2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid review GT-Line HEV 8 seater - fuel economy test
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00:00This is the Kia Carnival Hybrid, the new petrol-electric 8-seat people mover from the Korean brand which offers
00:07plenty of stuff that you will like because it's only available in GT-Line trim, and that's the most expensive version.
00:13In fact, this is the most expensive Kia Carnival ever. So is it worth your money?
00:18Well, we'll talk about that in this review, and if you haven't already, please subscribe.
00:21It does help a lot, and ring the bell to keep up to date with all of my reviews.
00:24All right, let's take a look at the Kia Carnival Hybrid, shall we?
00:31Righto, some bad news first.
00:33The Kia Carnival Hybrid is only available in GT-Line trim at this point in time, and it's the most expensive Kia Carnival ever.
00:40It's more than $76,000 before on-road costs, so you're looking at more than $80,000 on the road,
00:47which is a lot of money for a car like this.
00:50But I do think that it still has plenty of value for money. And look, Kia says that they will add more
00:55hybrid options in the Carnival lineup later on, but this is just the first one.
01:00So I guess you have to wait if you want a cheaper one, or
01:04fork out and go for this one, which comes with a lot of stuff.
01:07I'm going to give you a few of the details about the standard equipment, including LED lights.
01:12They are LED projector headlights as well, LED daytime running lights, you get LED fog lights, you get specific
01:1819-inch aero alloy wheels, and you also get keyless entry, push-button start, and
01:25an electric boot, as well as electric sliding side doors, which will make your family life a lot easier.
01:32On the inside, you're getting some really nice features.
01:35You've got heated and cooled front seats with electric adjustment and driver's seat memory settings. In the second row,
01:42you also get heated seats too.
01:44There's a big panoramic glass roof with two sections of glass, and also you're getting a pair of big
01:50screens, one for the driver and one for the infotainment stuff.
01:54You've got wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat-nav, a head-up display, and
01:58basically everything you could possibly think of, including a heated steering wheel.
02:02So it does have heaps and heaps of standard equipment,
02:05but it does miss out on one thing that you might find important to your life.
02:09There is no spare wheel with this version.
02:11You just get a tyre repair kit, and the other versions of the Kia Carnival do have a spare.
02:16So look, let's talk about alternatives to this, because there are some, well, very impressive ones. Some very familiar ones.
02:26The best alternative to the Kia Carnival Hybrid is the Kia Carnival diesel or the petrol. Honestly,
02:31I would choose the diesel.
02:3390% of buyers do choose the diesel, because it's a really likeable powertrain. If you haven't seen my
02:39detailed review of the petrol and diesel versions of this car,
02:43hit the link in the description below and make sure you go and watch it, because
02:46honestly, I reckon that the best alternative here is actually a Kia Carnival with a different powertrain.
02:52I mean, that's obviously dependent on your budget,
02:55because budget might be the biggest
02:57consideration for a family vehicle like this, unless you're choosing it for business, and then you can have different priorities.
03:01I understand that. But look, the diesel versions, they're a lot cheaper, they're more plentiful,
03:07there's different variants available.
03:08You can also choose the petrol V6 if you want and just save heaps of money and spend that on fuel, because it uses a
03:14lot of fuel. Anyway, I reckon that there's also a couple of other alternatives
03:18you should go and check out. The Hyundai Staria is one of them. It has a beautiful diesel engine,
03:24just like the Carnival. In fact, it's the same diesel engine, but it gets all-wheel drive in the Staria,
03:29and it's got a really interesting experience on the inside.
03:33It's like a fishbowl, that car, because it's got lots of glass and it is a big cabin.
03:38It's a big car as well, so it might not suit everyone's needs,
03:41but it does have a lot of wow factor, and also it's affordable, or more affordable than some versions of the Carnival, at least.
03:49And finally, if budget is everything to you, you might also want to go and check out the LDV Mifa.
03:54There's a turbo petrol version of that car. It only comes with seven seats,
03:58so that might be a consideration for you, but it does have a fair bit of wow factor in terms of the interior.
04:04It's pretty nice to drive and relatively fuel-efficient, and also it does have a decent warranty.
04:10So it could be a really good choice for you, or would you choose something else? Let me know in the comments.
04:17If you're thinking, how can I tell that it's the hybrid compared to the other versions of the key car?
04:22Well, there are a few ways.
04:23So, in some instances, you'll notice that these little flaps underneath here will close up because it's got active aero.
04:29It's the first non-EV in the Kia range to have that, and also it's got model-specific
04:3619-inch aero alloy wheels, so they're a little bit different looking to the other GT line wheels that are available.
