Written by Marco Carvajal
Test driving the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)
Santa Fe
Santa Fe has been a great success for the automaker, it is Hyundai’s best-selling SUV in the brand’s 36-year history in America. It is Hyundai’s best-value SUV. It is the perfect middle size between the compact Tucson SUV and the larger midsize Palisade SUV.
The Santa Fe seats five passengers but offers more internal room than the Hyundai Tucson and it is more accessible and maneuverable than the larger Hyundai Palisade.
Pricing is one of the key elements to Santa Fe’s successful sales, offering tons of standard and optional features for a low cost. Good pricing and value keep repeated buyers selecting the Santa Fe as their first choice SUV inside the Hyundai family.
The new Santa Fe features a wide range of next-generation engines that deliver greater efficiency and lower CO2 emissions with hybrid technology, combining electric and gasoline engines.
The Santa Fe is Hyundai’s best-selling SUV in the brand’s 36-year history in America, this SUV offers a family-oriented interior, practically advanced technology, and a bold exterior that looks great but is priced with value and budget in mind.
The new Santa Fe Plug-in hybrid
This Santa Fe I am test driving includes a 66.9 kW electric motor and 13.8-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery that delivers 30 miles of all-electric range. It is not a huge range, but it can be very helpful when running on low gasoline. and I expect the range will increase with new generations of this model.
The turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine has a strong 261 horsepower combined system output.
The Santa Fe’s mechanical elements like a six-speed automatic transmission, a standard HTRAC All Wheel Drive, and over 70 MPGe, make the Santa Fe Plug-in Hybrid a very innovative and modern SUV producing great fuel economy with 33 MPG average combined highway and city.
2022 Hyundai Santa Fe Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Highlights
- Very efficient fuel economy with 33 Miles per Gallon Combined consumption when driving City and Highway.
- HTRAC all-wheel-drive standard
- Starting at a $40K MSRP
- All-electric mode to drive without using gas
- All-electric range of 30 miles with a full charge
- Hyundai’s first-ever Plug-in Hybrid SUV
- Regenerative braking uses the brakes to convert energy into electric power, which recharges the battery
- HOV lane allows you to drive this Santa Fe Plug-in solo in certain carpool lanes
- Smartstream 1.6L GDI with 6-speed automatic transmission
The new 2022 Santa Fe
Continuing with the successful sales of this car, the new completely redesigned Santa Fe SUV offers more space, comfort, and convenience to please every driver.
The new 2022 Santa Fe features an even more expressive and elegant design, an impressive array of the latest technology, and advanced safety features, combined with efficient and powerful engines.
The Santa Fe has a modern and elegant appearance combining a masculine style with refined elegance, but it doesn’t cost you more than most SUVs on the market. it has a low price, you get a lot for your money, with a purchase price of around $35K for the regular Santa Fe, or starting at $40K for the Hybrid Plug-in Santa Fe.
The 2022 Santa Fe is smart and modern with new state-of-the-art safety features, as well as advanced driver assistance systems, allowing the new Santa Fe to compete with premium cars, even if the Santa Fe is recognized more as a value SUV than a premium, you can see a lot of elegant design details that make you feel premium. The Santa Fe is a successful product, featuring excellent active safety systems and technology.
This plug-in hybrid SUV lets you have the best of both worlds, you can plug and charge it in a regular electric outlet at your house, or you can fill the tank with regular gasoline.
The new interior and exterior design of the Santa Fe looks fantastic, elegant, modern, and very practical.
Pricing and Models for the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV
The 2022 Santa Fe PHEV is only available in two trim models, the base model SEL or the top-of-the-line Limited that I am test-driving. Both models have good value prices for a hybrid plug-in SUV, from $40K to $46K.
Test driving the PHEV Limited is a pleasure, I really enjoy several aspects of this SUV. To start I like that pricing for the top-of-the-line model is reasonable and low for its segment. I enjoy how quiet with zero noise is the engine of this Santa Fe and how efficient with 33 MPG combined but includes great power with 261 hp.
- 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV SEL MSRP $40,000
- 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV Limited $46,010
Some of the differences between the SEL and the Limited model are that the Limited comes with Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA), Blind-Spot View Monitor (BVM), and Surround View Monitor (SVM).
Both models share many of the same features like standard Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA) and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA) among other features.
Engine
Both models Santa Fe PHEV SEL and Limited share the same engine, an Inline 4-cylinder turbo Plug-in Hybrid with 1.6 liters. Both models include the same 178 horsepower and same 195 @ 1500-4500 Torque.
Electric motor power output 66.9 kW producing 90 horsepower and Electric motor torque of 224 lb.-ft.
The combined hybrid system produces 261 horsepower
The Santa Fe plug-in Hybrid includes a smart 6-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC, it also includes Drive Mode Select, and HTRAC All Wheel Drive.
Charging Plug-in
Usually charging a fully electric car at a regular electricity outlet at your home can take around 24 hours for a full charge, usually what I do in this case is that I charge it at night for around 12 hours then drive again the next day and then charge again next night for another 12 hours for a full charge that will last you several days.
Another option is to buy and install a fast charger at your house so you can fully charge your electric battery in just a couple of hours. The cost of a fast charger varies but it can cost you just a few hundred dollars.
In the case of the Santa Fe Plug-in Electric Hybrid, the all-electric range is only 30 miles therefore fully charging the electric battery can take only a few hours on a regular outlet, or minutes in a fast charger station.
There are charging stations near most major highways and cities in the United States and with them, there will be more and more stations. Usually, it can take you around 1 hour or less to fully charge an electric car. One issue that some people find is that because there are not so many fast charging stations you might have to wait in line for the car in front of you to finish charging.
The advantage of the Santa Fe Plug-in Hybrid is that you don’t depend only on electricity and you can drive it just with regular gas. Charging will help you save gas, but the hybrid engine also will produce electricity to charge the battery.
Fuel Economy
Both Santa Fe PHEV models share the same fuel economy.
- 33 Combined MPG Miles per Gallon fuel consumption
- 76 Miles per Gallon Electric MPGe fuel consumption
- All-Electric Range of 30 miles
- Fuel tank capacity of 12.4 gallons
Competitors of the Hyundai Santa Fe are the Toyota Venza Hybrid, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid or Honda CRV Hybrid among other mid-size SUVs.
