I admit that I’m not super excited when I hear that I’ll be test driving a minivan. I mean, who wants to tool around in a vehicle that’s about as uncool as you can get. But it’s easy to change one’s mind with the 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid. It has a smooth ride, a very comfortable cabin, comes well equipped, gets good fuel economy, and excels at accommodating the family and all of their stuff.
Base Price: $52,600
As Tested: $54,490
Horsepower: 242
Mileage: 34 mpg city/31 mpg highway/33 mpg combined
The Carnival Hybrid debuts for the 2025 model year, joining Kia’s line-up with its gas-powered sibling. It comes in four trims: LXS, EX, SX and SX Prestige. Starting prices range from $40,800 to $52,900. These prices are higher than the gas-powered Carnival but less than some other minivans.
The Carnival Hybrid is only available with front-wheel drive; all-wheel drive is not available.
There’s room for eight passengers with the standard bench seating in the second row, and seven passengers with the available captain’s chairs.
It’s powered by a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, an electric motor and a hybrid battery. Total output is 242 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque. The transmission is a six-speed automatic.
The Carnival Hybrid has a smooth ride and easy handling, which is what you want in a family hauler. There’s enough power for most daily driving situations, but the Carnival Hybrid can feel slow if you’re trying to accelerate quickly or go uphill at highway speeds when the vehicle is loaded with passengers and gear. The engine can get loud in these situations as well. Steering is light and brakes have a normal feel without the squishiness of some hybrids.
Fuel efficiency is good for a minivan. EPA ratings are 34 mpg city, 31 mpg highway and 33 mpg combined. I got 33 during my week with a mix of city and highway driving.
When properly equipped, the Carnival Hybrid can tow up to 2,500 pounds.
The cabin is attractive with a clean look and upscale feel. Most materials are high quality. Yes, there are some plastics but they look and feel good. Seats in the first two rows are cushy and supportive with ample leg- and headroom. Seats in all rows are comfortable and it’s easy to get in and out of all three rows and power-sliding rear doors are standard. The third row can accommodate adults, although headroom may be tight for taller folks. One drawback is the available captain’s chairs in the second row don’t fold and can’t be removed which limits the availability to haul large and/or bulky items.
Standard features include remote keyless entry, push-button start, rearview camera, tri-zone automatic climate control, synthetic leather upholstery, eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, four-way manually adjustable front passenger seat, heated front seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, 4.2-inch driver information display, infotainment system with 12.3-inch touchscreen, six-speaker audio system, satellite radio, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, voice recognition for the front row, seven USB ports, Wi-Fi hot spot, and automatic high-beam headlights.
Available features include a surround-view camera system, head-up display, auto-dimming rearview mirror, digital rearview mirror, real leather upholstery, eight-way power-adjustable front passenger seat, driver’s seat memory settings, ventilated front seats, heated steering wheel, 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, eight-speaker audio system, 12-speaker Bose premium audio system, rear-seat voice recognition, wireless device charging, in-cabin intercom system that projects the voice of front-row occupants through the rear speakers, in-cabin camera that displays a video feed of second and third row occupants in the center display, rear-seat dual-screen entertainment system, rear-window sunshades, LED interior lighting, ambient lighting, two power tilting and sliding sunroofs, rain-sensing windshield wipers, roof rails, and a digital key (lets you use your smartphone or smartwatch as a virtual key to lock, unlock and start the Carnival Hybrid).
Standard driver assistance technologies include forward collision warning, forward automatic emergency braking, stop-and-go adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, lane-following assist, Highway Driving Assist (Kia’s semi-autonomous system that combines adaptive cruise control with lane-following assist, automatically adjusting speed and steering to maintain a set distance from the vehicle ahead), traffic-sign recognition, pedestrian and cyclist detection, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, driver-attention monitoring, vehicle exit warning, and rear-seat alert.
Available driver assistance technologies include blind-spot monitoring, Highway Driving Assist 2 (Kia’s semi-autonomous system that maintains a predetermined distance from the vehicle detected in front, keeps the vehicle within detected lane markers on certain highways, and assists in lane changes under certain conditions), evasive-steering assist (helps steer the vehicle to avoid a crash), reverse collision warning, reverse automatic emergency braking, and side parking sensors.
The infotainment system looks great with its large 12.3-inch touchscreen. Graphics are crisp and modern, menus are logically arranged, and the system responds quickly to inputs. The system is generally easy to use and there are handy physical controls for audio and climate. However, the volume knob doubles as the temperature setting for climate, which can be cumbersome because it’s too easy to turn down the volume when you’re trying to turn down the temperature, and vice versa. Separate controls for volume and temperature would be better!
Cargo space is good for a minivan. There are 40.2 cubic feet with all three rows of seating in place, 86.9 cubes with the third row folded, and a cavernous 145.1 cubes with the second and third rows folded. A manual liftgate is standard and a hands-free power liftgate is available.
The 2025 Carnival Hybrid comes with Kia’s excellent warranty. A limited warranty covers five years or 60,000 miles, and the powertrain warranty covers 10 years or 100,000 miles.
The good:
Easy to drive
Smooth ride
Good fuel economy
Spacious, comfortable cabin
Many standard and available features and tech
Standard wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
The not-so-good:
Could use more power in some driving situations
Available captain’s chairs don’t fold and can’t be removed
Pricing info:
My tester starts at $52,600. Ceramic Silver paint is $495. The destination fee is $1,395, bringing the grand total to $54,490.
Bottom line:
The 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid is a good blend of comfort and practicality, which is what you want in a family hauler. It’s easy to drive, comes well equipped, and there’s plenty of space for passengers and all of their cargo. And the hybrid powertrain means you’ll get good gas mileage. Drawbacks are no all-wheel drive and the available captain’s chairs in the second row don’t fold and can’t be removed, which can limit space for large items. Otherwise, the Carnival Hybrid is a solid offering in the minivan category.
