2022 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV Review and Test Drive

Join Nik Miles as he goes over the ins and outs of the new 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV. Nik takes us on a test drive and tells us about all the newest upgrades, how the car feels while driving, and gives us an honest review of the vehicle.

Nik Miles 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV Review and Test Drive

Test drive a 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV today at our Hyundai dealership in Portland!

Hi, I’m Nik Miles and we are at Dick Hannah Hyundai of Portland to show you this. This is the Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV which stands for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. That’s right this vehicle can go up to or around 30 miles of electric charge on its own without the gas hybrid engine. It kicks in after around 30 miles. We’re going to put it on the road and find out what it’s like to drive an electric or the gas hybrid engine. We’re going to find out about the 2022 styling, the interior styling, and whether or not you should have this vehicle in your driveway.

If you want to drive just in electric mode, you can do that around town and this vehicle will do just around 30 miles in electric mode at silent running. Now if you want to use electric mode you can get somewhere around high 70s-80 depending on your driving style. It’s going to change for everybody. Just on the gas alone, you’ll get around 33 miles a gallon. So, that’s interesting, this SUV already gets 33 miles a gallon. Add in just the electric motor and you can boost that substantially, so your gas bill is going to go down a lot by owning this vehicle. Now the drive of this vehicle is very similar to the regular Hyundai Santa Fe except when it’s in electric mode the starting/stopping however is very different because of that electric motor you’ll notice a big change in how the vehicle operates. Now, we have had a hybrid version of this vehicle before which is very similar to this but not a plug-in hybrid so when you want to go get up and go there’s a lot of power available immediately because of the electric portion of this vehicle.

I already like the way that Hyundai’s drive. They’re very light and airy and easy to drive vehicles. Hyundai do a great job with safety. They were one of the first companies to introduce the automatic emergency braking system in vehicles. And so, we know that safety is part of their DNA. Now, this vehicle of course is packed with all the latest safety systems. That’s just part of what you get when you get any kind of Hyundai on the road today. And there is a long list that everybody at Dick Hannah can show you in this vehicle. Now there’s two different trim levels available and you can look at what those trim levels come with.

Let’s talk about some of the interior styling of this vehicle. First of all, it is styled very similarly to the regular Santa Fe. But some of the differences are when you have a vehicle that is a PHEV you want to lighten it up a little bit and make it a little bit more sparse and a little bit more environmental. So, this has the cloth seats; durable cloth seats I will add, but simple cloth seats. As well as it has the carbon-style-looking material on the center console. Now Hyundai went to a push-button transmission in this vehicle. You’ll notice because the push-button transmission is electric that it leaves space. Underneath that push-button transmission is a shelf to store items which can include a woman’s purse or that kind of thing, cell phones… There is also a wireless charging in the center of this vehicle, USB port, there is your different drive modes you can scroll through from eco to sport to smart mode even a snow mode in this vehicle. Buttons are simply displayed on the center console both the HVAC controls as well as all of your temperature controls in this vehicle. And then above that is your screen. It does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Buttons are very obvious on the screen plus there is easy and simple rotator dials for both tuning and for volume. The dash at the top is soft-touch materials and there is some extras in this vehicle which allow you to have some simple things in life which really help you.

First of all, this vehicle has a system in it where if the car in front of you pulls away from a light and you’re not paying attention like you’re talking to the camera and telling people about the features in the car it will beep at you as you just heard a second ago and let you know. The analog gauges are gone from this vehicle and now instead you have a thin TFT screen behind the steering wheel and that is all digital. So, the information is displayed. Plus, there is a very useful option here on the infotainment screen which will tell you how much battery charge you have left in the vehicle so you know how far you can go on electric vehicle alone. And it will tell you how you’re using your electricity in the vehicle so you can see your driving style. Plus, in the center stack you will also find an EV/HEV button which will allow you to just drive in EV mode so you can save as much gas as possible. I think Hyundai have thought about pretty much everything in this vehicle. Test driving it has been an absolute pleasure.

One of the things that Hyundai offer on every single one of their vehicles is their 10-year 100,000-mile warranty. That’s not exceptional, but what is exceptional is the fact that Hyundai are now offering a PHEV in their Santa Fe, and this is it. It’ll do around 30 miles on a single charge of electricity and that’s great for somebody who wants to get out and just go around the city not use gasoline. At the same time if you have a long journey, you can have that hybrid engine kick in and then you can get out and use gasoline when the electricity isn’t quite enough for you. When you come back home, or you go somewhere where you can plug it in you plug it in and then you recharge the vehicle.

So, let’s look at the exterior of this vehicle. Nice silver grill. This looks really sharp. Now it’s much of a carryover from 2021. The 2022 looks really beautiful, the contrasting black color here, the lower silver, and then the nice matte black plastic at the bottom there for the lower air intakes. Very smooth dual light combination here, the LEDs and the headlights coming round to an aerodynamic fender, large two-tone wheels both black and silver, and then you come around to the side we have embedded turn signals inside the mirrors. We have both black and chrome on the sides, black portions of the quarter light glass here at the front, a little bit of silver across the bottom of the doors here, silver and black door handles so they give you the two color doors, and then coming around to the back the very nice aerodynamic shape at the back, silver roof rails, the little arrow spoiler on the tailgate, and once you get round to the tailgate the lights travel all the way from the panel back here, the hips, all the way into the tailgate. It says on the tailgate that it is a plug-in as well, so you know that when you come up to it.

Now let’s open the tailgate and find out about the rear space. 36 cubic feet of space at the back here and then if you put the second row down with the buttons here you can actually boost that space all the way up to 72 cubic feet. Plus, there is a power outlet at the back here so if you want to do some tailgating you have the opportunity. Now, keeping things simple in the back of this vehicle there is two USB ports and just over 41 inches of rear legroom. There is quite a nice seating area. You’ll find map pockets in front of you. The seats very comfortable and lots of head and shoulder room. So, a nice ride with some amenities for whoever sits in the second row.

Now, if you think a Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV may be in your future, you’re welcome to come down to Dick Hannah Hyundai of Portland. They have some on the lot and they’d love to put you in one for a test drive so you can find out whether you’d want one on your driveway.