Home » The 56-MPG Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Is A Great Sub-$30K EV Substitute

The 56-MPG Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Is A Great Sub-$30K EV Substitute

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When you’re an automotive journalist, everyone thinks the job means that you get a new Lamborghini or Bentley or AMG in your driveway every week. This, unfortunately, is not the case. The reality is more that it’s smart to drive a lot of different things so you have a good understanding of the products and technology out there, and the truth is that maybe one in every 10 vehicles you drive is actually memorable.

But I know some writers who always find a way to only drive the fastest, nicest, most expensive and loaded press tester vehicles on the planet. Every. Single. Time. I don’t know how they pull this off. I’ve never been able to. And sometimes cars just aren’t available when you need them, period.

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Take a recent trip I did back home to Texas. Normally I’d ask for something out of the media fleet, drive it around for a week, and turn it into some #content I can make some money off of. I had no such luck recently; the entire state’s fleet was apparently spoken for at some event in Dallas. When you’re in Texas and Toyota (which has lots of local operations) tells you you’re shit out of luck, that’s basically the end of it.

My backup plan is to usually rent a Tesla on Turo, as contributor John Voelcker did recently when he had a few hours with the new Hyundai Ioniq 6. Renting a Model 3 or a Model Y on Turo is a great travel lifehack. They’re super plentiful on that platform, very fun to drive, Autopilot works fine on the highway if you aren’t aggressively stupid with it, and they offer access to enough charging infrastructure that you never really worry about range. Plus, you can use the “it’s just a rental” defense if people bring up how weird the guy up top is.

This lifehack was also a super-cheap move during the worst of the pandemic when traditional rental cars were nowhere to be found. But this last go-around, I couldn’t find a Tesla for the duration of my trip that wasn’t out-of-bounds unaffordable. Instead, I found myself renting something else: a Hyundai Elantra Hybrid.

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Photo: Hyundai

I set myself up to be disappointed. I figured it’d be a brittle little appliance car, a slightly more tolerable alternative to a Toyota Prius, something for Point A to Point B transport. Nothing more.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Friend, the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid actually owns. And nobody seems to know about it! But I’m going to fix that right now.

(Full Disclosure: I rented this car with my own money and also paid for gas with my own money. Once. It’s why I don’t have pictures of it; I didn’t think to write about it until later.) 

The Stealth Fighter

Sure, its speed-freak brother the Elantra N has gotten no end of positive praise. I haven’t driven it yet, but from everything I’ve heard it’s some kind of legit bargain-basement BMW M car. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the hybrid Elantra.

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Photo: Hyundai

At first, it seemed like a far cry from the slick Ioniq cars racking up headlines and awards like there’s no tomorrow. In reality it’s actually a superb daily driver that’s incredibly practical and basically never uses gasoline.

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The Elantra Hybrid is EPA rated at 53 mpg in the city (seriously) and 56 mpg on the highway (hell yes) for a combined 54 mpg (can I get an amen!) That puts it on par with the new 2023 Toyota Prius, the Toyota Corolla Hybrid, the Kia Niro Hybrid it shares running gear with, and… not a ton of other cars.

Maybe that doesn’t sound too exciting to you. But keep two things in mind. One, this is The Autopian, a place where we appreciate good engineering. And two, do you like paying for gasoline? Of course not. Nobody does. Even rich people who drive, like, a Ferrari hate doing this. In my experience, rich people hate paying for stuff more than anybody else. It’s part of how they stay rich.

The Elantra got a total makeover for the 2021 model year, and that gave Hyundai’s smallest sedan some sleek, eye-catching looks and vastly more modern tech. For most of its history, the Elantra was what you got when you couldn’t afford a Honda Civic; now it’s pretty world-class, and one of the best-looking sedans in this segment.

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Photo: Hyundai

The Elantra Hybrid gets a 1.6-liter gasoline inline-four coupled with a small (1.32 kWh) battery pack powering an electric motor – all good for a combined 139 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque running to the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch automatic. Motor Trend rates the 0-60 mph dash at 8.7 seconds; that’s slow, but realistically it feels a bit quicker than that.

