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It's time for testing the new 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with my family, which my kids say looks like Vegemite because you either love or hate it! I'm really keen on the new boxier design and think the new Santa Fe looks very striking when you see them driving out on the roads. They definitely make seven-seat SUV driving cool!

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Let's get straight into seeing how this new seven-seat hybrid model stacks up as a BabyDrive…

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe is available at various prices and specifications. Starting at $53,000 (excluding rego, stamp duty etc) for the two-wheel drive petrol base model and the 2WD hybrid base model tested here is $55,000. In the middle is the Elite Hybrid with all-wheel drive costs $65,000, and the top-spec Calligraphy 6-seat hybrid AWD model costs $75,000. There are a few variants in between to suit various families' needs and budgets.

 

How big is the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe?

The new Santa Fe's boot has been made 91 litres larger according to Hyundai but what does that mean for parents wanting to transport prams, bikes, etc., in the boot? Let's find out.

Storage in the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid's boot is very practical for family use, when using the first two rows of seats it will hold seventeen shopping bags, which matches the Kia Sorento but is smaller than the Nissan Pathfinder (22 bags), Hyundai Palisade (22 bags), Toyota Kluger (20 bags) or Ford Everest (18 shopping bags).

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with two rows of seats in use

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat…

Thule Sleek

…will fit in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with nine shopping bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with single stroller pram if two rows of seats are in use

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with two sibling seats…

…will fit in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with nine shopping bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with tandem stroller pram if two rows of seats are in use

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat and bassinet beside it…

…will fit in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with one shopping bag.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with tandem stroller pram if two rows of seats are in use

The Thule Urban Glide 3 single is the ultimate all-terrain stroller…

Thule Urban Glide 3

… with the back wheels on, fits in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with seven shopping bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with single stroller pram if two rows of seats are in use

The Thule Urban Glide 3 double is Thule's beloved ultimate all-terrain stroller…

… with the back wheels on, it will fit in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with four shopping bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for twin side by side stroller pram and shopping with two rows of seats in use

The Thule Spring, lightweight and one-handed folding stroller…

Thule Spring

…fits in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with ten shopping bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with compact pram if two rows of seats are in use

The 2025 Santa Fe boot can also accommodate one 90L, one 70L and two 40L Thule Chasm duffle bags when using two rows of seats.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for luggage with two rows of seats in use

You can fit a very large family dog in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for dogs with two rows of seats in use

When using all three rows of seats, the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid's boot will hold six shopping bags, the same as a Ford Everest (18 shopping bags) and one more than the Kia Sorento but quite a lot smaller than the Nissan Pathfinder (8 bags), Hyundai Palisade (8 bags) and Toyota Kluger (8 bags).

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with all three rows in use

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat…

Thule Sleek

…will fit in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid when using all three rows of seats but with two shopping bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with single stroller pram if two rows of seats are in use

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with two sibling seats…

…will fit in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid but with no shopping bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with tandem stroller pram if two rows of seats are in use

The Thule Urban Glide 3 single is the ultimate all-terrain stroller…

Thule Urban Glide 3

… with one of the back wheels on, fits in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid with one shopping bag.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with single stroller pram if two rows of seats are in use

The Thule Spring, lightweight and one-handed folding stroller…

Thule Spring

…fits easily in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid with two shopping bags. When using all three rows of seats.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for shopping with compact pram if two rows of seats are in use

Also the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid boot can also accommodate one 90L and one 40L Thule Chasm duffle bags.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for luggage with two rows of seats in use

Or you can fit a small size dog in the boot of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid when using all three rows of seats.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid boot space for dogs with two rows of seats in use

 

How good is the storage in the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe for families?

When it comes to storage in the rest of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, it is extremely practical for families. In the third row, there are two cup holders on each side that will fit a reusable or disposable coffee cup, and a water bottle fits there too. There are USB-C sockets in the third row for passengers to charge their devices while travelling.

