2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid

An amazing vehicle from Hyundai ... truly!

Thursday, December 30, 2021

I recently purchased the Limited trim of this model and have been blown away by the features and level of quality from Hyundai. At the time of writing, it has been very difficult to find a Santa Fe PHEV limited so I didn't care about color or installed options. Well, I finally got a call from a dealer that they had a Limited in Lagoon Blue with a black interior with a fair level of installed options so I bought it sight unseen. After putting down a $500 deposit, I drove the next day 3 1/2 hours to the dealer to finalize the purchase. When I pulled into the parking lot of the dealership, I noticed there where two Santa Fe looking vehicles that were plugged in and one had a bluish grey tint which looked awesome and gratefully happened to be mine as it turned out. This is a well designed vehicles and some of my favorite features so far: lane centering assistance (works great with steering wheel torque modulating based vehicle position and is far superior to the 2020 Rav4 we own), adaptive cruise control, panoramic moonroof, surround sound stereo (stumbled on the setting but amazing sound), physical operator control panel (user preference but IMO touch screen settings should be reserved for one time settings), interior comfort, cargo room, 6 speed dual clutch transmission, and mechanical all-wheel drive system. Where I live there tends to be a lot of snow so I suspect I'm going to appreciate Hyundai's choices for their power train on this vehicle. There are a few things I think Hyundai could have done better and this is coming from a former Chevy Volt owner so I'm a bit biased of what PHEV should have as features: gas engine needs to run for cabin heating and cooling (that really limits a person's ability to save on gas during a couple seasons during the year), no EV hold to preserve electric charge, no regen braking paddle common on EV vehicles, congested steering wheel controls. Overall, this is an outstanding vehicle, it's super comfortable, very roomy and performs well.

Better than expected---10 hyundais later

Thursday, June 16, 2022

The mpg was rated at 33 around town. How about 39/40 aroudn town. Yes, I baby it a little. I go the speed limit and avoid tramping on gasg. Very happy about mpg. Only negative--no sunglasses holder. The paint upcharge for white was a rip off other than that all appears as expected.

Reliable Hybrid Drive Train

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Extremely well built, imported from Korea. Not made in the USA which is a huge plus and the car is very well designed and engineered too.