The 2026 Hyundai Palisade Hybrid Is A Benchmark Fuel-Sipping Electrified Family SUV
When Hyundai first introduced the allnew second generation Palisade earlier this year, the company essentially gave consumers more of what they were looking for. It got larger on the outside, which resulted in more interior space. It got more technology, and it got a more bold design on the outside. However, one area where Hyundai lacked was actually underneath the hood because the base V6 actually got smaller and less powerful. Well, today we’re actually testing out a new powertrain option in the Palisade. This is the first ever Palisade hybrid with a combination of a 2.5 liter turbo and two electric motors. This model offers over 300 horsepower and up to 35 MPG. So, today we’re actually out here in Austin, Texas because we’re finally able to drive the all-new, first ever 2026 Palisate Hybrid. And the big question I went answered, has Hyundai managed to create the perfect three row family SUV? Stay tuned to find out. [Music] [Music] Now, before we get into the new styling of this second generation Palisade, the big story, of course, with this second review that we’re doing is the hybrid powertrain, because we’ve been waiting for Hyundai to introduce the hybrid in America, and it was a couple months delayed, but they are now just starting to show up in dealerships. And the big story with the hybrid is this is an allnew generation hybrid powertrain for Hyundai. It combines the company’s new engine, their 2.5 L turbocharged uh inline four-cylinder engine with now two electric motors. So, their previous hybrid systems essentially had an electric motor sandwiched between it and the six-speed automatic, but now there’s actually two motors within that transmission housing. It still uses a six-speed auto. The gas engine on its own delivers around 258 horsepower and 260 lb feet of torque. The two electric motors deliver around 13 horsepower and 72 horsepower and around 195 foot-lbs of torque. The combined output, Hyundai says, is 329 horsepower and 339 pound- feet of torque. The batteries or the electric motor draws its power from a 1.65 65 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. So, it’s actually a relatively good size battery compared to other hybrid vehicles. But, you should notate that this is not a plug-in hybrid, so there’s not electric only range, but it does have the ability to drive on full electric power alone. And Hyundai says it’ll do so a lot more consistently versus their previous systems. Now, the company doesn’t quote a 0 to 60 time, but they did have fuel economy figures. If you guys go for a front-wheel drive version, you can also get it with hrack all-wheel drive. You can get up to essentially 35 MPG in the in the highway, 34 combined. This all-wheel drive version, however, drops the fuel economy to 29 in the city, 30 on the highway, around 29 combined. That’s still a 9 MPG improvement over the gas only 3 and 1/2 L V6. So, that’s a big improvement. With its 18 gallon fuel tank, it’s a little smaller. You’ll get around 525 mi of range on a full tank for this model here. Although, Hyundai says the front-wheel drive versions can do over 600 miles. So, that’s something that I’ll be curious to test out at some point. Uh, now top speed should be around 129 mph, just like the gas version. And the towing capacity of this model has dropped to around 4,000 lb, which is still pretty usable. It’s 1,000 lbs less versus the V6. And surprisingly, as this car sits, it weighs in at around 4,800 lb. So, Hyundai has added all this additional technology while keeping the weight in check. Only around 100 lbs heavier versus the gas only V6. But let’s go ahead and close up the hood here and talk about the exterior styling because this is kind of a point of controversy when I first saw the new Palisade. In fact, when you see this car up close in certain colors, it’s very bold. Obviously, Hyundai actually says that they’ve worked with the aerodynamics to actually achieve a.31 coefficient of drag, which is shocking because when you look at the front fascia, it’s basically this big uh box. It’s a very blocky design. In fact, for me personally, I almost think it’s too boxy. It’s a little too robotic. I would have liked to see a little bit more curves, more of an organic shape. But this particular color is called robust emerald. It’s a very, very dark green. Even though it looks black from certain angles, even in this bright uh Texas sunshine, it still looks very black. The headlights, as you can see, are interesting because they’re actually a separate design where you have a two LED modules here for the low and high beams. And then this big portion here is actually the daytime running light and the turn signal. I don’t think it needs to be that big, but it kind of blends nicely into the silver chrome trim here, or the satin silver trim that’s found on the