For second-row passengers there is a fold-down armrest in the central seatback with two cup holders that will hold reusable or disposable coffee cups or water bottles.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid legroom with forward-facing child seats installed in the second row

The rear doors have fantastic storage in the new 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe. The door bin will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are two cup holders in the doors too. These are perfectly positioned for kids' drinks and snacks so they can reach them while you are driving and eliminating the constant request for drinks and snacks to be passed from the front!

For older rear passengers, these will hold reusable or disposable coffee cups. The door handle is a great storage spot for phones.

There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad. There are also two bag hooks above each of them, which are great for hanging the kids school bags on!

In the back of the central console box is a large storage drawer the kids can fill with car toys etc.

There are USB-C sockets on the side of both front seats so second-row passengers can charge devices while travelling too.

In the front of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, the storage is fantastic too.

There are two cup holders in the central console that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and in front of them are two phone charging pads and USB-C sockets. In higher spec Santa Fe models it will even sanitise your phones using ultraviolet light!

The central console box is a very practical size for family road trips AND it can be opened from the rear seats too, which is fabulous for rear passengers to help themselves to snacks rather than distracting the driver for them!

Underneath the central console bridge, there's a large storage area, large enough for an iPad or your handbag or your kids' lunch boxes! There is a 12V socket down there too.

There are two glove boxes separated by a shelf in the dash. The top compartment and the glove box are great sizes for phones, etc. The lower glove box will fit a wallet with the manual.

The front door bins are almost as good as in the back! They will hold a phone in the handle area and a large refillable water bottle and iPad or wallet will fit in the door bin.

 

How many child seats will fit in the 2025  Santa Fe Hybrid?

Now moving on to the rear seats and installation of child seats… This seven-seater 2025 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.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the second row

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three second-row seats of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, they are clearly labelled and easy to connect to through the boot.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid top tether child seat anchorages in the second row

In the third row, there are ISOFix for both of these seats. Again, they are not within plastic guides but are nice and easy to connect to.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the third row

There are Top Tether Anchorages on the back of both of the third-row seats so you can install child seats in any of the five rear seats which is great news for families and a big upgrade over the old Santa Fe while offering more child seat functionality and flexibility than the larger Hyundai Palisade.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid top tether child seat anchorages in the second row

FIVE child seats fit very comfortably in the back of the Hyundai Santa Fe, which is fantastic! Three across the second row either forward or rear-facing

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with three child seats installed in the second row

I found I could sit between two child seats in the second-row seats, which is great for families with kids both in and out of child seats.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid space between two child seats installed in the second row

In the third row, two more child seats fit easily, too.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid with two child seats installed in the third row

The third-row seats are very comfortable and I could sit back there and I'm 162cm.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the third row

The new 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe is longer and taller than the previous model which gives great headroom and legroom. We found with a forward-facing child seat in the third-row and a rear-facing infant capsule in the second-row we could fit a 186cm driver in the front.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid legroom with rear-facing child seats installed in the second row

The second-row footwell of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is nice and flat, which makes it easy for centre-seat passengers and little passengers to walk to and from their child seats across the car so they don't have to get into the car on the side facing traffic.

The second-row seats are split 60:40 and can slide backwards and forwards using handles at the front of the seat bases.

There are a couple of options for accessing the third row of there 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid when you have child seats installed in the second row.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid space between two child seats installed in the second row

If you only have two child seats installed, one in each of the outer seats, you can bring the single seat forward to allow a gap big enough to climb through to the third-row seats.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid access to the third row with child seats installed in the second row

Or, if you have three child seats installed in the second row, you will have to uninstall one in order to bring a seat forward and climb through.

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid access to the third row with child seats installed in the second row

Front passengers have four air vents across the front dashboard. Two in the centre below the media screen and one at each end of the dash.

 

How comfortable is theHyundai Santa Fe for families?

