Review: 2022 Hyundai Tucson Plug-In Hybrid - Better than RAV4 Prime? 

Absolutely yes it’s better. Because the Hyundai doesn’t feel cheap outside and inside. It has more space a significantly better put together interior with much better quality materials, excellent fit and finish, excellent build quality, state of the art tech, and a long warranty. Not to mention it’s cheaper May not perform like the RAV4 but that’s a small issue considering that it excels in every way possible

Never clicked on a video faster than this one 😂

One more thing for this vehicle. If you read the user manual you will see there that the gas should not be lower than 87. When I read that and tried to use 91 it immediately showed me 10% more projectced distance for the fulll tank and charge. And, what was more surprising for me - that Cotco gas provides the highest projected distance.

Since the RAV4 prime is literally Unobtanium now my wife is looking into this for her next car. Plug-In is perfect for us.

Great comprehensive review Matt…keep up the good work!

Great review like all of you reviews. Really like how you split the screen showing you and the road.

Hey Matt I just finally got to meet you at the cars and coffee in warrendale after being a fan and sub for over 10+ years man you are great never stop what your doing thanks for being such a cool dude and pumping out great content!

You can’t convince me the rav4 prime exists. They’re more rare than ferraris

Really good comprehensive driving review Matt. We bought a Tucson PHEV Limited for my Wife on April 18th (this year - 2022). So far, my Wife's been a champion about plugging it in when the battery is low. As such, she ended up driving 1,535 miles on the original tank of gas from the dealership before having to fill up the (small) 11.1 gallon tank - getting 173mpg. She still had just over 2 gallons left in the tank when filling it up. A big thing that needs to be emphasized with a PHEV - you NEED to plug it in to take advantage of the benefit over a conventional hybrid. Having said that, the current tax credit benefit of a PHEV over a conventional hybrid means that (if you qualify) you will pay significantly less for the PHEV over the hybrid version after you get the tax credit applied (when you file your taxes for the year you purchased the vehicle). That could change with the current (ridiculous) version of the bill running through Congress, but if you can purchase a PHEV before year end, you'll get the credit (so long as the manufacturer still qualifies - Hyundai and Kia still do). We traded in my Wife's 2013 Acura RDX for the Tucson PHEV, and it's every bit as nice as the RDX was - and more so in some areas like ride quality. A couple of changes I would recommend to Hyundai for the Tucson Limited - tone down the piano black interior trim pieces and integrate wireless Car Play and Android Auto. However, we are both extremely happy with the Tucson PHEV Limited, and highly recommend it for anyone interested!

Dang with that much weight difference over the hybrid it probably accelerates about the same as the hybrid even w 30 more hp, maybe even worse since it has the same torque. I’ve just recently purchased a 2022 Tucson hybrid awd and love it! I feel like its 0-60 time isn’t a good reflection of how fast it is because it seems to always have a soft launch then starts accelerating faster and faster. Great review!

Great review @mdtt. Thank you.

Great review buddy!

Electric range apparently takes ventilation into account. Turn it off and you will see the electric range estimate increase by a few miles. However, my Tucson PHEV has a 37 estimated range miles if full and with the ventilation off. Otherwise it's 34...

Nice review as always and interesting comparison to RAV4PRIME. The styling is very different in the two vehicles so some of the choice will be subjective. The KIAs are nice also; seems like South Korean cars are good deals. Matt sure likes wireless apple car play and Android Auto. Thank you again for great review.

Great review! By the way, do you have a husky? I saw some dog hair and we're very familiar with that, if you know what I mean 😅

if you cannot get them what is the use

All the power goes through the transmission.

What about fingershift gear?

I would much rather this over a Rav Prime. Way better interior and tech. I’m sure the Toyota has better reliability however for an extra $35 grand not worth it. Here in Canada dealers are charging a massive mark up on the Toyota.

i don't believe the electric motor is in the rear. I believe it's still at the torque converter that's in between the engine and the 6 speed automatic. Hyundai and kia have been doing this since they first rolled out their hybrids. partially it's because they don't have to pay royalties for a cvt like you would find on most other hybrids. Also, the tucson uses a manual all wheel drive they call htrac. It's not a electronic awd like found in the rav4. when you have an electric motor in the rear there is no need for a mechanical awd system. also as a correction, rav4 prime has both front and rear electric motors. Last 20% on the battery charge meter is reserved for hybrid, not ev mode. That might be the difference between ev range and the meter that you were seeing.

Matt, with most of these plug in hybrids I hear that the engine has to be running to have the heat or the a/c on. Is that true? We run the a/c or the heat for most of the year so that would negate the benefit of being able to drive with the engine off for 30+ miles on a charge

It will take you about a year to get one from a dealership.

Would rather just have the 2.5T from the Santa Fe in the Tucson. Hyundai is pushing us to the CX-5.

Man the notification thing is really working

The Tucson phev is an alternative to the rav4 but ultimately the build quality is much better on the rav 4 prime. The range is longer mgp. The Tucson does look better even more expensive and is a little bigger. I own the Phev Tucson so I’m not being biased.

You know how different android phones always compete with iPhone. In this case everyone is competing with the Rav 4 but they’re all coming up a bit short

No. Its not. After 30 years the Hyundai Motor Company still has not figured out how to properly build an internal combustion engine. Case in point, Hyundai/Kia just recalled almost 6 million cars, including mine, because the engine may burst into flames. Apparently people have been killed as a result of the defect. Now Hyundai is trying to build Electric BEV and PHEV vehicles. But apparently they dont know how to build these either, as my 2017 Hyundai Sonata PHEV died under warranty after only 4 years, and Hyundai refused to repair over the last 12 months. It is still at the dealership, awaiting arbitration because Hyundai also refuses to repurchase. Absolute garbage from a garbage company. Buying a Hyundai was the worst financial decision I have ever made, don’t make the same mistake.

did hyundai pay you 1$ for every word "nice"?

RAV 4 is Noisy and Jerky and to me that’s a deal breaker

This car is already obsolete along with the santa fe plugin when the new outlander phev will be alot better