As much as we’ve had a generous helping of cool stuff, once in a while, it’s nice to turn your brain off and decompress by driving something that doesn’t get the blood pumping. The 2025 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid fulfills that role dutifully, melting away the stress and annoyances of commuting simply by being pleasant to drive. What a concept, right?
What’s new for 2025?
Last year’s refresh to this seventh-generation Elantra was a big one. Hyundai cleaned up the front-end styling, gave the Elantra some new wheel designs, added side-impact airbags to the rear seats, and made the driver and safety assists a little smarter. To that end, the Elantra heads into 2025 unchanged, but that’s more than OK. The new front end looks much cleaner, and side-impact airbags for the back seats are something we need to see more of in the segment.
But even with the front end a little less busy, the rest of the Elantra is still a little much compared to what else is out there. There’s the Corolla if you want anonymous, the Jetta, Civic, and Mazda3 if you want classy, the Impreza if you want faux-sporty, and the Elantra — and the closely related Kia K4 — if you want overstyled. Even if the copious creases and folds aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, I still give Hyundai some props for making the Elantra stand out a bit.
How’s the Elantra inside?
Honestly, pretty nice for the money. Competitors like the Civic and Mazda3 offer better fit-and-finish and overall quality, but the Elantra makes up for that in a few ways. Our tester’s two-tone light grey colourway brightens up the cabin a lot, the metal speaker grilles look classy, and the TV-static fabric on the door panels and seatbacks are the automotive equivalent of a tweed sport coat. Minor thing: we’re not so sure a light grey shift knob is such a great idea.
Tech-wise, this tester being the nearly-fully-loaded Luxury trim uses a twin 10.25-inch screen setup for the infotainment and gauge clusters. Both displays are crisp, bright, and easy to use; there’s a surprising amount of customization built into the digital gauge cluster, and immediately below the touchscreen is a row of physical shortcuts including a volume knob. If I had to nit-pick, Elantra uses a slightly older version of Hyundai’s infotainment software, so you don’t get wireless CarPlay or Android Auto. That’s a miss in an era where most of its competitors offer it standard.
But I nit-pick because the rest of the Elantra’s cabin is otherwise a great place to be. Visibility all around is excellent, there’s ample headroom and legroom no matter where you sit despite the sunroof and somewhat coupe-ish roofline, and the 402-litre trunk is among the biggest in the segment. Oh, and did I mention you still get a volume knob and real buttons and knobs for the A/C controls?!
Powertrain, driving impressions, and fuel economy
Let’s get this out of the way: if you want an Elantra that’s even remotely quick, start with the N-Line.
That’s because fuel economy is the name of the game here. It uses a 1.6-litre four-cylinder gas engine, hooked up to an electric motor and a tiny 1.32 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. That’s all good for just 139 horsepower combined, but a punchy enough 195 pound-feet of torque. The Elantra Hybrid also uses a six-speed dual-clutch automatic, instead of a CVT. On the highway, 139 ponies is about as gutless as you’d expect, but the Elantra Hybrid feels surprisingly punchy around town.
Unsurprisingly, it’s stupid good on gas. Hyundai says it’ll sip 4.8 L/100 kilometres in the city, 4.5 highway, and 4.7 combined. Despite our generous use of the skinny pedal, we averaged 5.2 L/100 kilometres in our week with the car; solid numbers made sweeter by the fact that the Elantra happily takes regular.
It all comes together very calmly. The Elantra using a dual-clutch means it doesn’t moan-and-groan when you get on it, like the Corolla hybrid. It also seems like Hyundai uses more sound insulation; we sometimes couldn’t tell if the gas engine was running, on top of the electric motor making the whole experience even quieter. The cabin’s commendably quiet on the highway, and you don’t feel much in the way of big bumps and potholes. On a rainy drive home, the Elantra Hybrid is a great place to silence the noise.
The verdict
At $31,349 as-tested but before taxes and all that, the 2025 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid is pretty good value. It comes in a good bit less than the Corolla and Civic hybrids, but doesn’t give up much — if anything — in the way of refinement, comfort, and fuel economy. If you don’t mind all the creases and angles, the Elantra Hybrid is a downright pleasant little thing.
