2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid review: Where style meets efficiency

As the aged indicating goes, you will find far more than one particular way to pores and skin a cat. Whatever vitriol the particular person that coined this adage experienced versus felines is mysterious, but their logic is audio, specially if you’re on the lookout to help save cash at the pump. There are loads of super-thrifty vehicles to pick out from and you you should not even have to get a plug-in model or a little something which is entirely electrical. You could get a Toyota Corolla Hybrid or even Honda’s affordable Perception. And then you will find the Prius, a household name and a demonstrated performer. But have you regarded the Hyundai Elantra Hybrid? If not, you unquestionably ought to.

In Blue trim, its most productive type, this small sedan returns some whopping gas-financial state figures. Anticipate all around fifty three mpg city, 56 mpg highway and fifty four mpg put together. The leading-shelf Limited model I’m evaluating below, however, is four mpg fewer productive in each and every driving cycle. That seems like a significant strike, but on a percentage foundation it seriously just isn’t, furthermore in real-planet driving I’m averaging about 48 mpg, which is still phenomenal. All those remarkable figures are robust sufficient to make the Elantra Hybrid far more miserly than some of its competitors, but penny-pinching parsimony just isn’t the only explanation to look at one particular of these Hyundais.

What seriously sets this car aside from the pack is its avant-garde design and style. With its intricate entrance finish that remembers a multifaceted gemstone to its crisply creased flanks to that angular rump, this sedan has some serious design and style. No, its appears to be like won’t be for everyone, but the Elantra stands out from pretty much almost everything else on the street currently. The only probable problem is longevity. This car appears to be like good in the second, but I issue whether or not it will keep on being as interesting a few many years down the street or if it will age like unrefrigerated milk.

All those suave good appears to be like have through to the Elantra’s interior, which is as upscale as it is very well geared up. The techy-on the lookout dashboard is angled a bit towards the driver so far more of the controls are in simple arrive at. Painted silver accents brighten up the cockpit, which otherwise may be a little bit way too severe in black, though a grey shade plan is available, way too.

The car’s dash is constructed of interesting difficult and smooth plastics and the full shebang appears to be like far more upscale than you’d generally count on from a car or truck in this course. Of course, some cost-chopping is obvious, though none of it is egregious. The headliner is of iffy high-quality and there are no air vents or ability stores for rear-seat travellers. Also, you will find a bizarre applique to the remaining of the steering wheel, a equipment-like circle with a line in the center. If you anticipated this ingredient to functionality, you’ll be sorely upset simply because it truly is purely decorative, though on N Line variations of the Elantra this is in which the drive mode button is located. 

The Elantra Hybrid’s entrance seats are comfortable sufficient, furthermore they’re heated and ventilated in the Limited model, but the rear lodging are breathtaking for a car of this dimension. There is certainly extend-out amounts of legroom and you will find practically as much head space. On leading of that, the cushions are nicely positioned with a comfortably angled backrest and even a fold-down center armrest. This Hyundai’s cabin is ethereal and open up, with ninety nine.four cubic feet of passenger quantity, which tends to make it far more capacious than its sedan rivals. Even the trunk is huge, clocking in at 14.two cubes, a tiny little bit fewer than the Perception presents.

Two 10.three-inch screens are normal on Limited-trim Elantras. This consists of a reconfigurable digital instrument cluster and a crisp touchscreen which is house to an outstanding infotainment method. Not only is it vibrant and simple to use, this multimedia array is super responsive, pretty much by no means lagging or stuttering. Embedded navigation is bundled below as very well. Android Vehicle and Apple CarPlay are normal across the Elantra selection, though they have to have the use of a cable on Limited designs. Curiously, lessen-finish examples support wireless smartphone mirroring on their more compact eight-inch infotainment display screen, a little something I have skilled in other Hyundai and Kia automobiles.

As for driver aids, the Elantra Hybrid arrives normal with the normal suspects. Automatic unexpected emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot guide, rear cross-targeted traffic warn, lane-keeping guide and automatic high beams, between other individuals, are all accounted for. The Limited trim also consists of adaptive cruise command with cease-and-go capability as very well as Freeway Generate Guide, which throws lane centering into the blend. All of these facilities perform as advertised and are intuitive.

The Elantra Hybrid is powered by a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder motor which is matched to a six-velocity dual-clutch automatic gearbox. This motor is augmented by an electrical motor that brings 43 horsepower and a hundred twenty five pound-feet of torque to the occasion, though a lithium-ion polymer battery pack serves as an electron reservoir. Complete method output is a modest 139 hp, but the twist is far more impressive at 195 lb-ft. Silent and refined, this sedan accelerates far better than you may count on soon after studying individuals numbers. No, it won’t set the planet on hearth, but it has far more-than-respectable scoot for every day use, specially when you look at just how affordable it is. The powertrain’s paucity of ponies is only seriously obvious at highway speeds in which it feels relatively asthmatic. Switching to the Sport driving mode from possibly Standard or Clever does liven things up a bit and marginally stiffens the steering.

Slowing your roll, this car’s brakes are a tiny rubbery underfoot and the original chunk of regenerative deceleration is a tiny little bit abrupt, but otherwise the pedal feels high-quality and the transition to friction braking is quite much imperceptible. Trip high-quality is on the rigid aspect, which is stunning thinking of the hybrid model is about two hundred pounds heavier than a conventional Elantra Limited. Probably engineers ended up making an attempt to make the car really feel as sporty as it appears to be like.

Underway, the interior is impressively hushed, besides for the high-effectiveness Hankook Kinergy GT tires mounted to seventeen-inch wheels. Relying on the area, they are inclined to sing, furthermore they also really feel a tiny greasy though cornering, squealing with tiny provocation. The Elantra’s steering is sleek and precise, if otherwise unremarkable. When Freeway Generate Guide is activated, the lane-keeping assist does a phenomenal job keeping the Elantra Hybrid among the strains. In reality, this setup performs far better than some devices offered in far far more high-priced luxurious automobiles. The only real dynamic draw back to this car is the transmission, which on extremely scarce instances can really feel befuddled. Ordinarily, it truly is super sleek and moderately swift to shift, though not as fast as other dual-clutch gearboxes.

An entry-degree 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid starts off at $24,555 which include $1,005 in destination costs. That tends to make it about $three,700 pricier than a normal 2022 Elantra sedan, an appreciable variance. The leading-of-the-line Limited model reviewed below rolled off the assembly line in Ulsan, South Korea carrying a $29,260 price tag, which is proper in line with an Perception Touring and, frankly, not unreasonable thinking of the typical new-car or truck transaction price these days is all around forty one grand.

If maximizing gas effectiveness is as vital to you as modern design and style, your chariot awaits. The Elantra Hybrid can extend a gallon of gasoline like the best of ’em and it appears to be like far far better though doing so.