Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid blends style and efficiency

Being the middle child is never fun, but the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid makes the most of it. 

Hanging out between the three-row Palisade and its ever-so-slightly smaller Tucson sibling, the Santa Fe relies on a fancier approach to family-friendliness in order to justify its existence, and a new hybrid powertrain gives people another reason to check out this midsizer, as well.

Hyundai has long offered one of my favorite infotainment systems, and its latest iteration in the 2021 Santa Fe Hybrid only makes it better.

A second screen resides in the gauge cluster, providing the usual speedometer and hybrid power meter, in addition to a configurable portion that lets me monitor fuel economy, hybrid system operation, what's playing on the radio, the usual.

Standard safety kit includes forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist and full-speed adaptive cruise control. 

At $41,290 out the door, the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is pretty darn affordable for something this fancy, even more so when you consider the base model can be had for a hair under $35,000.   

While gas-powered competitors abound, from the Chevy Blazer to the Honda Passport, its primary electrified competitor is the Toyota Venza, which has the Hyundai beat on fuel economy and overall luxuriousness, and the two are pretty evenly matched on price.  

The Venza is, however, styled like a glass of room-temperature milk.

While the efficiency could be better, a smooth powertrain and a posh stature have the makings for quite the value play in its price range, offering families a great way to ease into electrification.

Keep scrolling or clicking to check out even more pictures of the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid.