We have had a 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV for an extended test drive for almost a year, and today I want to make my final report of my experiences and impressions. By the way, PHEV is the acronym for “Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle,” which describes it perfectly.
SUMMARY
First, between my husband and I, we drove the car every single day, whether for regular errands or on any of several long and short road trips up and down California. In fact, I do not think my husband has driven his “regular” vehicle (a big American SUV) at all since we have had the Santa Fe to drive. In general, the Santa Fe PHEV is a mid-size SUV, comfortable for 5 adults, that offers the option of driving on electric power, gasoline power, or switching automatically between the two power systems.
Here is my “talking point” summary of our combined observations and opinions.
The Santa Fe is a comfortable, practical, safe, and economical vehicle for our family.
This Hyundai performed flawlessly for us, not one tiny problem with it, not even a rattle or squeak. Hyundai quality control seems to be excellent.
The range with “electric drive only” mode is sufficient for my daily errands around our Los Angeles suburb – taking my son to school and back, going to the gym every day, and shopping at my favorite stores in the area.
If you exceed the range of the battery power, no worry – the Santa Fe PHEV switches automatically and seamlessly to gasoline power. That happened on our several road trips around the state, without any issue at all. And in gasoline-mode, the mileage is exceptional, very economical – we always exceeded 30-mpg, usually by quite a bit.
STYLE AND COMFORT
I like the looks of the Santa Fe, it is sleek and modern, with a bold and eye-catching grill. The interior features comfortable seats up front, separated by a center console; the rear seats accommodate 3 adults in comfort, too; when we go out as a family, I normally like to ride in back, and always found the seating to be quite pleasant, even on long road trips. I should mention that the front seats each have individual heaters and coolers built into them, so useful for individual comfort.
A feature we really came to like is the large touch-screen control panel in the center of the instrument panel; with easy-to-understand menu choices, you control radio, climate, navigation, and more. I can even read the screen from the back seat, it is that clear.
Another unusual feature we really enjoy on the Santa Fe is the over-sized sunroof. With a touch of a button, you can open the roof up all the way to the back seats, so everyone can enjoy sunlight and a skyview.
SAFETY FEATURES
I am nervous driving in Los Angeles’ notorious traffic, so I want all the safety features possible, and the Santa Fe really satisfies me in that way. Of course, there are cameras all around, so I the Hyundai can “see” and warn me about other cars getting too close in the blind-spots, or when I am backing up in a parking lot, and when I am indicating to turn. If you are not paying attention for a moment at a stoplight, it will “remind” you when the car ahead starts to move, or if you are getting too close, too fast.
Recently, when the car next to us on the freeway went out of control and unexpectedly swerved into our lane from the right, and at night, we discovered another useful safety feature: “Emergency Braking.” When the other car came into our lane, the Santa Fe immediately and automatically braked hard, and successfully avoided a crash. My husband was driving, and he gave the Hyundai’s excellent system full credit for keeping us out a potential wreck. “The Hyundai braked and saved us before I even realized the car was coming into our lane,” he said, gratefully.
Another safety feature my husband insists on is the all-wheel drive, which means that the Santa Fe will not have tires spin when driving in rain, snow, or in soft dirt or sand. We always feel very safe and in control in those conditions, because the Hyundai automatically applies the right amount of power to the right wheels to keep moving under control.
BENEFITS OF HYBRID POWER
The Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV can drive on electric power with its batteries, or on gasoline power, or transition automatically and seamlessly from one to the other.
We got in the habit of plugging the car in to an electric outlet at our home at night (most often, after 9 p.m., when electric rates are lower in our area), and in the morning it is fully charged. The full charge is rated to provide 32 miles of “electric only” range, and that more than covers our normal daily driving needs – to school, to the gym, to some stores. As a result, we rarely have to buy gasoline any more, and with California gas prices at $6.00/gallon today, that is a big relief for my pocketbook!
But, the advantage of a hybrid like this Santa Fe PHEV, is that if you do need to drive farther than the battery’s range, there is no problem. Just switch to gasoline mode (the Hyundai will do it automatically for you), and you can go several hundred miles before filling up at a gas station, like any “regular” car.
On a Boy Scout camping trip during the summer, my husband drove the Santa FE PHEV in caravan with another adult leader who drove an all-electric vehicle. While our Hyundai was easily able to make the 180-mile drive with the convenient combination of electric and gas, the other father had to plan his route according to available charging stations. That added miles to the trip, because the stations were not on the most direct route to the campground, and hours for full-charging the other vehicle to make sure it had enough “juice” to get up the mountain, and down again. Until there are a lot more public charging stations built, that will remain a consideration for all-electric vehicles, I think. We really appreciate the convenience of Hyundai’s hybrid technology.
The gasoline engine is not large, but it is turbo-charged, and that means it gets a lot of energy from every drop of fuel. The car has plenty of power to accelerate to get onto a freeway, and to handle every traffic condition we encountered.
To give a practical illustration of Santa Fe PHEV performance as a gas-electric hybrid, let me share how it worked out for us. During our long road test, we drove the Santa Fe almost exactly 6,000 miles, and we purchased just under 40 gallons of fuel during that time; for the way we used the vehicle, which I think is “average” for a suburban family, we drove about 150 miles for every gallon of gas we purchased. We figured out that a little over 80% of the time, we drove on electric power alone. Almost the only time we used gas power was on weekend road trips (we love to get away for a couple days, often pretty spontaneously), and it was really nice to have that option when we wanted, so we did not have to recharge the battery on the road. And at home, the Santa Fe recharged fully while we slept, just plugged into a regular household outlet; it did not need any special electrical wiring at all.
BUILD AND QUALITY CONTROL
Driving the Santa Fe every day for nearly a year, I have to applaud Hyundai for its excellent engineering, construction, and quality control. NOTHING WENT WRONG, AT ALL. The car does not squeak, rattle, balk, make any strange noises. We did not even have the slightest issue with the car. I am almost afraid our auto mechanic might have forgotten us, because we have not needed to see him since we have had the Hyundai to drive.
CARGO
The Santa Fe has plenty of room in the rear cargo area for the luggage we normally carry for a trip – and, as you may know, I carry more bags than the average lady, so I can style many different outfits on a trip. It also carried all the tents and half the backpacks for a Boy Scout Troop camp-out, together with my husband and 4 teen-age Scouts. It is not a huge moving van, but it has more than enough cargo room for anything we wanted or needed to do.
Also, under the floor of the cargo area, there are some hidden compartments, where you can stow valuable cameras, designer purses, or other valuables, and they will be totally concealed.
FINAL WORDS
We really enjoyed the Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV more than we expected. We took it on quite a few road trips during the last year, and drove it every single day when we were at home. It is comfortable, safe, and with its hybrid-power, very economical to operate. Over-all, it is an excellent vehicle for a family like ours – which is to say, pretty much a typical American family. (Side note: my dear sister-in-law visited us from Minnesota a few months back, and we were surprised to learn she also had a Hyundai, the slightly smaller Tucson, and loved hers as much as we love “ours!”)
In truth, we will be sad to see the Santa Fe go.
