Hyundai Tucson’s 2025 Makeover Gives CUV Even More Allure

LOS OLIVOS, CA – The compact crossover firmly has supplanted the midsize sedan as America’s vehicle of choice, overtaking even the large pickup segment in annual volume.

A compact CUV is almost always the best-seller at any brand, as many buyers find their mix of fuel economy, power, space, price and (nearly mid)size the perfect combination.

That includes Hyundai, whose own Tucson’s volume has grown steadily in its 20-year history, becoming its best-selling model and last year hitting the 200,000 sales mark in the U.S. for the first time. But Tucson still lags other compact CUVs, namely Toyota’s RAV4. With its 2023 sales more than double Tucson’s, the RAV4 was the third best-selling model in the U.S. last year, trailing only volume behemoths the Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado, Wards Intelligence data shows.

Thus, for 2025, Hyundai has tweaked the Tucson to gain ground in the segment.

While it receives a few exterior updates, including a wider, more vertical daytime running light signature, the biggest change to the compact CUV is inside. Hyundai places the instrument panel from its Kona CUV, and its Santa Fe CUV’s center console, into the Tucson for its refresh.

We are big fans of the horizontal, shelf-like IP, dual display screens united under one piece of glass and the open console with a cleverly designed wireless phone charger that accommodates protruding camera lenses – as well as the CUVs’ unique, low-gloss materials – so much so that we gave both the Kona and Santa Fe Wards 10 Best Interiors & UX awards this year.

The Tucson interior is similarly attractive and user-friendly. With the changed IP and center console, Hyundai rectifies a gripe of 2022-2024 Tucson owners by installing hard buttons to limit the need to dive into the infotainment display. Overall, virtual and physical controls are easy to access and logically placed, although a slight complaint is the need to hit “route” and then “start guidance” virtual buttons when setting a destination in the navigation system. The former step seems unnecessary, complicating route setting.

On materials, we like the fabric on the IP and note the attractive (and we think) real circular knit headliner. It may just be imitating that look, but it’s a very convincing imposter if so.

But Hyundai didn’t stop at the interior. While it carries over the gas-engine-only Tucson’s 187-hp 2.5L Smartstream 4-cyl. for 2025, the Tucson Hybrid gains – thanks to a slight uptick in motor output – 5 more hp and 13 more lb.-ft. (18 Nm), with total output now 231 hp and 271 lb.-ft. (367 Nm).

With that in mind, and the fact Tucson Hybrid sales are a growing share of total Tucson deliveries, long test drives here are relegated to a Tucson Hybrid Limited grade with all-wheel drive, AWD being standard across the board on hybrids and the plug-in hybrids. (The Tucson Plug-in Hybrid also sees torque rise the same amount, and horsepower grow by seven from the 2024 model, but it goes on sale a bit later and thus isn’t here for testing.)

The hybrid still has the automaker’s 1.6L turbocharged 4-cyl. mated to a 6-speed automatic, but again now with a more powerful electric motor, making 64 hp vs. 59 hp in the 2024 model.

Power is never lacking in our recent test drive here in the Santa Ynez Valley; always at the ready during mixed driving on low-, moderate- and high-speed roads. Acceleration is linear and the transition from gas to electric and vice versa, thankfully, is imperceptible.

For those who find the tip-in of electrified vehicles aggressive, Hyundai installs a new “baby mode” in the Tucson Hybrid for gentler acceleration. It’s switched on from the infotainment system vs. the drive-mode selector. It also should be useful to avoid hitting walls in garages. Ask me why I think of that.

Our Tucson Hybrid exhibits respectable handling for a tall-ish crossover (i.e. it leans a bit) on the twisty, curving roads we travel. Athletic handling prowess is unlikely a key metric for many shopping a compact CUV, but the Tucson Hybrid performs above average nevertheless.

The ride is pleasantly comfortable. A sporty suspension is probably not a top priority of most compact CUV drivers, who by and large will do more Costco runs than canyon runs.

What is a key metric for buying a hybrid is fuel savings, and here the Tucson Hybrid Limited shines brightly relative to its internal-combustion-engine-only sibling, estimated to achieve least 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km) combined. In our 52-mile (84-km) initial leg we nail that figure, getting 35.7 mpg, per our vehicle’s trip computer, after an hour of driving in said canyons – sometimes aggressively. A shorter, more suburban afternoon leg returns roughly the same fuel economy. In comparison, the gas-only Tucson is estimated to achieve 28 mpg (8.4 L/100 km) combined at best, in its front-wheel-drive configuration, while the PHEV also is estimated to average 35 mpg.

The Tucson offers good passenger and cargo space across the board, with Hyundai claiming the largest combined passenger and cargo capacity among key competitors RAV4, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue and Chevy Equinox. The backseat sits bigger than it looks; Hyundai has carved out space from front seatbacks to accommodate knees and legs.

The 2025 Tucson Hybrid is available in a few trim levels, including a base Blue grade estimated to achieve 38 mpg (6.2 L/100 km) combined. The hybrid powertrain also is the sole powertrain offered in the performance N Line grade.

Pricing for the 2025 Tucson Hybrid ranges from a notch over $33,000 for the Blue grade to almost $41,000 to start for the Limited model.

The 2025 Tucson PHEV will range from $39,380 and $47,090. I recently wrote about the high price of PHEVs for my usual gig, principal analyst at Wards Intelligence, and the Tucson PHEV lends more weight to the argument that a PHEV often is as expensive or more expensive than a similar battery-electric vehicle. With Hyundai’s own lauded BEV, the Ioniq 5 CUV, likely to begin in the mid-$40k range for 2025 – and the fact, statistically, a PHEV typically has more service issues than an all-electric vehicle – buyers should consider if a hybrid or BEV could suit their needs.

The ICE-only Tucson comes in a variety of trims, including an XRT outdoor-oriented model (pictured, above) we test briefly here and that exhibits good handling on a moderate off-road course. It naturally is more affordable due to the lack of electrification and a front-wheel-drive layout unavailable in the AWD-only hybrid and PHEV Tucsons. Pricing for the FWD Tucson SE starts at $28,355 and hits $38,295 for the Limited. AWD adds $1,500 to the price of the FWD Tucson, and destination and handling adds $1,395 to the price of every 2025 model, too.

While the Tucson’s cost has climbed, and Hyundai’s cost advantage has shrunk relative to the Japanese, it still undercuts the CR-V and RAV4 competition. Given that, and the Hyundai brand’s good reputation for initial quality, the Tucson could easily sell 50,000 more copies this year than last, providing Hyundai can ramp up production.

The 2025 Hyundai Tucson, minus the PHEV due later this year, is on sale now at U.S. Hyundai dealers.