calligraphy trim. You have some active grill shutters here. Uh 360 camera and parking sensors are nicely integrated along with the chrome accents. And there’s also an LED light bar that kind of goes across the grill over here that’s exclusive to, I believe, the calligraphy trim. Uh, Hyundai actually says they’re going to offer this in four different trims starting at the base seal going up to this top trim. But overall, let me know in the comments section below if you guys are a fan of this design. I just saw the new Kia Tellide in person. I will tell you that the Kia in my eyes looks a little bit better, but I’ll let you guys be the judge of that um when you guys see photos of that vehicle. But I’m moving around the side profile. I mentioned earlier this vehicle is bigger. It’s around 2 and 12 inches longer in the overall length in the wheelbase at 192.2 in long with a 117inch long wheelbase. This is about the same size as Hyundai’s Ionic 9. So remember, the INC 9 is their flagship SUV on the electric side. This is their flagship internal combustion powered SUV. You can see the calligraphy has the same 21in wheels that we saw on the gas powered calligraphy. There’s a they have a very intricate design. If you guys go for the lower trims, the seals will have an 18-in wheel. The limited have a 20. This is on a a fatter 265 width tire. So this is going to give you a little bit more of a contact patch. And you also have an all-independent suspension with a self-leveling rear suspension. Hyundai says they’ve also upsized the brakes. 13.8 in at the front. a 128 at the back. Uh while you have around 7.4 inches of ground clearance, keep in mind that XRT Pro is only available on the gas model. You can see I love how the wheel arch trim is completely body colored along with some satin trim. And this trim in general just looks a lot more sophisticated. There’s a luxury Genesis appeal that I really like. The mirrors are now power folding. You have integrated turn signals. I also love the silver accented roof rails. There’s a big pano sunroof, which technically isn’t one continuous sunroof, but it’s nice how you get that additional light into the second row area. And then there’s also some nice styling details. So, this area here reminds me a lot of the previous generation uh Range Rover, especially with this metallic design and these kind of vertical stacked taillights. The taillights themselves, as you can see, are full LED. The turn signals and reverse lights are located down here. And it definitely has a really nice look to it, especially when you see at the back, it’s boldly spelling out Palisade with this very subtle hybrid badge here. That’s your only your only indication that it’s a hybrid. Uh Htrack here shows that it’s an all-wheel drive model. Remember, you can get front-wheel drive on the hybrid models as well. And you can see the rear bumper doesn’t have any kind of exposed exhaust tips. I would have liked to see Hyundai keep that, especially on this trim, but it does have some nice silver metallic pieces that kind of break up a lot of the darkness with the green. The rear spoiler, you can see, has this big integrated third brake light with a camera for your digital camera mirror. And the the wiper is also tucked beneath underneath there, so it’s hiding. You don’t have to see it on the actual back glass. Now, there’s a power activated liftgate, which is also hands-free. And in terms of the cargo, this is where typically a hybrid will make you suffer in that regard. However, Hyundai has kept the cargo figures the same. Here you have 19.1 cubic feet of space which is the same as the gas only version which is nice. You also have some features here like there’s a little bit of underfloor storage here. Although I am noticing there’s like another piece here that’s kind of taking up some of the underfloor storage. So again they had to package some things here with the battery pack. The battery pack actually lives underneath the se the floor of the second row area. Another great thing is you can basically fold down the third row seats from back here. So if you want um the third row seats are actually power. Um you basically push that button here. You can see they will fold down electrically. Hyundai says it expands the cargo to around 46 cubic feet of space with the third row down, which is probably how most people are going to have it. If you want to fold down everything, the second row can also be folded down electrically. Hyundai says the max cargo is around 86 cubic feet of space, which isn’t tops in the class. If you want more, the Grand Highlander offers around 97 cubic feet of space. Same thing with the Chevrolet Traverse. But this is still very impressive. And the fact that Hyundai was able to keep the floor flat and most of the cargo figures the same just kind of shows how they’ve improved so much in terms of their packaging. Now, moving