Make no mistake, this isn’t, like, a hybrid in the way an Acura NSX is a hybrid. When I think of this car’s acceleration, adjectives like “fine” and “adequate” come to mind. Functionally, it’s about as quick in day-to-day operation as my Mazda 3 hatch (non Speed, non-turbo), which is to say, good enough. But it also has vastly more rear legroom than my car, despite being an ostensible competitor; part of me wishes I had known about it when I was car-shopping two summers ago for something more modern and efficient than our 2002 Toyota 4Runner.

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The real pièce de résistance here is efficiency. And I don’t know what happened to me in life that I’m as excited about how little gas the Elantra Hybrid as I am about, I don’t know, a naturally-aspirated Porsche with a manual gearbox, but here we are.

See, the Elantra Hybrid is functionally an EV a lot of the time; at lower, around-town speeds you’re running in a full-electric mode much more than you’d think. That even happens in highway cruising too. It’s not a plug-in hybrid, either (two of Hyundai’s crossovers are PHEVs if you want that) so you never have to worry about charging, and the transition from electric to gas power is pretty seamless.

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Photo: Hyundai

The “range”—a weird word to use on gas cars now, but why not—is rated at 594 miles per tank on the lower Elantra Hybrid Blue trim and 550 miles on the more expensive but heavier Elantra Hybrid Limited.

I’m not sure why there’s such a huge functional difference in range between two trims, but on the base rental-spec Blue car I used, I can confirm I got north of 500 miles of range every time I filled up. Which, between hundreds of miles of driving around San Antonio and Austin, was only twice—when it was nearly empty and when I dropped the car off. I averaged about 48-49 mpg across the whole trip. Not bad.

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Hell yeah. Photo: Patrick George

Downsides? Sure, it has plenty. The base Blue trim’s interior doesn’t feel spectacular, for one. It’s very clearly not a performance car if that’s what you’re into; the Elantra chassis is a good one but the new Honda Civic has better driving dynamics. (That will come in hybrid form later too, and it’ll be one to watch.) It’s very aggressive with its cross-traffic alerts and other types of beeping. The four-cylinder engine sounds pretty industrial when it’s asked to put in some actual work. And that new Corolla Hybrid offers AWD, which is not an option here.

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But as a daily driver—for those times when you just need a good, normal car that works and keeps your costs down—the Elantra Hybrid is an outstanding contender. And it’s a fantastic “green” choice.

Don’t Sleep On Hybrids

Lately, I’ve been arguing that we’ve collectively thought about hybrids mostly in terms of gas-saving. They are great at that, for sure; but I also think it’s time we start thinking in terms of reducing overall emissions when we can. In that way, hybrids are fantastic. The Elantra Hybrid alone emits about half the CO2 annually than its full-ICE counterpart does.

The Elantra Hybrid feels almost like an EV much of the time, especially at lower speeds, yet it requires no plugging in. Cars like this are a great option if going fully EV isn’t your thing yet, either because the charging infrastructure isn’t up to par yet or because those cars are still way too expensive. (Both are true!)

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I will never forget you, fuel economy king

And the cost thing is my last check in the “win” column for this sedan. The Elantra Hybrid starts at a reasonable $24,550⁠. A quick search on Cars.com revealed a ton of these for sale nationwide, usually in the nicer Limited trim and typically for around $30,000 even. With deeply unhinged new car prices lately, that’s a tough deal to beat.

That’s another unfortunate trope of automotive journalism. The expensive cars always get all the hype and the headlines, but it’s the cheap cars that get shit done. I know this Elantra Hybrid does. Don’t sleep on it; I wish I hadn’t.

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In the meantime, as everyone goes nuts over EVs, here’s hoping we enter into an era when hybrids are more plentiful and capable like this one.

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Scott
Scott
1 year ago

Thanks for the micro-review of an interesting car Patrick!

Greg
Greg
1 year ago

Good review, nice car! Can’t beat it for that price, or its got to be one of the top competitors.

