Once upon a time vehicles proudly displayed their V8 badges to symbolize their superiority over lesser, V6 equipped, models. That badge alone gave the owners of such cars street cred for their taste and prosperity. Today, I cannot think of a single new vehicle sold which still sports a V8 badge. It’s now all Eco this and Hybrid that. Those are the badges which, much as they have in the past, symbolize the model’s superiority over lesser, less efficient, models. They similarly inflate the owners’ pride and ego, too.
The Hyundai Sonata Hybrid has three such badges: bluedrive on each side and a hybrid badge on its trunk. Yet somehow, the design language would speak hybrid even if those badge were removed. Whether it is the wheel design, the grill, the taillights or even this blue color, it is enough to separate this hybrid model from its conventional sibling. This is an important factor proven by the iconic shape of the Toyota Prius and its sales success over more conventional looking cars such as the Civic Hybrid.
This Sonata Hybrid is Hyundai’s first venture into the hybrid market. At first glance they got the exterior appearance right, even if the front grill takes some getting used to. What’s more surprising is what’s on the inside and how un-hybrid-like the Sonata Hybrid drives.
Inside there is plenty of room for each passenger, with a surprising amount of leg-room for the ones in back. The interior is comprised of high quality materials, much nicer than the Altima and Camry, and feels like it will last a long time. The only thing that wasn’t nice was the rattle coming the door-mounted Infinity® speakers when the volume was turned up to concert levels.
The infotainment/navigational stack looks to have been lifted from an Infiniti, while HVAC controls look a like the ones found on most Volvos. That said, both are intuitive and easy to use without much fluff. The navigational system, like most new ones, has traffic diversions programmed in and has impressive sneaky ways of avoiding congestion. I was less impressed, however, when it couldn’t get to a mall road which has been in existence for over ten years.
The Bluetooth easily synced with my iPhone4 and worked without issues. The front of the center console has a nice cubby with auxiliary input, USB port, two 12v receptacles and enough space for two phones. It’s such a simple thing but it keeps your stuff organized and you don’t have to sacrifice cup-holder space for your phone.
The trunk is on the small side, which is typical for hybrid sedans as that is where the batteries are located. However, the Sonata is the first hybrid sedan that I have ever encountered with a center armrest pass-through. The opening isn’t big but it maybe just big enough for a pair of skis, saving you a good amount of MPGs which would be otherwise killed by a roof-rack.
Speaking of MPGs (horrible term but it is part of the industry lingo now, so get used to it), the EPA says that the Sonata Hybrid Limited gets 36mpg in the city, 40mpg on the highway, and a combined amount of 37mpg. This is unusual as most hybrids get better gas mileage in city driving than on the highway. In my own heavy-footed, short distance, driving which performed on a crazy mix of city, highway, and gridlocked city/highway, I did not get those numbers. According to the dash display I was getting between 24 and 32mpg over the sixty miles I drove this car in a four day period, which is not that impressive. Perhaps a greater driving distance would yield more concrete results.
Speaking of driving, the Sonata Hybrid feels more like a conventional car than most hybrids do. For starters it has a conventional 6-speed automatic transmission. Inside, there is no knob for eco, sport, and other driving modes. In fact if it wasn’t for the “eco guide” gauge in lieu of the tach, it wouldn’t be immediately evident that this is a hybrid from driving dynamics perspective. The engine, updated from the 2011 version, can sound harsh at times but good power is always available, whereas it is slightly delayed in some other hybrids.
The price for a Sonata with bluedrive and hybrid badges starts at $26,445. The better-equipped Limited model with a panoramic sunroof, as pictured, is $32,345. Like other hybrids, this is a substantial premium over its conventional sibling. Like in the heydays of the V8 badge, calculating whether that premium makes sense is pointless – you either want it or you don’t.
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