2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid first drive evaluate: Chase the solar
“The 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is a cushty, spacious freeway cruiser.”
- Modern design
- Spacious inside
- Snug journey
- Spectacular tech
- Disappointing real-world gasoline mileage
- Hates corners
The 2020 Hyundai Sonata is a near-perfect midsize sedan. It has glorious highway manners and tech options you gained’t discover in another automotive on this worth vary. Nonetheless, whereas the stuff on the dashboard is spectacular, the stuff underneath the hood isn’t. The engines accessible at launch are merely ample.
Timed to go on sale in June, the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid can be supplied in Blue, SEL, and Restricted trims. Our take a look at automotive was the highest Restricted mannequin, which will get all the headline tech options, together with a digital instrument cluster, Digital Key smartphone management, and a photo voltaic roof that may assist recharge the battery pack. Hyundai hasn’t launched pricing but, however count on the hybrid mannequin to hold a premium over the usual Sonata, which is priced between roughly $24,000 and $34,000.
Throughout our time with the Sonata, we discovered that Hyundai has a number of extra tips up its sleeve. Is best gasoline mileage the lacking piece of the Sonata puzzle?
Design and inside
It takes a pointy eye to identify the variations between the Sonata Hybrid and the usual Sonata. The variations are restricted to a brand new grille, wheels, and rear spoiler. Even these adjustments have been made for aerodynamic effectivity, not aesthetics. Hyundai was already pleased with the present Sonata exterior design.
“It’s not about making a inexperienced automobile assertion. It’s about making a fantastic design assertion total,” Scott Margason, director of product planning for Hyundai Motor America, instructed Digital Traits.
The Sonata already had a reasonably extroverted look, in spite of everything. Designers gave it a sleeker profile than the typical sedan, in addition to trick “Hidden Lighting Lamps” that flip the hood right into a laser gentle present. These additional lighting parts lengthen again from the headlights, and mix in with the automotive’s chrome trim when switched off.
Regardless of the addition of a battery pack, Hyundai stated the Sonata Hybrid has the identical quantity of trunk house as the usual Sonata. That additionally works out to extra trunk house than the Toyota Camry Hybrid, however lower than the Honda Accord Hybrid. The Sonata Hybrid additionally has extra entrance and rear legroom than the Camry and Accord, however the Japanese hybrids provide considerably extra rear legroom.
“It’s not about making a inexperienced automobile assertion. It’s about making a fantastic design assertion total.”
The motive force’s seat of the Sonata Hybrid is a good place to be. The dashboard touchscreen and middle console storage trays are completely positioned, the steering wheel is simply the proper measurement, and the automotive gives glorious outward visibility.
Tech, infotainment, and driver help
The usual infotainment setup consists of an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Restricted fashions get a 10.25-inch touchscreen, together with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a head-up show. Display graphics are crisp and clear, and the principle touchscreen has a pleasant swiping motion for switching menus. Hyundai didn’t go overboard with screens, although. Designers additionally included analog controls for features like audio quantity, the place a knob works higher than a swipe.
The digital instrument cluster permits for an upgraded blind spot monitoring system, which robotically exhibits the view from exterior cameras once you faucet the flip indicators. It’s a easy however useful function, and a step above what opponents provide. Nonetheless, it’s additionally an elective additional. Commonplace driver aids embrace adaptive cruise management, lane hold help, autonomous emergency braking, and computerized excessive beams. These options are additionally commonplace on the rival Honda Accord Hybrid and Toyota Camry Hybrid. However Hyundai additionally made rear cross site visitors alert commonplace. That function is elective on the Toyota and never accessible on the Honda.
The Sonata Hybrid can be upgraded with Lane Comply with Help. Because the identify suggests, it follows the highway reasonably than ready for the automotive to begin veering out of its lane earlier than intervening. This function labored nicely throughout a earlier drive within the non-hybrid Sonata in Arizona, however didn’t appear as composed on the New York roads the place we drove the hybrid. The steering wheel twitched consistently because the system made small steering inputs, as if somebody had given the computer systems a double shot of espresso.
Hyundai didn’t go overboard with screens.
One other tech function that carries over from the non-hybrid Sonata is Hyundai’s Digital Key. Commonplace on the SEL and Restricted trim ranges, this lets the motive force use a smartphone instead of a traditional key fob. Whereas some automakers provide distant unlocking or engine begin by means of an app, solely Hyundai, Lincoln, and Tesla presently enable drivers to get in and drive away utilizing solely a smartphone. The Digital Key can be remotely transferred to different individuals, in case you need to let somebody borrow your automotive. The function is just appropriate with sure Android telephones proper now.
One tech function the Sonata Hybrid misses out on is Distant Good Parking Help, which you might have seen in Hyundai’s Boston-accented Tremendous Bowl advert. The function, which permits the automotive to tug out and in of tight parking areas by itself, is obtainable on the usual Sonata however not the hybrid. It must be recalibrated for the hybrid powertrain, and can be added at a later date, based on Hyundai.
Driving expertise
The hybrid powertrain is an effective match for the Sonata’s laid-back character, however don’t count on spectacular numbers.