Last edited 1 year ago by Greg
Zman Zx2
Zman Zx2
1 year ago

I have had a ‘20 Ioniq Hybrid Limited for the last two years. Sounds like the newer Elantra hybrid has the same exact drivetrain. I average 42-45 mpg in the winter, 50 in spring/fall running minimal hvac, and 47 in the summer while blasting the AC. My daily commute is about 50% highway, 50% city, in the rolling foothills west of Appalachia. It’s been a pretty good car so far, nothing has gone wrong over 33k miles. My only gripe is the factory installed Michelins began to HOWL on the highway after 20k miles. Alignment is good. They still have tons of tread left at 33k but I can’t wait to replace them.

Zman Zx2
Zman Zx2
1 year ago
Reply to  Zman Zx2

Oh and if you keep it under 55 mph on rural highways in the spring with hvac off you can easily hit 55-60 mpg over a 30 mile trip

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
1 year ago

Well Patrick George Harris, you actually had to pay for your own trip. Well excuuuuuuse meeee (Steve Martin). I am sure that now you wrote about it tax deduction. I would have suggested a better idea, more fun, and more readership. Buy a shitbox or slightly better, or borrow a low end car from Beau. Track expenses for write offs, keep us updated of your trip in case of a needed rescue, then see how much you can sell the car for. Is it more or less expensive than renting? It is not a new idea but better than hey i evaluated a rental to make it a write off? Nez Pas?

Thatmiataguy
Thatmiataguy
1 year ago
Reply to  Mr Sarcastic

I for one enjoyed this article, as did many others.

Don’t worry, I’m sure that eventually someone will write another shitbox article.

JumboG
JumboG
1 year ago
Reply to  Mr Sarcastic

Tax write off doesn’t mean it’s free, just you don’t pay taxes on the amount of the deduction. But you still pay SS and medicare taxes on the income you earned to pay for it. So just guessing the income of a automotive journalist, I going to say at most he got a 20% rebate on the price (and probably less.)

Peter Thompson
Peter Thompson
1 year ago

You say that it’s one of the best looking sedans in this segment, I’ll go further, I say it’s one of the best looking sedans currently available, whatever segment.

ProudLuddite
ProudLuddite
1 year ago
Reply to  Peter Thompson

I saw one the other day and was kind of wowed, I didn’t even know they had restyled it, I love the look and the size. This is the car or at least platform size 70% of the USa should be driving instead of huge trucks and SUVs, daring to dream.

Bizness Comma Nunya
Bizness Comma Nunya
1 year ago

As a new-ish owner of a Tucson Hybrid Blue trim, I can say that:

  1. Yes, Hyundai hybrids will have a harder time reaching EPA numbers in “real world” driving. (I.e. cold winter weather + 75mph+ speeds) compared to what I’m hearing from Toyota hybrid owners. Now that it’s warming up again I am actually achieving EPA numbers, even at higher than legal speeds.
  2. Yes Hyundai’s hybrid system is therefore more complex because it actually has to shift through gears (DCT for Elantra/Ioniq, “traditional” automatic for others but with no torque converter). So it’s nice having the longer standard warranty.
  3. Even with the drawbacks of points 1 and 2… because it has gears to shift through it’s actually kinda… fun? At least compared to drowning CVTs or eCVTs (not that those are bad.. just different.
  4. It’s also nice to have an AWD system with a driveshaft, with an AWD “lock” button for the deep stuff in the mountains.

Toyota hybrids are still the logical choice, but if you can’t find a deal on one… the upcharge for the toyota hybrid vs. a Hyundai/Kia hybrid sure could buy a lot of gas for that Hydundai/Kia hybrid in the meantime!

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
1 year ago

Yes and no, I’ve gotten 57 mpg on an Ioniq while pulling a trailer, which is pretty close to the EPA rating, just can’t have a lead foot and need to try to maintain a steady speed. 54-55 mpg is the more normal daily average, which is still within the same margin of error as other automakers’ real world/EPA results

Bizness Comma Nunya
Bizness Comma Nunya
1 year ago
Reply to  Ranwhenparked

57 mpg with a trailer? That’s pretty impressive. Agreed that speed is what impacts this a lot…

Mr Sarcastic
Mr Sarcastic
1 year ago
Reply to  Ranwhenparked

Let’s be real when manufacturers are going for mpg figures they aren’t driving crazy but hypermiling. Why would they waste mpg for drivers sake? Hell if i ran it and could decide where to test it i would go from Oatman Az. To Needles Ca. A very slight 20 mile downhill trek. If memory serves. You can go from Oatman to I95 in AZ without using the gas pedal if you are extremely patient.