All members of the family will be kept comfortable in the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. The climate controls are on a separate screen on the dash where you can control both the front and rear temperature settings. Being a hybrid, you can also switch it to driver-only air-conditioning which is great for after you have dropped off the kids and it's just you in the car. It saves fuel because you are not trying to cool the entire huge Santa Fe interior space!

Rear passengers have aircon vents in all three rows of seats. Second-row passengers have vents in the side pillars…

.. and third-row passengers have them in the side panels.

The seat upholstery in the base model Santa Fe hybrid I am testing is not leather it is a woven check fabric. It feels like it will be very durable and easy to wipe clean, which is exactly what you want for family life and those kids' spills!

2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the third row

 

How safe is the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe for families?

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe has had a major upgrade in safety from the previous model, which is good news for families.

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe scored a five star ANCAP safety rating, scoring 86% for child occupancy and 84% for adult occupancy.

Of the child occupancy testing ANCAP wrote:

In the frontal offset and side impact tests, protection of the 10 year and 6 year dummies was GOOD and the Hyundai Santa Fe scored maximum points in these tests.

The Hyundai Santa Fe is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the outboard seats of the second and third seating rows and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.

An indirect child presence detection (CPD) system, which provides an alert when a child may have been left in the rear passenger seats of the vehicle, is fitted as standard.

Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in the second and third row seating positions, though one of the booster seats could not be correctly installed in the centre position of the second row. The convertible (Type A/B) restraints could not be fitted safely using the ISOfix anchorages in the third row (forward or rearward facing).

Ten airbags are included as standard. Including airbags that now extend to protect the heads of the third-row passengers 

And a central airbag between the two front seat passengers.

Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting airbags, as well as a driver knee airbag are standard. A centre airbag to provide added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard.

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe includes a number of safety features and driver assists technology as standard, adaptive cruise control (ACC), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – Car-to-Car/Vulnerable Road User/Pedestrian /Backover /Cyclist/Motorcycle/Junction/Junction (Car)/Junction (Pedestrian)/Junction (Cyclist)/Junction (Motorcycle)/Crossing. Automatic emergency call (eCall), blind spot monitor (BSM), child presence detection and alert, cyclist dooring detection and alert, driver monitoring system – indirect and direct, forward collision warning (FCW), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA) – Car-to-Car and Car-to-Motorcycle, secondary/multi-collision brake, speed assistance, auto/intelligent speed limiter, manual speed limiter, speed sign recognition and warning.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!

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.

 

How easy is the media system to use in the Santa Fe Hybrid?

The media system in the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is lovely and modern and easy to use while driving.

It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can safely access your phone's navigation, podcast/music and messaging apps while driving.

I like the calendar feature in the menu…

… and within the settings menu you can change and customise a lot about the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid. 

The sound menu allows you to change the volume of a lot of things…

…which is helpful if you have noise sensitive kids or if your little ones are sleeping.

You can turn on and off different driver assist features too. 

And you can keep an eye on your battery usage on the Hybrid screen.

 

What is it like to drive?

The 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is a great car to drive with your family on board. It is lovely and quiet and it doesn't feel big, boxy or heavy. In fact it feels a little light and like it hops around on the surface of the road.

The turning circle of the Santa Fe Hybrid is very tight for a large seven-seat SUV – it is Kia Carnival like which is a high bar! This makes parking and manoeuvring nice and easy.

Visibility is good even when you have five child seats in the back, which is no mean feat. I found I still had a little bit of a view out the back windscreen! If you need help with rear visibility, there is a rear-view camera you can leave on the media screen while driving.

As well as indicator cameras too.

When parking, the reversing camera is lovely and clear, with a crisp image.

And there is a 360-degree camera too, making parking easy.

 

Compare the Hyundai Santa Fe:

Click here to look at the previous model- 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid.

If you are looking at the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid you may want to consider the Kia Sorento, Nissan Pathfinder, Hyundai Palisade, Toyota Kluger, Ford Everest (with the benefit of good off-road and towing potential or Kia Carnival (for ultimate space and practicality).

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Tace Clifford
About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.

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