Its Drive
The Sonata Hybrid is adequate from a performance perspective. Acceleration feels good off the line but tapers off once you’re rolling. Essentially, it feels zippy around town but may take some planning to pass cars at freeway speeds. In Edmunds’ testing, our Sonata Hybrid test car covered 0-60 mph in 8.3 seconds. That’s about as quick as the Camry Hybrid but a little slower than the Honda Accord Hybrid.
Around turns, the Sonata Hybrid feels balanced and controlled. It’s also easy to drive around town. The six-speed automatic transmission is quicker to downshift than the continuously variable transmissions in the Accord Hybrid and Camry Hybrid. In general, the Sonata Hybrid drives a lot like a regular car, which could be a high point for some buyers. The brakes also feel pretty natural without any of the hybrid weirdness that can stem from blending regenerative and regular braking processes.
Comfort
Well the car is abit comfortable, though not to perfection. The front seats have a nice shape to them, but we found the padding a bit stiff, which can reduce your comfort on long trips. The outboard rear seats are nice and cushy, but the middle seat is stiff and uncomfortable.
Ride comfort is a high point and strikes a good balance between being compliant and controlled. The Sonata Hybrid’s suspension absorbs impacts well without being overly floaty or soft when you take on curvy roads. The climate control system blows strong and cold at its max and is very effective at regulating cabin temperature in auto mode.
Surprisingly, road and wind noise is higher than average. It’s not bothersome or loud, but you know that it’s there. There’s some engine noise at freeway speeds as well.
Interior
The Sonata Hybrid’s interior is intuitive to learn. The center stack controls are easily reachable for both driver and front passenger. The sharp and responsive 10.25-inch infotainment screen is also easy to read and use.
There’s plenty of interior room for front occupants, and rear legroom is among the best in the segment. Most drivers will find that it is easy to settle into a comfortable driving position due to the decent range of adjustments in the seat and steering wheel. Visibility is good to the front and sides. But rear visibility is a little impeded because of the thick rear window pillars, sloping rear roofline and high rear deck.
Technology
The Sonata Hybrid is loaded with tech and everything works pretty well. It leads the segment in infotainment screen size and response. It also has a segment-first solar panel roof that charges the hybrid battery when the car’s moving or parked. Smartphone pairing and integration are excellent for both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and they work with the wide-screen format. The screen is also great when using the available surround-view camera system while parking. The voice controls work well with natural speech commands for radio, navigation and phone.
The advanced driving aids suite is comprehensive, and the aids work well in concert. The warning sensors can be sensitive but never annoying. The instrument panel features unique sideview cameras when merging into the left or right lane.
Storage
There’s a good amount of storage in the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. It’s easy to load things into the cargo area. The The trunk is deep and broad, has a wide opening, and the hybrid battery doesn’t intrude too much. Having rear-seat access levers in the cargo area is a plus.
Inside, there’s plenty of storage to keep small items. The center console area alone has plenty of spaces for multiple phones, electronic passes and other items. The console itself is about 5.5 inches deep, and the cupholders are sizable enough for larger cups and bottles. As for installing child safety seats, there’s plenty of room in the rear for even a rear-facing seat. The lower car seat anchors are somewhat buried in the upholstery, so installation can be a little tedious.
Fuel Economy
The Sonata Hybrid SEL, our test car, has an EPA estimate of 47 mpg (45 city/51 highway). That’s right about what the other top-performing midsize hybrid sedans get. A trim-matching Camry XLE is rated at 46 mpg, while the Accord is at 47 mpg. We averaged 47.1 mpg in our test car during our mixed-driving evaluation route, which indicates the EPA’s estimates seem to be spot-on.
Hyundai also offers an optional solar panel for the Sonata Hybrid. It covers the length of the roof between the windshield and the rear glass. It directly charges both the 12-volt battery and hybrid battery pack, and Hyundai says the solar panel can potentially power about 2 miles of extra driving per day. Toyota offered a solar roof on the Prius in the early part of the last decade, so it’s not an all-new idea, but the Prius’ panel could only power the climate control system