Thatmiataguy
Thatmiataguy
1 year ago
Reply to  Mr Sarcastic

Your lack of understanding on how the EPA test sycle works is showing.

Nycbjr
Nycbjr
1 year ago

hadn’t put this on my list as of late, been debating the merits of another ICE, or an electrified car (HEV/PHEV). I’m mainly peeved at the IRA for making it nearly impossible to get the rebates on one so I’ve been leaning more towards a ICE again. I might refocus on HEV’s now. Went to the NY Autos how and sat in the new Niro, Kona, and Seltos, not bad to live with. Let’s get real they are just lifted hatchbacks not cuvs lol

Amschroeder5
Amschroeder5
1 year ago

Another seriously unrated real-world benefit of these ‘standard’ hybrids is the way they tackle hills (both up and down) relative to any gas-only vehicle of even remotely similar HP/weight. The electric motors are certainly small, but extremely torque-heavy. This allows them to fill the demands without sending the poor car into 5000 rpm scream mode just because you want to maintain speed on an incline. Which is both an auditory nuisance, but also not a very pleasant experience when the car pauses and jerks for a moment to shift gears and then reapply power. Now yes, obviously this isn’t as big of a deal or feature for higher performance vehicles, but comparing to the ice base or even intermediate options for almost all of the mainstream examples, it is a huge QoL adjustment.

The second QoL adjustment that doesn’t get enough praise is how the hybrid motor fully eliminates any sort of start-stop jitters from auto-stop at intersections etc. Sure 48V systems dramatically reduce this problem, but nothing matches the pure seemless operation (that is amongst combustion vehicles in general).

Really that is the bigger picture, traditional hybrids smooth the shit out of the driving experience in a way that I think far too few automotive journalists consider positive or even noteworthy. Meanwhile, when your kids, elderly family, SO are onboard, it is a **huge** thing.

We do talk about this effect a bit with EVs, and I say this as a current EV owner and former hybrid Ford Fusion owner, but it does not get enough credit for how much real normal people value it once they have experienced the possibility.

Ben
Ben
1 year ago
Reply to  Amschroeder5

When I first got my Prius, it took me a while to even figure out when the gas engine was kicking on as I pulled away from stoplights. It’s so quiet and smooth anyway, plus the seamless integration with the electric motors makes it hard to detect most of the time.

Dar Khorse
Dar Khorse
1 year ago

Affordable cars in the 40 – 50 mpg range? It’s the late 1970’s all over again! https://www.mpgomatic.com/2007/10/08/super-cheap-high-mpg-cars-1978-1981/

Granted, these little cars weren’t nearly as safe as today’s vehicles and didn’t have nearly the power, but imagine where we’d be today if we’d kept up this trend instead of everyone rushing back to enormous trucks and (eventually) SUVs once the oil crisis faded away?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Hyundai, Toyota, etc. are selling these, but I just shake my head when I think of the billions of gallons of oil that were squandered over the past 40+ years.

Last edited 1 year ago by Dar Khorse
Vic Vinegar
Vic Vinegar
1 year ago
Reply to  Dar Khorse

These might not be like rolling in a S550, but they are certainly far removed from the high mpg penalty boxes of the past.

Ben
Ben
1 year ago
Reply to  Dar Khorse

They might have saved gas, but they would have done so by spewing tons of crap into the air. That’s not a win for the planet. An extra 10 MPG for quadruple the emissions is a terrible trade to make.

Dar Khorse
Dar Khorse
1 year ago
Reply to  Ben

Of course – and thanks for reading things into my post that I didn’t even imply. I’m not saying that we should return to polluting engines or tiny uncomfortable cars VicVinegar and Nemebean. I’m just saying that we were able to produce high mpg cars 40+ years ago (which were considerably less polluting than their 10 – 20 mpg contemporaries) and abandoned that effort when oil priced dropped again and it’s a shame that we didn’t continue developing more modern, less polluting, high mpg cars. Just imagine where we’d be if we hadn’t started producing single-digit mpg Hummers instead of continuing the high mpg trend.