on to the interior of the Palisad Hybrid. If you guys have seen our full review on the gas powered Palisade, the hybrid should be pretty much identical. So, I’m going to try to streamline this uh overview of the inside uh just for time purposes. But, as you can see, this calligraphy trim that we’re showing you has the more luxury oriented interior. I also love this kind of brown interior, the saddle brown interior. It pairs perfectly with the robust emerald color. These seats are their premium Napa leather seats. They adjust in like 14 different ways. They are heated, ventilated, and you also get an erggo motion massage on the driver’s side. So, that massage is only included on this trim here. And I was kind of hoping Hyundai would expand the massage to the passenger side, but it’s at least nice how you get that. Most competitors don’t even offer a massaging seat. And from right off the bat, this interior makes you almost feel like you’re getting into something like a Range Rover or a Genesis. As I step in, it has a nice easy step in height with its 7.4 in of ground clearance. When I shut the door, the door has a really solid sounding thunk. So, that adds to that impression of quality. Now, of course, this new Palisades interior for me is definitely near the top of the class in terms of luxury and technology features, and that’s especially true on this top trim. As you can see, all versions of the hybrid will have basically their latest infotainment system with their dual 12.3 in displays. This has their latest CNCC software, so you have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And again, 12.3 in isn’t the biggest, but I think it’s a usable amount. And I also like how there’s no like additional passenger screen here, which is kind of a more of a gimmick. Instead, there’s a lot of design to this interior along with upscale materials. You can see the door panel has a nice soft touch injection molded plastic with some contrast stitching. You have metal accents for the door handles, nice padded leather over here, beautiful ambient lighting, and the window controls are onetouch up down for all four. And they have a really high quality feel to the way the buttons uh operate. You also have power folding mirrors. That’s a feature that the old Palis just didn’t have. Hyundai was listening to consumers on that criticism when they fixed that. The steering wheel, you can see it’s got their newer steering wheel with this interesting little four dots here, which basically means H in Morse code. These are also illuminated, which is kind of a nice touch. The wheel itself offers a manual tilt and telescoping adjustment. I’m surprised it’s not power, but remember, Hyundai has to save a few features for Genesis because that’s their luxury brand. You also get a head-up display on this trim, and you also have some more contrast stitching and stitching here with some soft touch injection molded plastic. There’s some kind of silver trim here. This almost looks like a fabric material, but it’s actually a different texture of leatherrett, which has a really cool look along with this kind of woodlook trim. This is definitely not real, but it feels real and it also looks great along with the ambient lighting kind of right behind it. You have traditional vents over here as opposed to like vents that you adjust in the screen, which I really appreciate. And then you can see there’s a few actually lots of buttons and knobs here. You can see there’s a volume, a tuning knob, and then there’s your trizone climate control with its own separate knobs. There’s another little uh twist dial here. This controls the transmission. It’s six a six-speed auto. twist it toward you, that goes into reverse. That brings up your full 360 camera. Hyundai’s 360 camera is also very impressive. You can do a three 360 perimeter scan. The quality and the resolution is also among the best you’re going to find in the segment. And you can hear because it’s a hybrid. It has that fake sound to let pedestrians know that you’re essentially backing up the vehicle, which is kind of a mandatory thing, but it’s your only other indication that it’s a hybrid. The other thing is when you start the vehicle up, it’ll just say EV and ready in the instrument panel. So, there won’t be a traditional starter uh noise for this vehicle for so kind of keep that in mind. Down here in the center console, you can see lots of additional storage. You’ve got your wireless phone charging pad here, three USBC charging ports, cup holders, and the center console when you open it actually has UVC um lighting built in, so you can actually use that to sanitize your phone or keys or wallet, whatever you’d like. This is only on the calligraphy trim. This sadly doesn’t move forward and back, but you do have additional storage here. In fact, this um console itself on on other markets actually allows for another seat to