Our 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid long-term arrived just in time for some significant snowfall here in the Mid-Atlantic, and while we didn’t exactly drive through the deep stuff, we spent plenty of time on snow covered roads and it performed quite admirably considering we’re just working with front-wheel-drive here.
This is the first time Kia has put a hybrid powertrain in their minivan, and it promises up to 33-Combined MPG. But that cold weather has us off to a very slow start, as our average over the first 4,500 miles of driving is just 26.7 mpg. Still, that’s above average for a vehicle this size and way better than the 22.6 we got in the V6-powered Carnival a few years back.
The Carnival Hybrid uses an upgraded version of the Sorento SUV’s setup which pairs a 1.6-liter turbo-four engine with a larger 54-kW electric motor to produce a combined output of 242 horsepower, 15 more than the Sorento.
“The V6 powered Carnival certainly has plenty of get up and go, but the electric boost from this hybrid system adds just a little bit more. And despite the power still going only to the front wheels, it feels like it gets to the ground more efficiently. That’s to say we’re spending less time spinning our wheels here than we did in our previous long-term Carnival.”