THE HYBRID THAT DOESN’T REALIZE IT: THE HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID

The 2025 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is the gas-electric version of the brand’s wildly popular Sonata midsize sedan. It’s a four-door vehicle that is both good looking and practical. Did we mention practical? According to Hyundai, it’s good for around 49 miles-per-gallon? Napleton.news had a chance to tool around for a week in this high-voltage conveyance. Here’s what we thought!

WHAT MOVES THE SONATA HYBRID?

Essentially unchanged from last year, the 2025 Sonata Hybrid can be considered the more intelligent Sonata. Building on its gas-powered brethren, the Sonata Hybrid comfortably carries five passengers. In contrast to other hybrids that often sacrifice fuel economy, space, or design, the Sonata Hybrid provides top performance in all aspects.

An award-winning 2.0-liter four-cylinder Hyundai Smartstream GDi engine and a six-speed hybrid automatic transmission power the Sonata Hybrid. The engine’s base power checks in at 150 horsepower and 139 lb-ft of torque. With a 39 kW electric power generator and a lithium-ion battery charge of 270 Volts, the total output reaches 192 horsepower. Sure it’s complicated but the payoff is an EPA estimated mileage range of 44 city/51 highway/47 combined!

ACTIVE SHIFT CONTROL

The new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid continues with the company’s Active Shift Control to monitor engine speeds up to 500 times per second. It aligns the electric motor with the rotational speed of the gas engine and transmission to reduce and smooth gear shifts by up to 30 percent. The result is a faster, smoother and more engaging drive experience than in the past.

HOW DOES THE SONATA HYBRID LOOK?

Think of the Levar Burton character, Geordi La Forge from “Star Trek: The Next Generation. At first squint, that’s what we see when we look at the grille and lighting installation. In print, that description may be lost in translation but in person, you’ll get what we mean.

From the side, the Sonata Hybrid looks very similar to the standard Sonata. And that’s a good thing because it’s one of the best looking cars on the road today. It’s also one of the few cars on the road today because of America’s love affair with SUVs, but we digress.

The design is a typical grand-touring look with long hood, short rear deck and elegantly stamped side metal. Overall, the look is very Teutonic which is almost expected since many in their design staff is from Germany.

WHAT ABOUT INSIDE THE HYBRID?

The inside of the 2025 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid features a mix of spaciousness and technology. It is nicely planned with plenty of features. The two front seats were comfortable, offering plenty of support for drives lasting more than a couple hours. The seat bottoms are a bit firm but offered good support for the backsides.

A pair of 12.3-inch display screens show off the gauges for the driver and the infotainment for everyone else. A cool trick: Hit the indicator and the tachometer on the left of the driver’s information screen becomes a rearview mirror, showing you who is in your blindspot. Hit the right one and the speedometer does the same.

A Bose premium audio system helps soothe the soul on a high-stress drive home. A Qi wireless charging pad takes up space at the base of the center console.

DRIVING THE HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID

Starting the Sonata Hybrid, a sense of familiarity washed over us. Despite the brand-new interior, a sense of familiarity remained. We appreciated the standard safety features, including blind spot warnings, a surround-view rearview camera, Forward Collision-Avoidance, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance, and Advanced Smart Cruise Control. They helped to instill confidence during these increasingly tense times behind the wheel. Don’t get us wrong: There are many good drivers out there. It just seems there are many more bad ones, too.

The 192 horsepower powertrain provided seamless acceleration; it felt almost like a traditional car, from initial acceleration to cruising speed. The Active Shift Control makes the car feel more substantial than other hybrid-electric vehicles, thanks to its superior transmission.

People have taken notice about the new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. We think it’s one of the best vehicles on the road today and well worth a look.

2025 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Specifications