come back here for nine passenger seating. Sadly, it’s not available here in the US. But I like how the console has a floating design, a lot of additional storage, which is nice. The seats are comfortable and supportive. You can also kind of adjust these seats or the passenger seat from these separate buttons over here, which is great. You have the calligraphy stitched into the actual head restraint. Uh and the cooled function works extremely well. You also have a glove box here that’s a bin style. It’s damped, but not even felt. Offers additional storage here. And this car also has a 14 speakeraker Bose stereo system which sounds good. It’s included on the Limited trims and up. So if you guys are an auto file, you’re really going to appreciate that. Above me, you can see the calligraphy also has uh a really nice Alcantara material for the headliner, digital camera mirror, and then you have a standard center here with a traditional shade. The roof uh does have another separate glass panel for the second row passengers. So overall, the interior definitely could easily fool you into thinking you were in a Genesis. And really, Hyundai didn’t leave any features off the table in this car. So, I think a lot of people are going to be shocked when they get into this vehicle, especially if you’re comparing it to some of its rivals, which feel a little bit too more or a little too much more like mainstream as opposed to where this car feels more like a luxury brand. Let’s go and hop into the second row because that’s an area where families are really going to judge the Palisade very thoroughly. And this is kind of where if you guys are looking for the hybrid, I’m happy to report that Hyundai is actually going to offer the hybrid in a bench configuration. So, you can get it with up to eight passenger seating or um these captain’s chairs. Now, the captain’s chairs are standard, but Hyundai says on the Secl and Premium, you can option in the bench at no additional charge. That’s something you cannot do on the Highlander or the Grand Highlander where they make the captain’s chairs as standard. And then in terms of the seats back here, they also offer the power adjustable feature. However, what I’m noticing is they don’t have the recline and ottoman or the the ottoman feature like on the gas mall. I feel like that’s what it’s supposed to have, but I’m not sure why this one is missing that. But you do still have the head restraints that have that wing out effect, which is really nice and kind of creating almost like a pillow here. And like I said, you can also powerfold these seats, and you can also move them forward and back. When you get back here, in terms of the space, this is where Hyundai said that the battery pack lives underneath this area here. So, this is where the second row legroom goes down by 1.6 in. It’s still very generous at 41.6 in of legroom versus 43. As somebody who’s 5’7, this is essentially my driving position. I could stretch out very easily. There’s a almost completely flat floor here. You have a 115 power outlet here. You have your two USBCs. These are the quick charging stuff. And you also have a nice little pull out console which offers additional storage. This li this calligraphy trim also has retractable sun shades which is a great feature for parents who have kids back here that might be sleeping. You also have the same beautiful materials with the faux stitching. Um there’s also a safe exit assist feature which if the car senses there’s somebody coming, it’ll actually will lock the doors and keep you from opening the door until the threat is no longer there. You can see nice padded area over here with more of that that textured leatherrett material. And this seat offers a pretty generous recline. And I can actually get back here and get pretty comfortable. So on longer trips, the second row basically is almost as comfortable as the front row of seats. You also have your climate controls back here. Your heated and cooled seats are located in the ceiling along with your rear seat air vents. Plenty of headroom space. And the sunroof, you can see comes in over the second row area which lets in a lot more light. I would have liked to see this one continuous piece, but it is nice how at least this trim and the limited come with standard with the sunroof. So overall, the second row area is nice. Let’s go ahead and hop into the third I can show you guys that you can actually uh move the seat out of the way by pushing this little button down here at the bottom. That will power fold the seat out of the way. And it takes a little bit of time because as you can see it’s power. This is where I think the lower trims like the Limited um may be a little bit faster if you want to get into the sec the third row area. But the third row once you climb back here, as you can see, Hyundai has preserved the ability to carry three people across. And this is actually pretty good. Now, the one cool thing about this car is when you get back here, there’s 32 in of legroom. And there’s also the ability via these little buttons, as you can see, where I can literally slide the third row seat forward and back. So, there’s no other vehicle in the segment that offers this feature. And you also have the ability to recline, power recline the third row, which you can also do on this side as well. And that makes this third row very, very comfortable for averageiz adults. You also get USBC charging ports over here. You have a window that Hyundai says is larger where you can actually get a better view from back here. So, if your kids get, you know, claustrophobic or car sick, it’ll help them, you know, with sitting back here. And then in terms of the space, there’s 32 in of legroom. I have a pretty good amount of headroom space as well because of this carveout. So keep that in mind if you guys are, you know, looking for an actual family car to carry adults. The Palisade, even in the hybrid form, can easily do so with all of it with the accommodating second and third row seat that it continues to offer. So here we are finally behind the wheel of the first ever electrified Palisade. As you can see, I am once again joined by my good friend Tommy from TFL. Thanks for joining us, Tommy. Thanks for having me. Yeah. So, we actually had him on the first drive of the gas palisade. What was it like 3 months ago? Four months ago. Yeah, it was a while ago. And I thought it was perfectly adequate. And you think it is far too slow? Well, I just spent a week with it. Literally, I drove it to the airport yesterday to come to this event. And after a week with it, it’s fine in like I’d say for me like 50% of the time, but every time you want to pass somebody, it’s just godfully slow. So, this model that we’re driving has a completely new hybrid powertrain. It actually has two electric motors. It makes up to 329 horsepower, up to 35 MPG on the highway. And I want to test out the 0 to 60, Tommy, because I suspect it’s going to be significantly faster. What do you think it’s going to get timewise? So, you got 8.6 on the gas one. Yes. I’m going to say 78. 7.8 for this one. All right. So, let’s go ahead and step out here into the road. We found ourselves a pretty flat road here. And I’m just going to floor it. We’re not going to break torque it this time. All right. There it goes. And this has a six-speed auto, which is an interesting choice how they went with a six-speed, but 6.88 seconds, Tommy. Wow. Wow. That’s actually a lot faster. Now, I have the race box up here on the sunroof cuz it doesn’t get signal down here, but 6.88 is a solid second faster than what I got on the gas model back home. And that was at home on level ground. We’re at about 1,300 ft above sea level here, which is not really much. It shouldn’t affect it that much, but that’s an impressive upgrade. Tommy, what do you think? Yeah, quite quite a bit quicker than I I thought seat of the pants. Yeah, I mean it’s you you can credit that with the turbocharged engine. It’s finally giving it the mid-range it needs. The electric motor, it’s now two electric motors. It delivers a lot more power and it’s a lot more seamless. Hyundai was talking about during the presentation that this vehicle can now travel on electric power alone much easier. I think it’s what they were saying. Um and I definitely noticed that it’s just a much more smoother and like easier transition from what I’m seeing here. Yeah, I mean I think there’s a there’s a lot to like here, right? Especially the fact that it combines the hybrid system with a fairly conventional automatic transmission. So you don’t kind of get that CVT whale that you might in, for example, like a Highlander hybrid. Although the Grand Highlander hybrid has that turbo hybrid max powertrain, which has a six-speed auto as well. which is great. Which is kind of interesting because Hyundai kind of took that playbook out of Toyota because this also has a 25 or it’s a turbo four-cylinder with two electric motors and a six-speed auto. And when you put your foot down here, I do notice there is a smidge of hesitation as the transmission, I guess, pulls itself out of the top gears, but then once it gets going, there’s plenty of mid-range punch. The engine’s also much smoother and more refined versus Toyota’s four-cylinder where it can be a little buzzy. Um, but this is a big upgrade. So, I think Hyundai did a great job. And eventually, Tommy, I think we’re gonna see this powertrain in Genesis models, if that’s what I I think it was said. Yeah. I mean, it sounds like this next generation hybrid system, as Hyundai calls it, is going into a whole bunch of vehicles, right? And look, they’ve they’ve done some things over the previous generation, right? It sounds like they simplified and kind of streamlined the hybrid system, right? This