The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid: All-new for 2022.

The new 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is the South Korean automaker’s latest compact sport utility vehicle. But this one’s different. Instead of a standard internal combustion engine, this is Hyundai’s take on a hybrid gas-electric SUV. How did they do? Ride along as Napleton News checks it out.

 

New Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid

The new 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is based on the existing 2021 Santa Fe, initially introduced with a pure gas engine. In the past, we have typically held our nose at the gas mileage we have seen from spending time in an SUV. In this case, it’s what’s under the hood that counts.

 

 

Start with a 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-4 engine matched to a pair of electric motor-generators fed by a lithium-ion battery pack for a combined output of 226 horsepower. There’s also 195 lb-ft of torque available almost instantly. The electric motors are located on the front and rear axle respectively to offer all-wheel drive power. A six-speed automatic transmission controls the entire drivetrain. And a little aside: It’s the same powerplant as that powering the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV).

Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Information

 

The new 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid looks every pit as imposing as its big brother, the Hyundai Palisade. Just smaller. But not so small that you will get a cramped feeling. Instead, it is well-scaled so that it seems just the perfect size. It is unchanged for 2022, seeing that it was just introduced as a new model in 2021.

 

The Santa Fe Hybrid competes against the Ford Escape Hybrid, Honda’s CR-V Hybrid and the Toyota Venza Hybrid. Smaller than a three-row vehicle, it seems to fit above the compact vehicle class. But it is below that of a midsized platform.

 

Hyundai Santa Fe Interior Features

Premium without the pricing is a way to describe a Hyundai interior. The Santa Fe Hybrid is no different and includes all the high-quality material you have come to expect from the brand. Our top-shelf Limited model offered the type of accommodations that made this car a standout from the start.

 

Speaking of those accommodations, the Santa Fe Hybrid can carry two passengers in front and two in the back seat. There’s actually room for three, but it might get tight for the one in the middle. The cargo area behind the second-row seating is good for 36.4 cubic feet. That area grows to 72.1 cubic feet when you fold the second-row seat forward.

Our Limited trim model presented us with a luxurious midsized SUV that included premium leather heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, rain-sensing wipers, front parking sensors, and a surround-view monitor. There’s a Harman Kardon premium audio system to provide tuneage from 12 speakers, front and rear. Especially trick this year is a Blind-Spot view monitor that displays a real-time video monitor in the instrument cluster that shows what is behind you as you change lanes through the use of a turn-indicator. Finally, an available remote smart parking assist was included on our Limited model and let us get out of the vehicle to then park it in a tight spot via remote control on the Santa Fe’s key fob.

 

Santa Fe Hybrid Safety Features

Standard safety features inside the new 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid include forward collision avoidance assist with pedestrian detection. There’s also lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, driver attention warning, safe exit assist, a backup camera with rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring and automatic high beams.

Driving the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid

First of all: We felt we were driving in a legitimate luxury car. Hyundai has always talked of being a class above of the competition and this Santa Fe Hybrid continues to hold true to that description.

 

The Santa Fe Hybrid is one of the new breed of hybrid vehicles that feature responsive acceleration that was never really present in hybrids of the past. Acceleration is right on tap instead of those vehicles that seemed to require building up a head of steam before anything really happened. Around town, it is positively zippy and also has no trouble getting up to speed on the highway.

That’s what’s interesting about hybrids: They get better mileage under city conditions than they do on the highway. This is a key characteristic. For instance, the EPA says the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited should achieve 33 mpg city/ 30 mpg highway. And it does, but because an in-city excursion typically involves stop-and-go traffic with a lack of high-speed runnings. That helps preserve battery life, which limits the gas engine from using fuel to recharge the batteries.

The handoff between the gas engine and the battery-powered electric motors is seamless and smooth, and we didn’t have any clue that a changeover was occurring. That’s just as it should be and with more vehicles working similarly, the hybrid engine will be here to stay.