Hyundai Santa Fe - MPG, CO2 and running costs

The Hyundai Santa Fe should offer decent running costs around town, but we’d like to see a diesel option to boost efficiency on longer drives. Hybrid powertrains do their best work at low and medium speeds, where the electronics manage energy flow between the road and power sources, but a car such as the Santa Fe is a prime candidate for longer trips and towing, and here hybrid drive isn’t as efficient. 

During our time with a Santa Fe PHEV, we saw the car’s trip computer returning fuel economy in the mid-30s on motorway runs once the battery was exhausted, but slower urban driving saw mpg figures in the mid-40s range. Since the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) starts using the petrol engine more frequently once the battery is down to around 15 per cent capacity, the system does at least proactively try to boost efficiency.

Electric range, battery life and charge time

The Hyundai Santa Fe Plug-in Hybrid has a 13.8kWh battery that offers a pure-electric range of 38 miles. That is a slight improvement when compared with the previous generation Santa Fe PHEV, which could cover 36 miles. 

However, since the Santa Fe PHEV only has a 3.6kW onboard charger, fully recharging it will take around four hours from a 7kW standard home wallbox charger. It’s also worth noting that the latest Peugeot 5008 PHEV has a zero-emissions range of up to 48 miles, while the Skoda Kodiaq iV boasts a massive 75-mile EV range.

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Tax 

List prices for the whole Santa Fe range are above the £40,000 mark for premium road tax, so while hybrid drive knocks £10 off the annual charge, it’s still a pricey car for Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). 

Those high prices, combined with high emissions for the hybrid model, don’t help the Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) company car tax costs. With a figure of 155g/km, even the entry-level version sits in the higher tax brackets. The PHEV model does offer some savings, but its short all-electric range isn’t as competitive as rivals such as the Skoda Kodiaq, which dips into an even lower BiK band.

Insurance

Insurance costs for the Hyundai Santa Fe should be reasonable, but there are more affordable rivals out there. The entry-level front-wheel drive hybrid starts in group 33, rising to group 34 for the all-wheel drive version, while the quickest plug-in hybrid is in group 36. In comparison, the Skoda Kodiaq starts in group 18, while the plug-in hybrid version is in group 24.

Depreciation

The Santa Fe offers distinct appeal with its looks and the fact that it’s a new model, but residual values in the 45-47 per cent bracket are similar to those of its rivals. The hybrids have slightly stronger figures than the PHEV models.

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