has a slightly bigger battery than other Hyundai hybrids. So, it’s 1.65 kwatt hours. It’s actually a pretty decent size. Most of them are only like 1 kilowatt or smaller. Yeah. And it’s got some cool features like the little power save mode where you can set a destination in the navigation and then it will do its best to arrive at the destination with the full battery so you can operate with the engine off some accessory stuff for longer. So, so there’s some cool things there. Yeah. No, I mean I think those are great features to kind of accentuate the fact that this is a hybrid. They spend a lot more time with it. This is an entirely new generation of hybrid powertrain. And when you combine it with the rest of the Palisade, this is definitely one of my favorites. It’s so quiet. It’s smooth. It rides incredibly well. These seats are also really comfortable. And it it basically fools you into thinking you’re in a Genesis. Would you say so as well? Oh, 100%. I mean, this blurs the line between kind of a value brand and a luxury brand to the the point where like it’s it’s hard to tell what’s what. The way this dash is very art deco and curved and the interlacing interlacing materials and then also just like the NVH and kind of the quietness in here, this easily could be a Genesis. Yeah. I mean, for a car that has 21-in wheels as well without any kind of adaptive suspension, I spent a full week with it. This thing rides like a dream. In fact, Tommy, I had the new Infiniti QX60 or the refreshed one at the same time. And so, shockingly, the Hyundai rode better than the Infiniti, which had smaller, it had smaller 20-in wheels, which just shows you Hyundai really, you know, favored ride quality and comfort with this car and refinement. Now, you do get a little bit of a price to pay because it’s not a sporty vehicle to drive, that’s for sure. like the steering doesn’t really offer much in terms of feedback and the car just feels very soft and floaty, which is fine because it’s a family car. You don’t really I mean, if you want something that’s sportier, you’re going to buy like a Mazda CX90, I guess. Um, but there’s a lot to like about this car from a road trip road roadtrip perspective. And Hyundai also claims, Tommy, up to 619 miles of range. Do you believe that figure? Yeah, that’s one I think I really want to see in person to fully believe it’s somewhere around 528 if you get like an all-wheel drive hybrid, especially with the loaded one. So, when you look at the fuel economy, right, they’re saying up to 34 combined, right? If you get the the more entry level seal frontwheel drive, but when you step up to a calligraphy like this one, you get all-wheel drive, then you’re looking at somewhere around 29 combined, right? And that’s still about 9 MPG better versus the gas only version. It is right in between the Grand Highlanders. So, the base hybrid Grand Highlander gets 34 MPG combined, while the hybrid max gets 27. So, I think Hyundai found a nice little sweet spot there. And we won’t be able to test out the fuel economy until we get one back home. I mean, we’ve been driving I’ve been driving the car for the past hour. It’s been averaging 21 m to the gallon. Um, so that’s not great, but it’s also, you know, we we’ve been driving it on, you know, in traffic and I’ve been pushing a little bit more. So, um I suspect it’ll probably at least get closer to that 30 MPG mark when you spend a little more time with it. When when we started off on a full tank, I believe it was showing just under 450 mi of range. Now, it’s showing 420. So, that’s a significant improvement considering I only I struggled to get like 320 mi in the gas only version, which isn’t great. Yeah. I mean, I would describe the gas fuel economy as poor. Yeah. Right. when you’re talking about city fuel economy under 20 MPG and you’re only dealing with a naturally aspirated V6, right? That’s that’s not great. I would describe this one as above adequate. Um, but it it’s still not like wow numbers. You know, 29 is is good considering the size of the vehicle, but you’re not in like Corolla cross levels. No, it’s important to keep that in perspective, right? So, yeah, if you’re looking for the best fuel economy in this class, the base hybrid Grand Highlander, that’s the one that you really want. but it also gives up almost 100 horsepower to that model. So, this is definitely a nice little middle ground. This is not as fast as the hybrid max Grand Highlander, which can do 0 to 60 in like under 6 seconds. But I think like 6.8, that’s a a time that most people are going to be happy with, especially if you plan to carry up to 7, eight people or tow. This will tow up to 4,000 lb. So, it’s a little bit less. Um, but overall, I mean, I’m I’m sitting here getting a massage. It’s a really comfortable car. It’s easy to see out of out of the front side, the rear. This car has a ton of