disappointing.

Based on the official combined fuel cycle and 65L fuel tank, expect a theoretical driving range of up to 1196km which is great for families who like to do big road trips.

At the time of writing the new Santa Fe hadn’t been assessed by ANCAP, so it is unrated but it does feature a hefty safety features list that rivals a lot of competitors. It also has 10 airbags which is great for a family car.

Standard items include blind-spot monitoring, LED lights, driver attention alert, leading vehicle departure alert, safe exit assist, rear occupant alert (first two rows only), rear collision warning, forward collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure alert and lane keeping aid.

There's also lane following assist, traffic sign recognition, an intelligent seatbelt warning (first two rows only), adaptive cruise control (with start/stop), the 360-degree view camera system and front and rear parking sensors.

It's also nice to see the blind-spot view monitor on the base model, which is a system that pops a video feed of your blind spot onto your dashboard.

However, some of the safety features, like the driver attention monitor and traffic sign recognition, are very intrusive to daily driving. If you could permanently disable the sound alert, it would be a lot more enjoyable to drive.