Hyundai Palisade Hybrid spied testing

Spy photos have confirmed the 2025 Hyundai Palisade will be offered with a hybrid drivetrain for the first time.

As previously predicted by Drive, the next-generation three-row Palisade will offer a hybrid version to take on the Toyota Kluger hybrid in the hotly contested large SUV showroom battle.

While Hyundai is yet to confirm the move, an image posted on Autospy (bottom) provides visual confirmation of the hybrid Palisade, with the orange cabling underneath the vehicle signifying high-voltage electrical components.

Orange is the common industry standard for high-voltage electrical cables required for hybrid and electric motors.

The vehicle shown here is not a battery-electric vehicle but a hybrid, given the orange cabling’s fitment around conventional internal-combustion engine parts.

With production of the new Palisade due to commence in early 2025 – South Korean media reports claim – the hybrid version is expected to arrive a few months later with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-hybrid drivetrain.

The hybrid is set to replace the existing Palisade’s 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine but will reportedly be sold alongside a 3.5-litre turbocharged petrol V6 – replacing the current 3.8-litre non-turbo petrol V6.

While it has promoted its battery-electric vehicles strongly, Hyundai is expected to introduce hybrid versions of every model in its passenger car line-up.

The Palisade’s 2025 addition will make it one of the last vehicles to be given the hybrid treatment.

Hyundai already offers the seven-seat Santa Fe with a 1.6-litre petrol-hybrid powertrain carrying over to the new-generation Santa Fe which arrives in Australia in mid-2024.

The Palisade is a direct rival for the Toyota Kluger hybrid in size, with the Santa Fe a smaller offering closer in dimensions to a Skoda Kodiaq or Mazda CX-8.

In the US the Palisade will also target – to a certain extent – the new Toyota LandCruiser Prado, sold there simply as the LandCruiser, which will offer a new 2.4-litre turbo-petrol hybrid drivetrain.