Last edited 1 year ago by Dar Khorse
Cheap Bastard
Cheap Bastard
1 year ago
Reply to  Dar Khorse

If asked I’d imagine if asked the owners of those gas guzzlers would say we’d be a nation of emasculated, tiny dicked, limp wristed lisping sissy sheeples, probably under the gun taking oppressive thumb of Moscow, Bejing and maybe Paris. Jesus put that gas there for US!

Guzzling gas and voting for Reagan are what made America great!

Last edited 1 year ago by Cheap Bastard
Ben
Ben
1 year ago
Reply to  Dar Khorse

I didn’t read anything into your response. You said we should have kept up the trend of high MPG 70’s engines, which were only high MPG because they had horrible emissions. That wasn’t a good trend.

And it’s not like we exclusively developed Hummers in the intervening years. There have always been high MPG small cars, the definition of “high MPG” just changed because we stopped accepting all of the huge drawbacks of those 70’s cars. Sure, you could optimize exclusively for an MPG number, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do, either for the planet or for drivers.

MAX FRESH OFF
MAX FRESH OFF
1 year ago
Reply to  Dar Khorse

My 1987 CRX got 46/51 MPG but it would have crumpled like a soda can in a collision. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/2911.shtml

Jnnythndrs
Jnnythndrs
1 year ago
Reply to  Dar Khorse

EPA estimates were ridiculously optimistic in those days – especially the highway numbers – and estimates for smaller cars were particularly inaccurate. I think there have been at least two major EPA rejiggerings of mileage estimates since these rather optimistic numbers were published. Nobody on the planet ever got 50mpg out of an Izuzu I-mark unless they were towing it, and remember, an automatic transmission would tank the mileage to the tune of 10 to 12mpg in some cases, due to the lack of overdrive.

Nothing against the little tiny tinny econocars of old – I owned several of them back in the day – but they weren’t as economical as you might think when looking at the numbers.

B3n
B3n
1 year ago
Reply to  Dar Khorse

And some 90s Euro-cars like the Citroen Saxo 1.5 diesel could get around high 60s MPG back then. That had a naturally aspirated diesel with a mechanical injection pump.
Then there was also a Lupo “3L” version which could reach 78 MPG.
I’m really curious what MPG would a modern small diesel with common rail injection and a hybrid drivetrain would get.

Sivad Nayrb
Sivad Nayrb
1 year ago

I remain unconvinced regarding Hyundai (and Kia) and the long term reliability of their engines/transmissions…

Thatmiataguy
Thatmiataguy
1 year ago
Reply to  Sivad Nayrb

Yeah, this is definitely the kind of car where I would 100% buy the extended warranty.

In 10 years or so, expect to see the 1.6 liter and/or DCT in the news for failing prematurely. Kind of like the 2.0T that they started putting in everything starting in 2011.

Last edited 1 year ago by Thatmiataguy
Alexander Moore
Alexander Moore
1 year ago
Reply to  Thatmiataguy

I want to say the Korean-built 1.6L generally has a better rep than the American-made 2.0L? Australians only get the Korean made Hyundai motors and they still believe them to be a reliable brand, so I’m wondering if it’s just that the different manufacturing locations are inconsistent. DCTs, though, strike me as maintenance-needy, but then again so are CVTs.

Twobox Designgineer
Twobox Designgineer
1 year ago
Reply to  Sivad Nayrb

Just a single data point here. 2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring (the compact wagon). When I sold it in 2019 it had had no direct driveline problems, and only one drivetrain-adjacent problem. Main fan froze up in 2019 and had to be replaced

I liked that car. I did a move with it, and had a medium large dog in the back with plenty of room. The interior was pleasant, with very nice materials. It didn’t get the mileage of my previous Civic sedan, but that’s to be expected with a square back and a drivetrain that was pretty out of date and I think was replaced the next year.

Last edited 1 year ago by Twobox Designgineer
05LGT
05LGT
1 year ago
Reply to  Sivad Nayrb

I’m more scared of the short term variability in build quality. The horror stories of lemon law returns and the BS fights to get them to honor their legally mandated liabilities are strong. The good ones are good, too many not good ones and too few repair parts on this continent.

