A Hyundai appeared in northern Moravia, which we had not seen for a long time. Czech customers will miss one thing – Garáž.cz

This is how you park your new electric Kona and notice a crowd in front of the hotel surrounding something apparently quite large. And square. That it would be… Sure, you must have registered that the new Santa Fe is very angular and, of course, also big, so the surprise is over – in addition to the electric Kona, I also met a new large SUV from Hyundai in the north of Moravia.

The very first impression? According to the photos and actually the dimensions (over 4.8 meters in length, 2.8 meters in wheelbase), I assumed it was a giant, the size of which is only emphasized by the angular shapes. In reality, however, the new Santa Fe seemed more compact to me than in the photos. Of course, it cannot be a small car by nature, but it really does not seem too big.

And as for the edges… it will probably be unusual for some time, especially in the context of the latest and more rounded Hyundais, the Santa Fe stands out with its sharp style. Rather, she was pleasantly surprised by the rear, which did not fit me well in the first photos. She didn’t offend me live, rather she fit the whole thing nicely. In addition, the fifth door opens generous access to the luggage compartment with a basic volume of 725 liters. In our case, however, the third row of seats took away some of that liter. And beware, Santa Fe can be not only five- and seven-seater, but also six-seater! That is, with two extra-standard seats in the second row.

Why not, the Santa Fe could have those VIP ambitions too. The luxurious interior only supports such a focus, although the specification on display, combining a very, very light color with a rather unusual shade of green, felt a bit… unusual. However, the overall workmanship and details are very high quality, sophisticated and valuable.

Probably the first time in my life I saw a “reversible” armrest, which can be opened from the first and second row. In the giant storage space between the front seats, you can store two mobile phones (with wireless charging, of course), another interesting innovation is the UV-C sterilization compartment. Like… There will certainly be customers who appreciate a perfectly sterilized mobile phone or wallet.

This will probably hurt the Czech customer after all, the new Santa Fe has to do without a diesel unit for the first time ever. So you can only buy SUVs from Hyundai in European markets as hybrids or plug-in hybrids. The base will always be a 16-liter gasoline engine, as a hybrid it will offer a system 230 horsepower, the plug-in will improve to 265 horsepower. We still have to wait for more detailed technical data.

The same applies to prices, sales will start at the beginning of next year, the first cars will reach us in the spring. We’ll see how the new Santa Fe fares here. It is certainly a very interesting car, but the loss of diesel will be noticeable. Perhaps, however, the mentioned plug-in will convince the train company. We’ll let you know!