The Sonata Hybrid makes use of a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine assisted by a single electrical motor. Complete system output is 192 horsepower. That’s simply 1 hp greater than the bottom engine for the non-hybrid Sonata, and considerably lower than the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry hybrids.
Not like Honda and Toyota, Hyundai has stored a traditional transmission as a part of its hybrid system. The Sonata Hybrid’s six-speed computerized has a software program function known as Energetic Shift Management, which makes use of the electrical motor so as to add or subtract torque on the transmission’s enter shaft. That gives faster shifts (that means much less interruption in energy whereas accelerating) and higher gasoline mileage, based on Hyundai.
Utilizing a traditional transmission is critical as a result of it makes the Sonata Hybrid really feel extra like a traditional automotive. Energy is utilized in a way more linear vogue than within the Honda or Toyota hybrid programs, and the switch between electrical energy and gasoline is clean.
The hybrid powertrain is an effective match for the Sonata’s laid-back character, however don’t count on spectacular numbers.
Hyundai additionally did a very good job calibrating the driving modes. Sport offers the correct quantity of additional urgency, and Eco isn’t the penalty field it’s in most different automobiles. Hyundai additionally included a Good mode, which robotically toggles between the opposite modes relying on situations. However not every part was so finely tuned.
Hyundai introduced in Albert Biermann, former boss of BMW’s M efficiency division, to make its automobiles extra thrilling. However Biermann should have been on trip when the Sonata Hybrid’s suspension tuning was completed. This automotive’s dealing with is extra Buick than BMW. The steering wheel feels prefer it isn’t related to something, and physique roll in sharp corners is so extreme that the automotive feels prefer it’s going to tip over.
We seen comparable tendencies within the non-hybrid Sonata, however the twistier roads at this testing location made these tendencies much more obvious. The Sonata Hybrid had a greater exhibiting on highways, the place its floppy suspension yielded one of many smoothest rides of any midsize sedan. That is clearly a automotive designed for highway journeys and commuting, not curvy roads. If you’d like a sporty Sonata, verify again when the N-Line mannequin goes on sale.
Gasoline mileage and security
Hyundai marketed spectacular gasoline mileage figures for the 2020 Sonata Hybrid, however they weren’t achievable in real-world driving. The bottom Blue mannequin is rated at 52 mpg mixed (50 mpg metropolis, 54 mpg freeway), whereas the SEL and Restricted are rated at 47 mpg mixed (45 mpg metropolis, 51 mpg freeway). A 50-mpg ranking was as soon as Prius territory, so it’s spectacular to see a extra standard midsize sedan attain that mark.
However the Sonata Hybrid doesn’t have a lot of a bonus over its rivals. The Camry Hybrid is rated at 52 mpg mixed (51 mpg metropolis, 53 mpg freeway) in LE trim. The Accord Hybrid is rated at 48 mpg mixed (48 mpg metropolis, 47 mpg freeway). Over every week of driving, the Hyundai’s real-world gas effectivity was additionally a lot decrease, at a mean 38.1 mpg, based on the automotive’s journey laptop.
Maybe the quantity would have been larger if we have been capable of make higher use of the Sonata’s photo voltaic roof. Photo voltaic cells are used to cost the 12-volt battery (to maintain it from draining whereas the automotive is parked) and the hybrid system’s battery pack, permitting for better use of electrical energy. The roof can add 2 miles of driving vary per day, based on Hyundai, however persistent clouds meant it didn’t get a lot use. Drivers in sunnier climes could get higher outcomes.
The non-hybrid 2020 Sonata obtained a Prime Security Decide ranking for the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security (IIHS), however the group didn’t present a particular ranking for the hybrid mannequin. The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) hasn’t rated any 2020 Sonata fashions.
Hyundai’s 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain guarantee and five-year, 60,000-mile restricted guarantee are unmatched by Honda and Toyota. The 2020 Sonata Hybrid is a brand new mannequin, however Hyundai has a very good total repute for reliability.
How DT would configure this automotive
If you’d like probably the most tech in your Sonata Hybrid, it is advisable to go together with the highest Restricted trim degree. It’s the one trim degree accessible with the photo voltaic roof, in addition to the triple menace of a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, 10.25-inch touchscreen, and head-up show.
The Restricted’s additional options add weight, which is why it isn’t as gas environment friendly because the entry-level Blue mannequin. Hyundai forces patrons to decide on between gasoline mileage and tech, sadly.
Our take
The hybrid powertrain improves the 2020 Sonata, however doesn’t remodel it. Driving dynamics are roughly the identical as earlier than and, when you do get higher gasoline mileage, it’s essential to maintain expectations in verify. The Sonata additionally drives extra like an everyday automotive than its Honda and Toyota rivals, which some patrons would possibly desire.
One of the best issues concerning the 2020 Sonata Hybrid carry over from the non-hybrid model. The highlights embrace a cushty journey, superior driver aids, and a well-designed infotainment system. The hybrid’s photo voltaic roof is a neat piece of tech that might enhance real-world effectivity, but it surely’s depending on climate situations.
Must you get one?
Sure. The 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is an effective automotive that simply occurs to be a hybrid.
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