4jim
4jim
1 year ago

I would like it to be a plug in hybrid with a bit (30ish) miles of ev range and still at the $25k range. I have the plug in the garage wall waiting for an EV.

Spartanjohn113
Spartanjohn113
1 year ago
Reply to  4jim

With that price range, a used 2018 Chevy Volt might be just what you’re looking for. That or a Ford Fusion Energi.

PaysOutAllNight
PaysOutAllNight
1 year ago
Reply to  Spartanjohn113

I think the Honda Clarity PHEV is the best of the used PHEV lot in the $25k range.

Much more roomy than the Volt and more space for groceries in the back than the Fusion Energi. It also drives much nicer than either one. Also, many of the major body panels are aluminum, so corrosion shouldn’t be nearly as much of a long term issue as the Volt or Fusion.

RataTejas
RataTejas
1 year ago

The whole car is aluminum, made in Japan. Don’t crash it. There are fewer than about 40K copies in the US. Body parts are unobtanium. (2018 Clarity Owner)

PaysOutAllNight
PaysOutAllNight
1 year ago
Reply to  RataTejas

Here’s the 2018 Clarity Plug-in Hybrid: New Model Body Repair Information. While it is true that almost all the exterior body panels are aluminum, the Clarity is not all aluminum.

Honda says “Body construction using 52% lightweight materials, including aluminum and ultra-high-strength steel”.

There’s still a lot of steel in use, but it’s mostly hidden, and of alloys that are highly resistant to rust, but not immune.

Mine is also a 2018.

Alexander Moore
Alexander Moore
1 year ago
Reply to  RataTejas

How’s reliability? I’ve heard a few things about the single-drive gearing system being finicky, but it’s also a Honda so maybe minor issues are blown out of proportion since it ‘should be reliable’.

PaysOutAllNight
PaysOutAllNight
1 year ago

Front wheel bearings are a known weak point; plan on replacement at around 60k miles but you probably won’t need to. Rear brake discs don’t seem to be made of the best steel and might wear unevenly or develop grooves, but fortunately those are dirt cheap and simple to replace.

Other than that, I haven’t heard of trouble points.

The transmission and generator system is the same as the Accord hybrid.

Alexander Moore
Alexander Moore
1 year ago

That’s good to hear! Might be in the market for one once they depreciate to the low $20k range. The reports I was hearing mentioned that it struggled on long inclines? But that could just be Americans losing their mind when they have less than 300 hp at their disposal. How’s it for long distance?

Thomas Metcalf
Thomas Metcalf
1 year ago
Reply to  4jim

Me too! That would be perfect for my wife or I to commute with. We both drive about 60 km per day total, so it would use a little bit of gas each day to keep the stuff in the tank from going funky, and have the range for occasional weekend trips.

Pneumatic Tool
Pneumatic Tool
1 year ago

As a *car person*(TM) you tend to put things like MPG near the bottom of the list of stuff to get you excited about. Performance, handling, style, even weirdness tend to come higher.

And then you drive one of these fuel sippers on a long distance journey.

This is exactly what happened to me a few years back – I discovered the wonders of near 50 MPG in a rental Camry on a 14 hour drive. Honestly, it was an eye opening experience that helped guide my next vehicle choice (a Mazda6 because I couldn’t JUST go all in on MPG), and the Elantra that my son now has. Yes, an Elantra is typically more appliance than anything, but I have to say that this one has some pretty striking looks, and the interior isn’t shabby either.

Alexander Moore
Alexander Moore
1 year ago
Reply to  Pneumatic Tool

This. I daily a ’12 XC70 T6 which is ridiculously powerful for its size (relatively speaking, it’s no M5) but averages 22 mpg highway if I’m lucky. I rented a DN8 (latest gen) Sonata last summer and managed to eke out over 42 mpg highway in a non-hybrid. I was gobsmacked, and the car didn’t really feel underpowered at all.

GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
1 year ago

I can’t tell if these are simply forgotten about in the market or it’s just they blend in that well. I tend to think it’s the former, but the last couple news releases from Hyundai I found looking for any breakout of the hybrid’s sales only cited that Elantra hybrid sales continue to grow.

