The Kia Carnival already stood out within the minivan phase by not driving like a minivan. The 2025 Carnival refresh makes it not appear to be a minivan, both. I went to the mountains east of San Diego to take a look at the adjustments to this people-mover and to check out its new hybrid system, which guarantees 50% higher gas economic system than the V6.
Most automakers contemplate the minivan phase lifeless, or at the very least near it, even when we expect they’re nice journey wagons. They’re promoting principally to the identical individuals who purchased a van the final time they went by means of a dealership, or at the very least that’s what Kia is telling us.
Kia’s prospects, although, are totally different. They’re youthful — the model’s youngest of any mannequin — whereas two-thirds are new to the model, and greater than half are new to the van phase. It’s Kia’s quickest-moving mannequin, and it sells just about all of them to actual individuals as an alternative of fleets.
This implies you’ll see this van in younger and hip parking buildings, not your native rental chain’s lot. That’s a giant deal for any automaker, and it’s particularly essential in a phase that’s positively not thought of younger or hip. So Kia has leaned in on that buyer for the refresh.
In brief: The 2025 Kia Carnival will get extra SUV-like seems to be with out ruining the bundle. Small tech upgrades enhance the person expertise, whereas a well-tested hybrid system provides it gas economic system and refinement the previous V6 may by no means dream of.
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Engine
1.6L turbocharged I4 Hybrid -
Horsepower
242 hp -
Torque
271 lb.-ft. -
Mileage
EPA est. 34/31 -
Cargo capability
40.2 cu.-ft. (145.1 max) -
MSRP
$40,500
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Clean hybrid energy -
Large house -
Comfortable journey -
Inexpensive value
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It is nonetheless a minivan -
No AWD accessible -
MPG lags competitors -
Must take away seats for flat ground
2025 Kia Carnival Evaluate
For 2025, Kia has given the Carnival seems to be impressed by its Telluride SUV sibling on the entrance and the rear. The adjustments are small, with new lights, bumpers, and the tailgate overlaying virtually all of it. However the total impact is huge. All of the sudden the van doesn’t appear to be a van anymore.
Kia occurred to deliver alongside the previous mannequin as a chase automobile for execs and PR employees. In the identical colour, parked alongside the brand new fashions, the distinction was evening and day. This front-wheel-drive van seems to be as rugged as nearly any crossover, even when it’s barely much less succesful if you depart the pavement.
I say barely, as a result of a part of the Carnival’s SUV seems to be come from journey peak. With 6.8 inches of floor clearance, it has greater than some other minivan affords as normal (the Sienna Woodland trim will get 0.1 inches extra) and simply an inch or so lower than a Telluride. It’s not going to bash down trails, but it surely’s completely able to getting down that dust street to your favourite campsite or trailhead.
This Van Is Made for Hauling
If you’re preparing for the path, the Carnival has precisely what you need from a minivan: Large quantities of house for individuals and cargo.
It has 40.2 cubic ft of cargo room with all three rows of seats in use. Fold the third row and take away the center seats, and also you get 145.1 cubic ft and a flat ground from the hatch to the entrance seats.
That’s considerably extra space with its seats in use than Chrysler, Toyota, or Honda, and greater than all however essentially the most large three-row SUVs. Stow the third row (all of those vans can cover these seats within the ground) and take away the center seats, and it’s on par with Chrysler and Honda.
Nevertheless it crushes the one different typical hybrid within the class, the Toyota Sienna, which maxes out at simply 101 cubes as a result of its center seats don’t come out.
There are some caveats to the Carnival’s house. Fold the seats flat as an alternative of placing the third row below the ground and the second row within the storage, and the house is nowhere near flat. It’ll do for cargo, however not for tenting.
The second-row seats aren’t precisely a breeze to take away, both, however they’re much simpler to get out than Honda’s awkward and hulking 80-pound models. Surprisingly, reinstalling them was extremely easy, and I managed to do it accidentally on two makes an attempt.
Lounge Seats Commerce Max Cargo for Max Consolation
Kia’s fancy-pants VIP lounge seats are wonderful. They recline, they’ve leg rests, and so they have warmth and air flow. These can all be activated by means of your voice, by the best way. You possibly can even decide to get them with a pair of big (and costly) tv screens. What you may’t do is fold them flat or take away them.
Since they’re solely an choice on the highest SX Premium mannequin, it’s in all probability not a difficulty. However realizing you may’t pop them out for the swankiest camp chairs ever is one thing it’s best to know earlier than you permit the seller.
V6 Lives, however New Hybrid Is the Higher Selection
A 3.5L V6 making 287 horsepower is the usual engine. It may well tow 3,500 kilos and will get an estimated 21 mpg mixed. This is identical engine we already know from the prior-year fashions.
