Let’s be honest: minivans aren’t sexy. They’ve always been made to be utilitarian appliances, with form most certainly following function. I always think back to the plum-coloured 1999 Dodge Caravan I had to drive to school—or heaven forbid, the wood-panelled one we had before I could drive. Ever since we human beings decided sometime in the early 2000s that SUVs and crossovers were supposedly cooler, minivan popularity never fully recovered—but products like the 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid prove they aren’t dead yet.
Right now, the good—and only—options are the Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Sienna; VW has re-entered the segment with the ID. Buzz, but its price tag and electric-only powertrain limit its appeal as a do-it-all family vehicle. But something about the Carnival feels different, as though it’s actually trying to make minivans cool.
It starts with a very SUV-ike front end, closely mimicking the Sorento with a prominent grille and vertical headlights outlined by unique, amber-coloured LED daytime running lights. The Carnival’s side profile is long and boxy, with a character line running down the middle, along with a mix of satin grey and matte black accents to match the front and rear fascias. The third-row window is outlined with a diamond-textured trim piece for visual flair. The rear tail lights match the stacked headlights and are—you guessed it—connected by a lightbar.
This particular Carnival SX+ tester rolled on blacked-out 19-inch wheels that play into the whole SUV-like theme, but aren’t showstoppers. Still, the whole look comes together rather well, looking surprisingly stylish without any of the accents or details coming off as overly gimmicky. In my opinion, it’s the most attractive-looking minivan on the market today. And I don’t mean it’s attractive “for a minivan”—I think the Carnival is a genuinely good-looking product.
But with minivans, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and the Carnival delivers. Although it’s tied with the Sienna and Odyssey for overall length, at 203 inches, it beats both on wheelbase, which pays dividends in usable interior space. Unlike most three-row SUVs, both the the second and third rows have ample space for kids and adults alike, and our tester’s second-row captain’s chairs not only slide front to back, but also side to side—and have a power reclining feature with a footrest, giving you Range Rover SV vibes in a sub-$60,000 vehicle. They’re even heated and cooled. No, you don’t get the buttery smooth leather or massaging functions, but the fact that I’m even remotely making the comparison is a compliment in itself. Plus, the side doors are powered. You know what else has power doors? The Rolls-Royce Spectre.
Up front, the Carnival isn’t as spectacular, but it’s typical Kia. Everything is well-put-together, the tech is good, and everything is usable. I’m a little mixed on Kia’s dual-purpose physical controls that can switch between climate and media. As Murphy’s Law dictates, if something can go wrong, it will go wrong; I ended up blasting the volume when I wanted to turn up the heat more often than I want to admit, so I decided to leave the controls set to HVAC and used the steering wheel controls for audio. At least Kia still chooses to offer physical controls and shortcuts when most manufacturers have moved away from them completely.
The rest of the Carnival’s interior is well-trimmed and spacious. Our SX+ tester featured a two-tone black-on-light-brown colour scheme, as well as tasteful ambient lighting throughout. There’s a bit too much fingerprint-seeking piano black trim, but it’s mostly relegated to the door cards—away from high-touch points. The spacious cabin easily accommodates a typical family and their gear; unlike a three-row SUV, cargo space with the third row up is plentiful due to the low floor, and the third row easily folds flat.
Opting for the second-row captain’s chairs does come with a drawback—they can neither fold flat into the floor, nor removed—but I still managed to fit a weekend getaway’s worth of gear for three including a toddler, as well as a racing sim rig with the third row folded flat on another occasion. Plenty for most, and certainly eye-opening if you’re coming from a three-row SUV.
The Carnival is available with two different powertrains. This particular tester came equipped with a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder—but wait, there’s more! It’s a hybrid, so that tiny turbo-four is supplemented by an electric motor and a 1.49 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Total system output is 242 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque, sent to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. Not eye-watering numbers, but this powertrain is a gem on the road, getting you up to speed effortlessly and with minimal noise unless you’ve really stepped on it. Fuel economy came in higher than expected at 10.4 L/100 kilometres, but the winter deep freeze we experienced the same week played a big role. All-wheel-drive would’ve been nice—the Sienna and Pacifica hybrids are AWD—but the front-drive Carnival managed itself well with winter tires.
Elsewhere, the Carnival ride is on the softer side, but it handles better than its size would suggest. Primary motions are well-controlled, but secondary motions last a little longer than they probably should. This results in a bit of a boatier feel than I would prefer, but it’s on par for the rest of the segment and certainly not a shock to most minivan buyers.
In our tester’s SX+ trim, the Carnival features everything you’d expect at this level—your typical suite of active safety features, two 12.3-inch screens for the gauge cluster and infotainment, and even a Bose audio system that isn’t half-bad—as well as a couple of welcome surprises. The first is a passenger-view interior camera allowing you to clearly see the second and third rows, useful for seeing if the kids are getting along. The second is a heated windshield, which I fully didn’t expect at this price point.
And therein lies the real standout feature of this 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid—its price. At $56,695 as-tested, it undercuts a comparable Sienna hybrid by about $10,000, and it’s even a couple grand cheaper than the gas-only Odyssey. Minivans used to be affordable people-movers but have fallen out of favour because most people perceive the image of SUVs and crossovers, but the Carnival flips the script by being a solid value play. And dare I say, the fact that not everyone has one makes it … kind of cool?
