I am happy to be testing the new 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with my family, a new version of this great-looking seven-seat family SUV designed to give you the fuel efficiency of a diesel from a suburban-friendly petrol engine AND all-wheel drive! Let's get straight into seeing how this new hybrid model stacks up as a BabyDrive…
Starting with the Santa Fe seating, like the Kia Sorento and non-hybrid models of the Santa Fe there are no third-row airbags. It is important you know so you are making an informed decision from the start if you are planning to use the third-row seats regularly.
Now moving on to the child seats… This seven-seater 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid family SUV has ISOFix in both of the outer second-row seats. They are not within plastic guides but are nice and easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three second-row seats of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, they are clearly labelled and easy to connect to through the boot.
I found three Infasecure child seats would just fit across this second row of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. I installed the Infasecure Attain More rear-facing behind the driver's seat and two forward-facing Infasecure Achieve More seats beside it. I could not fit three forward-facing child seats across there was not enough space across the car at headrest height.
Unfortunately, the third-row seats in the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid do not have any top tether anchorages or ISOFix points so I couldn't install any tethered child seats back there.
You can put an Infasecure Versatile Folding Booster seat or two in the third-row seats of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid if you have older children as their lightweight design means they do not need a top tether strap.
I could sit in the third row very comfortably and I'm 162cm tall. If you have three child seats in the second row, you do have to uninstall a child seat in order to access the third-row seats, so you can fold the seat forward and climb through.
Legroom is good throughout the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid and when I was seated in the third row with a rear-facing Infasecure Attain More child seat in the second row, then a 182cm driver could fit in front. Or with a forward-facing child seat in the second row, a 184cm+ driver can sit in front.
The second-row footwell of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is nice and flat which makes it nice and comfortable for centre seat passengers and easy little passengers to walk to and from their child seats across the car.
The access buttons on the side of the front passenger seat make it easy for the driver to move that seat electronically without having to get out of the car, which was great for school pick-ups and helping elderly relatives in and out of the car. Some say big-kid rear passengers reach forward and play with them while you are driving along for japes, which I can imagine me and my siblings doing when we were young!
Storage for families is good throughout the 2023 Santa Fe Hybrid. In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two cup holders that will hold reusable coffee cup.
Map pockets on the back of both front seats will hold and conceal an iPad.
Rear door bins are large enough for an iPad with a refillable water bottle and there are little handle wells that are good for storage too.
In the front of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, the storage is great too.
There are two cup holders in the central console that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and behind them is a good size central console box.
Beside the cup holders is a phone charging slot you post your phone down into and a USB charging socket.
Underneath the central console bridge, there's a great storage area, large enough for an iPad or your handbag or your kids' lunch box! There are charging points, USB-C and 12V, there too.
A shelf on the dash gives the front passenger a spot for their phone and the glove box is a practical size holding a wallet and iPad with the manual.
Third-row passengers are also well taken care of with a cup and phone holder beside their seats.
Third-row passengers in the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybridalso have a USB-C socket for charging devices and air vents and climate controls beside them too.
In the second-row passengers have air vents in the back of the central console box and charging sockets for their devices below them too.
Front passengers have four air vents across the front dashboard…
…and controls on the dash for front and rear climate.
Boot space in the new 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is the same as the non-hybrid Santa Fe models, so space has not been taken from the boot to house the battery. The Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid fits seventeen shopping bags when empty, which is the same as the Kia Sorento, despite the Kia Sorento being a bigger car overall. For more space, the Toyota Kluger Hybrid will hold twenty shopping bags and for less space the Nissan X-Trail e-Power holds thirteen shopping bags.
You can easily fit a twin or double pram in the boot of the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid when using five seats…
… or you can put the carpet mat down on the boot floor which makes it nice and flat and comfortable for when you are transporting a large family dog in the boot.
Using all seven seats the 2023 Santa Fe Hybrid will hold five shopping bags, which is comparable to the Sorento which will also hold five. If you need more room, the Nissan Pathfinder and Toyota Kluger will both hold eight bags and the Mazda CX-9 will hold seven shopping bags (although of those only the Kluger is available as a hybrid).
However, when using all seven seats I could only just fit a single pram in the boot with the wheel removed.
Or a compact stroller will fit with a few shopping bags. A double pram will not fit in the boot. See: Which seven-seat SUVs can fit a twin stroller in the boot? if you need that for your family.
The front seats are heated and cooled in the top-spec Hybrid model I am testing and there's also a heated steering wheel.
The second-row seats are also heated in the Santa Fe Hybrid, however, the controls for this are in the second-row doors which are just asking for trouble with my daughter and her friends to quietly cook themselves while we drive along!
The driver's door control panel has a child lock button which is great for families to lock both the rear doors and windows at the same time so little ones can't fiddle with them.
In the ceiling where a glasses case would be is a great seatbelt removal visual so you can see exactly which passengers have their seatbelts fastened.
There are built-in rear window blinds in the back of higher-spec 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid models which are great for keeping little rear passengers shaded from the sun while we drive along.
The top-spec 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has a great family feature that allows you to drive the car backwards and forwards in and out of parking spaces, remotely from the key fob. We found this really handy in car parks where spaces are just too tight to get kids in and out of the car without the doors banging into the car parked next door. I found this really useful with the kids.
The 2023 Santa Fe Hybrid is a quiet and smooth car to drive, with. lovely quiet start because it's using the battery rather than the engine. You can do a lot of your low-speed around-town driving like this without the engine really kicking in and making any noise which is fantastic when you've got little kids asleep in the back. You can watch the hybrid engine energy flow in the media screen. I also found the fuel efficiency to be similar to the diesel version I tested previously but quieter, smoother and similarly powerful.
The turning circle of the Santa Fe Hybrid is incredibly tight for a seven-seat SUV, which also makes parking and manoeuvring nice and easy. Visibility is good even when you have three child seats in the second-row seats and if you need help with rear visibility then there is a rear-view camera you can leave on while driving.
The 2023 Santa Fe Hybrid also has indicator cameras in the driver display screen when you change lanes.
The reversing camera image is lovely and clear with a birds-eye view as well and you can turn the parking sensors off easily with a button in the central console.
The 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid Fe also has a driver attention warning so if you do not notice the car in front of you pull away at lights then it will alert you.
The media system in the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is really nice and modern and easy to use. Like the Hyundai Palisade, Kia Sorento and Kia Carnival it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and some great family-friendly features within it.
Firstly, the sounds of nature feature provides different pre-recorded white noise sounds like ‘calm ocean waves' that you can turn on quickly and easily to calm little passengers. Some pass it off as a gimmick but in my experience, it really works!
Secondly is passenger talk, which amplifies your voice from the front to the third-row passengers so you don't have to shout to be heard in the back.
Finally, Quiet Mode, which mutes the sound in the back and brings it through to the front so you don't disturb passengers in the back with whatever you are listening to in the front.
Adding a hybrid engine to the 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe has made this great family SUV even better. I was worried that like some hybrids some practicality might be lost by adding batteries etc but it's just as good with the added benefits of a quieter, smoother and fuel-efficient driving experience. It is a super quiet car to drive, similar to a lot of expensive luxury European models in fact!
The new 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid comes with six airbags but does NOT have third-row airbags and unlike the petrol and diesel versions, the Hybrid does not have an ANCAP safety rating.
Click here for a super in-depth look at the Santa Fe Highlander (diesel version).
Hi Would you be able to do a review on the Ssang Yong Rexton please