My dad has an earlier Niro which is a similar powertrain setup just older, so also dual-clutch. I was skeptical when I first drove it, preparing for DCT weirdness as Hyundai’s rep for them wasn’t great (this was after the Tucson dropped it for example), but it really does perform well. It also hangs out in EV mode more than expected. He has the larger wheels (had to settle for it to get the desired options), which as others have mentioned takes a hit on EPA ratings, but after hand-calculating the first couple tanks it averaged about the same as the smaller 16″ wheel option, so equaling/bettering the EPA listings. The new Niro does it better/more flexibly, where each trim has a Touring option with the bigger wheels.

I’ve read some reviews saying other newer Hyundai/Kia hybrids aren’t close to the MPG estimates like the Tucson/Sportage, but not sure how they’ve done in the real-world too.

Automotiveflux
Automotiveflux
1 year ago

I’ve been saying hybrids are the way to go for years now! My wife has a 2020 Rav4 Hybrid AWD that we got brand new and it’s basically the perfect family vehicle. Extremely good mileage, AWD for Canadian winters and enough space for 95% of use cases, the other 5% go to my truck. With a baby coming very soon the Rav4 is going to be swallowing strollers and other large baby stuff (why is baby stuff so large when they are so small?) with no problems. It’s just a great car overall for the average person.

JerryLH3
JerryLH3
1 year ago

Lately, I’ve been arguing that we’ve collectively thoughts about hybrids mostly in terms of gas-saving. They are great at that, for sure; but I also think it’s time we start thinking in terms of reducing overall emissions when we can. In that way, hybrids are fantastic. The Elantra Hybrid alone emits about half the CO2 annually than its full-ICE counterpart does.

There’s a few voices that have been saying this recently (Matt Farah comes to mind), but everyone should be screaming this from the rooftops. If the goal is less gasoline consumption and emissions reductions, this is the best way to do this right now. Hybrids and plug in hybrids can provide dramatic benefits, but everyone wants to rush straight into an EV with some mythical 400 mile range that they absolutely “need” even though that does not meet the use case for 99% of their life.

Vic Vinegar
Vic Vinegar
1 year ago
Reply to  JerryLH3

This is what Toyota has been saying, but they get panned in the automotive press for not committing to make their lineup entirely BEVs by next year.

An affordable vehicle that gets 50+ mpg? That is absolutely with the market needs.

I just wish there were more hybrids. I’m looking at a SUV or van with room for stuff, and the idea of buying a 20 mpg vehicle that I might still own in 2030 is not exciting.

Judging by the relatively difficulty people are having buying a Toyota Sienna or Highlander Hybrid for MSRP these days, it seems there is room for more players in that segment.

Ben
Ben
1 year ago
Reply to  Vic Vinegar

If Toyota had just committed to PHEVs as their “EV” strategy then I’d agree, but instead they fought EV adoption and pushed the even less practical hydrogen as the future. I would argue Toyota did the right thing while saying all the wrong things, and that’s why they get blasted by the press.

GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
1 year ago
Reply to  JerryLH3

Yep, from the early days of hybrids, every single review compared its price against the nonhybrid variant or whatever was closest to determine how long it would take to make up the fuel savings. “And then what about the battery replacement???” The 2nd-gen Prius became the poster child for eco-consciousness, but as a unique design with Camrylike room it at least helped steer the convo away from “just buy a Corolla and use the extra cash you save on gas.”

Environmental benefits were more about reducing fuel consumption and/or foreign oil than what was being put into the air. I’ve mentioned before but remember too certain people would dismiss the emissions benefit by saying producing a Hummer is less harmful than a Prius or something because of the batteries and shipping it all around.

A lot of the tech in ICE cars now like small-displacement turbos and start stop get billed as fuel-saving measures even if real-world benefit is slim-to-none; arguably it’s more about reduced emissions, but that’s not as tangible to the consumer as an MPG benefit.

Ben
Ben
1 year ago

Small displacement turbos aren’t better for emissions though. They’re purely about gaming the EPA test to look better even though they have a bunch of diesel-like particulate emissions.