The hybrid system can be acquainted. It’s the similar 1.6L turbo-four as discovered within the Sportage and Sorento hybrids (plus just a few Hyundai fashions), and it has a six-speed typical computerized transmission.
To assist transfer the bulkier Carnival, Kia makes use of the 74-horse electrical motor from the PHEV fashions of these automobiles, not the usual hybrid motor. The distinction that issues is that this motor makes extra energy and torque.
Whole output from the hybrid system is 242 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque, up from the 227 horses and 258 pound-feet of Kia’s different massive hybrids. It may well tow 2,500 kilos, and the EPA estimates it’s going to get 34 mpg metropolis, 31 freeway, and 33 mixed.
Why Does This Drive Higher Than Any Different Van?
The query then is, is that this tough-looking hybrid minivan any good? The brief reply is sure. It seems to be much less like a van than earlier than, and it continues to not drive like one.
Kia’s workforce available was tight-lipped in regards to the distinction between the Carnival and different vans beneath, but it surely’s one thing important. Carnival has the upright really feel, tall seating place, and wonderful outward view of an SUV, but it surely doesn’t have the bus-like steering wheel angle frequent to those automobiles.
Steering that feels extra car-like than van-like makes driving it extra nice. It’s not pretending to be a sports activities automobile, and it’s not pretending it could actually hammer down logging roads, and that lets the engineers make the chassis softer and thus extra snug. Precisely what you and your passengers truly need.
Clean, Quiet, and Rattle-Free Cabin
It’s a clean journey within the entrance, and it’s equally clean in the event you’re sitting within the again rows. It doesn’t launch third-row passengers over bumps like vans used to, which is all the time a hazard if you’re sitting behind the rear tires.
The Carnival doesn’t have any van seat rattle, both. The cabin was impressively quiet, even on the brutal concrete highways endemic to Southern California. The boxy cabin and tall roof of a minivan can bounce noise irritatingly across the house, however Kia has tamed that impact.
Kia has put this hybrid system in sufficient automobiles that the wrinkles have lengthy been ironed out. It’s not as grunty because the V6, but it surely delivers sufficient energy for many wants, and it delivers it easily and quietly.
When you want max towing, or often haul a full load of stuff within the again, then the V6 will in all probability stay the higher selection. Other than one obviously unhealthy gear change, the hybrid system disappeared into the background. Which, apart from gas economic system, is among the finest components of hybrid techniques.
Gas Financial system Delivers on Hybrid Promise
About that gas economic system, we noticed between 25 and 35 mpg indicated on the assorted segments of the drive route. With these decrease numbers coming from lengthy climbs into the mountains, ending up at nicely over 5,000 ft, the Carnival hybrid was impressively environment friendly. Although, now we have to level out that the EPA determine can’t meet Toyota’s 36/36/36 mpg determine.
Kia stated that it has used the hybrid system to alter journey and dealing with. It may well scale back pitch fore and aft by including and eradicating motor energy over bumps and do an analogous trick to assist stabilize emergency maneuvers. It’s not the sort of system you may really feel. In fact, Kia says which means it’s working because it ought to.
Upgraded Inside & A great deal of Useful Van Tech
The van’s refreshed inside — you will get it in navy blue now — has what seems to be like the identical screens for the sprint and infotainment, however the {hardware} and software program behind them are new. It’s smoother and faster to function, says Kia. A primary drive like this doesn’t depart hours to play with it, however the options we did check out all labored nicely.
It comes with the minivan tech you need, like wi-fi CarPlay and Android Auto, half a dozen USB-C ports, and a pair of household-style AC energy retailers. It additionally has a digital camera to allow you to see your passengers and a PA system to speak to them, and that’s normal for all however the base LX trims.
Kia Carnival Pricing
Pricing for the 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid begins at $40,500. That’s $2,000 greater than the equal trim with the V6, and $4,000 greater than the entry-spec LX that’s provided solely with the fuel engine.
EX provides an influence passenger seat, hands-free hatch, and shades for each again roads and is available in at $42,700. SX consists of two energy sunroofs, a digital key, a surround-view digital camera, and Kia’s hands-on Freeway Driving Help system for $47,600.
The highest of the road is the $52,600 SX Status that comes with a head-up show, Bose audio, and leather-based seating. It additionally affords the choice of VIP lounge seats for the center row and helps reduce sound ranges with laminated second-row glass. That’s a steep climb for not many extras, making the usual SX in all probability the one to get.
2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid Evaluate: Abstract
For 2025, Kia has made the already-impressive Carnival better-looking and extra fuel-efficient. It stays a intelligent, capacious, and sensible solution to transfer a great deal of gear and folks. And now it does it with out sacrificing on fashion — or on gas economic system, due to that new hybrid system.
The one factor lacking to make this bundle good could be all-wheel drive, a characteristic the Toyota Sienna affords. When you don’t have that want for further traction, the Carnival is prepared to your van life.