technology, built-in dash cams, which I had a chance, Tommy, to actually live with the car. And the dash cams are amazing. The fact that they’re built in, it shows like what’s in the front and the rear. It actually, it’s basically like a Tesla in the sense where if it detects something or feels like some kind of impact while it’s parked, it’ll record it. The only thing it’s lacking, however, this the um side cameras. It doesn’t record from the side. Um which which is a feature they could have easily incorporated. So maybe Hyundai will fix that with a software update. But I mean, overall, I think for the extra 2,200 bucks that Hyundai charges, and look, Tommy’s sitting there like taking a nap. Oh, are you trying out the relaxation seat? I’m trying the relaxation seats here, Sophia. My feet are rising with the little ottoman. See, I can’t do that while I’m driving, sadly. But other than that attitude, but that is a great feature, especially if you got a significant other that just likes to be a passenger princess and take a nap while you’re on that longer road trip, Tommy. Yeah. No, I there’s a lot to like here. I really do like these seats immensely. They’re very, very comfortable. One thing which I think is kind of funny, um, this middle portion kind of looks like it’s a seat or it should be a seat. Yeah, cuz it looks like it’s folded down. And I think in Korea this is an optional bench in the front. They do offer a nine passenger. It does look like this should fold up and that would be a really cool option here in the US. It would kind of distinguish it from some of its competition. Yeah, I am sad that they don’t have that cuz that’s a cool thing. Like why not? But in terms of like if you want the most if you like seats that move with buttons, this has more of them than pretty much any car on the market because not only the front seats power operated, but second row and third row in this, right? Yeah. Are all electric. You won’t find that in any other vehicle in the class, including the upcoming Telluride, which I had a chance to see last week. Uh, by the time this video posts, the embargo is on that Tommy like breaking some news here. No, no, no. I Tommy hadn’t did he didn’t get a chance to see it, but your um video or your editor case did. Um and that car I thought looks a lot better than this car, but it’s also lacking some of the luxury touches that the Palisad calligraphy has. So, do you think it looks better? I personally do. Yeah. But I’ve always liked the way the Tellide looks more than this car. Uh we’ll try to put a picture of the Tellide on the screen here so you guys can see what it looks like. You can tell us in the comments what you prefer. But I mean overall the Palisade still one of the best driving, not for driving dynamics and like fun to drive cornering and such, but for comfort, for space efficiency, for refinement, and then with this hybrid powertrain, it just gets even better. So I think for the extra 2,000 bucks, you may as well just get it. You know, I kind of think that with the old Palisade and the old Tellyide, there was a there’s a really big difference, right? Like the the Palisade was much more luxurious. The tally ride was, at least in terms of design, more adventure forward. I think in the new one, they’re they’re a little bit closer, especially because you can get the Palisade in the off-road spec, right? That’s right. Um, but you can’t get that in the hybrid, which is interesting. Do you think they should offer it, Tommy? No. No, I don’t really think it matters. No, I don’t know how many people are dying for the tow hooks and the hybrid system, right? I mean, this is a family SUV at at its core, and surely off-road one’s probably great if you want to go a little further off the beaten trail and go camping. But I’ll be curious to see what the take rate ends up being because Hyundai’s XRT models have always to me just been more about appearances versus actual off-road capability. Although they are trying to fix that. Yeah. So, no, I think as a whole this is a pretty phenomenal vehicle. I’d loved when we drove the standard gas model. I was really in love with so much about it. All jokes aside, I do think you’re right. like it it it’s it’s not a dynamic experience and and I think that the V6 was lacking in both performance and fuel economy, right? Which is those are two pretty big things an engine needs to deliver. And I think that this hybrid really makes up for both of those, right? So, the timing of this event actually worked out perfectly because when I left my house to actually go drive the Paliside hybrid, I drove the gas model after spending a week with the gas version. I basically kept telling myself the hybrid is probably the model you’re you’re going to want because I was not happy with how sluggish real world acceleration was for the gas model. But after spending the day driving the hybrid version, I