GreatFallsGreen
GreatFallsGreen
1 year ago
Reply to  Ben

Yeah I debated including it under that umbrella – they’re supposed to be more of a fuel economy play for sure, but was thinking (fairly unscientifically) more of smaller engines emitting less in lab testing vs. larger engines even though real world may not play out that way.

Thatmiataguy
Thatmiataguy
1 year ago

“I’m not sure why there’s such a huge functional difference in range between two trims”

The Limited Trim comes with larger diameter (17 inch vs 16 inch) wheels and wider (225 mm vs 205 mm ) tires. The bigger wheels are heavier and the wider tires have more rolling resistance, which reduces mpg and thus range.

This is actually quite common to see on hybrids.

Toyota Camry SE Hybrid vs LE Hybrid: 44/47 mpg vs. 51/53 mpg

Honda Accord Hybrid Sport vs (Base) Hybrid: 46/41 mpg vs. 51/44 mpg.

Last edited 1 year ago by Thatmiataguy
Chronometric
Chronometric
1 year ago

A car that meets 95% of use cases in the most efficient way possible. How the hell would I impress the neighbors with that?

Automotiveflux
Automotiveflux
1 year ago
Reply to  Chronometric

Park a Corvette right next to it

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
1 year ago
Reply to  Chronometric

Grow a more elaborate mustache and twirl it at them?

Man With A Reliable Jeep
Man With A Reliable Jeep
1 year ago

The faster Hyundai transitions to an EV-only lineup, the better. Their track record for modern ICE engines is not confidence inspiring.

Nlpnt
Nlpnt
1 year ago

I’d have to say that the ur-Ioniq that this replaces was a better small CUV substitute since it was a liftback and this is a sedan with mail-slot trunk opening.

Vic Vinegar
Vic Vinegar
1 year ago
Reply to  Nlpnt

I also liked the Ioniq. It was a direct competitor to the Prius, but I guess Hyundai decided they didn’t need that anymore. Can’t remember if the Niro has a HEV option, so maybe that is still somewhat there.

Drew
Drew
1 year ago
Reply to  Vic Vinegar

Niro is HEV, PHEV, or EV, so it is a good hatchback option. It’s weird to me that the Kona doesn’t similarly offer hybrids, but I guess that the two offer a pretty complete range taken together. I assume they went away from the Ioniq because they started using that name for EVs, but they could have easily just called it the Elantra liftback or something and kept selling it.

SYKO Simmons
SYKO Simmons
1 year ago

Let’s be real…. It’ll be far from that price once dealers mark it up to death.

Vic Vinegar
Vic Vinegar
1 year ago
Reply to  SYKO Simmons

In my area I found a dealer advertising small discounts on the Limited trim. Could be dealer lies, but they might just be under the radar. Everyone is falling over themselves to get a Toyota instead.

Thatmiataguy
Thatmiataguy
1 year ago
Reply to  Vic Vinegar

Probably the reason everyone is going for Toyotas is because they’ll last forever whereas this Hyundai (while nice, and having good mpg) will quite possibly have some sort of engine trouble before 100K miles.

Also, you’ll have to go to a Hyundai dealer to buy one which they say are some of the worst dealerships period.

Vic Vinegar
Vic Vinegar
1 year ago
Reply to  Thatmiataguy

True, I said it like that, but will likely wait for a Toyota than settle for a Hyundai.

Drew
Drew
1 year ago
Reply to  SYKO Simmons

These aren’t going to get the markups that some things are, because this is the only place I have seen anyone excited about one. Heck, my local Hyundai dealer has stopped all their markups because they started actually sitting on their inventory again, even on the more popular models.

Ranwhenparked
Ranwhenparked
1 year ago
Reply to  SYKO Simmons

Dealers aren’t marking up small hybrid passenger cars, it’s rare enough anyone wants one, they’re not going to ruin their chance of getting it off the lot to make room for a Palisade or Santa Cruz that they can mark up. Granted, you’re not getting discounts, but list is achievable on something like this.

I paid straight MSRP on an Ioniq Hybrid last year that had been special ordered by another customer who got tired of waiting and cancelled it, same dealer had a couple (two) Elantra Hybrids in stock, also at MSRP, not a penny under, but not a penny over, either

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