basically have just um anchored my position in that thought because the hybrid is definitely the one to get. As you guys saw, 0 to 60 happened in around 6.8 seconds. We actually got a slightly faster time off camera as well. Uh I estimate this car could probably do it in 6 and 1/2 seconds in certain road conditions, but we’ll wait until we get one back home to retest it. But still, that initial 0 to 60 time is literally a second and a half faster versus when I first tested the gas model out in California when I was also drive partners with Tommy. So, it really shows you just how much faster the gas version is on paper. But in the real world, I noticed the acceleration is just so much better because there’s a lot of torque that you get in the mid-range from the turbocharged engine. The electric motor also delivers extra torque right off the line. And really, the only thing I don’t love about this powertrain is that six-speed auto. I really think Hyundai should have at least gone with an 8-speed auto or a CVT, an eCVT to get the best efficiency. But again, I appreciate how the fact that this has a more traditional feel when you’re accelerating. There were times where I noticed it hesitates just slightly, but then once that initial hesitation passes, there’s a lot of power and it makes this thing feel like a much better vehicle to drive on a daily basis, especially if you plan to carry a lot of people and stuff. The interior of this model is also pretty much identical to the gas powered model. It’s got comfortable seats, amazing technology, great features like the integrated front and rear dash cams, which I think is a feature a lot of competitors need to start offering as well. And the third row and the second row and the cargo area is among, you know, the most usable in this in the class. It’s not the biggest in the class, but at the same time, most people are going to find a lot to like with this vehicle. Now, speaking of which, if you’re looking to get your hands on the hybrid version of the Palisade, Hyundai says they just recently started shipping it to dealers, so you actually should be able to find them now. Uh, and in terms of the pricing, they kept the pricing really well in check because the current gas powered Palisade an SE with frontwheel drive starts at around 39,500 bucks. The hybrid isn’t offered as the base SE. The base trim is actually the seal. You can’t build it on their website now. It starts at seal premium, but you can get the seal. Hyundai says it’s a later availability uh for around 44,150. So, just under 45 grand. That’s plus their destination, of course, and then plus 2,000 if you guys want all-wheel drive. The seal comes incredibly well equipped, but if you want that premium package, it’ll start at around475 uh $500, which on paper it looks like Hyundai is charging like an extra, you know, $6,000 for the hybrid. However, when you compare it to the gas powered hybrid or the gas powered Palisade to the hybrid in the same trim, the price delta is really only $2,200. So, I think there’s a lot of value to be had there. This fully loaded calligraphy that I’m showing you here, however, starts at around $57,000. When you add in the destination, this color upcharge, and a couple of accessories, you’re looking at a NAS tested price here of around $61,000. So, a little over 61 grand is a little more than what I was expecting it to be, but at the same time, if you don’t get this premium paint charge with this green, you can get it for just under $60,000, which is around the same price as the last Grand Highlander hybrid that I tested with the hybrid max powertrain, around the same price as a Mazda CX90. So, I think Hyundai definitely has the sweet spot here. And for those of you like families essentially considering this car, you would be crazy not to consider the hybrid, especially when Hyundai only charges around $2,000 extra. In the time that you’ll be driving this car, you you should easily make that money back in fuel savings alone and enjoy a lot more power uh in the process as well. With all that said, hope you guys have enjoyed my full overview on the brand new 2026 Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. If you’re also looking to see the latest cars I’m testing, be sure to follow me on Instagram at redline_reviews. Like us on Facebook, and as always guys, please keep subscribing to the Redline Reviews YouTube channel for all the latest reviews. Thank you so much for watching. I’ll catch you all in the next video. [Music]
The 2nd generation #HyundaiPalisade raises the bar in the 3-row family SUV segment and this time, #Hyundai brings the fight directly to Toyota with the first-ever #PalisadeHybrid. This electrified #Palisade replaces the base V6 with a brand new #Hybrid powertrain that promises nearly 330 HP and over 600 miles of range between fill ups.
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