04:44It's still a very big car, 5.1 meters long. It's got clever sliding side doors with buttons on the back doors as well,
04:51so if you've always got your hands full, it makes getting in and out a little bit easier as well.
04:55And look, the only other telltale signature that it is the hybrid is this HEV badge at the back.
05:03And let's have a look in the boot. Now, there's always a lot of work when it comes to these boots,
05:09because they're so configurable and so excellent. Just have a look at the amount of space in there
05:16with three rows of seats up. That is bloody phenomenal. And it still has plenty of really good features in the back as well.
05:24You've got a shopping bag hook, you've got a little storage tray there, another tray down below,
05:29and on this side you've got a 12-volt port too, another shopping bag hook as well, and another
05:35shopping bag hook down there, and another shopping bag hook down there. So, yes, you, in theory, should
05:41be able to do a eight-seat family's worth of shopping in one load just by hooking them all up
05:49at the spot that they should be. All right, I'm going to put these seats down, and look, it should
05:53be easy enough to do one-handed, shouldn't it? So, let's see. Pull that down, push that down like that,
06:01and pull this down, push this down like that. So, that's not hard. Anyone with a kid in their arm
06:07should even be able to do that, because I've got a camera in my hand. But look, what do you think
06:12about that? That is a huge, huge amount of space, and you can slide those seats in front back, or the
06:19middle seat can go a long way back as you can see with those runners, and it is a really, really
06:24massive space if you're thinking of using this as a five-seater, but otherwise it's a hugely practical
06:31eight-seater.
06:33Okay, people, I've already done a full detailed review of the Kia Carnival in a GT-Line version,
06:38so if you want to get the interior rundown that you need, make sure you hit the link in the
06:41description below. Otherwise, I'm just going to rush through this section, so don't get annoyed
06:45at me, and don't go crazy at me in the comments. Okay, so, 12.3-inch screen in front of the driver,
06:51and it's very, very good. 12.3-inch screen here for your multimedia as well. It's got connected
06:56services. It's got Apple CarPlay and Android Auto wirelessly, and you need to be able to use the
07:01wirelessly. You need to learn this screen a little bit because you'll want to jump in here
07:06to adjust some things about the drive experience if you don't like the speed limit warning system.
07:10I don't like it because it beeps and bongs, and there's other elements of the drive experience
07:14that you might not like. Now, I've set it up so that you've got the star button as your favourite
07:18button to jump straight into that screen, so you can turn that off a little bit more quickly,
07:22and also there's a couple of other things I turn off when I drive it. This steering assist thing,
07:27I don't like it very much, but hey, I don't think that's a deal-breaker. You've got a wireless phone
07:30charger here, another little storage tray here, you've got cup holders here, your dial controller
07:34here, you've got a centre cupboard bin here, you've got cup holders there for the people in
07:38the back. This seat does this, so you can adjust it from the driver's seat, which is kind of neat,
07:44and there's also extra little storage trays down here. Let me show you that. Yes, and you've also
07:49got a couple of bottle holders in the doors, and also it's just a really nice interior design.
07:56Head-up display as well for this spec, so yeah, it's nice. Let's jump in the second row.
08:01Push this button here and it'll close the door electrically, which I love. Speaking of electric,
08:07there's also electric windows in the back, which is a really nice feature to have in the back of a
08:12people mover. Lots of people movers don't have windows that go down, which is great. There's
08:16also these pull-up blinds for the back seat as well, great to see, and up here there's a climate
08:22control system as well, so you've got your temperature, your fan, and where the air is going.
08:28There are vents in the ceiling as well. You've got lights up here, you've got a big sunroof,
08:33and another sunroof up there, and that's really nice to see. These are three individual seats,
08:40so you can slide them individually if you wish. There is no fold-down armrest or cup holders as
08:45a result of that, but let me just show you something. You can fold that seat down completely
08:51and have a little storage tray between, and cup holders are there if you need them, or they're
08:55there as I said, and there's also a 12-volt port down here as well. You've got USB ports on the
09:01backs of both seats, you've got map pockets, there are bottle holders in the doors as well, and if
09:07you want to you can remove this seat as well. But I'm just going to show you one more thing. It
09:12actually has a set of ISOFIX points, and so does that seat there, and so does the seat I'm in,
09:17which, just to give you a bit of a headroom perspective, it's pretty good, I have to say,
09:20and there's also ISOFIX points in the back there with top tether points there, and three top tether
09:26points in here as well, so it's a proper family vehicle with five child seat possibilities in
09:32the back here. Very, very, very handy. All right, I'll jump in the very back and show you what the
09:37space is like, shall I? To do so, I will use this lever here, slide this seat forward, and jump
09:44into the back, and if you've ever sat in the back of a Kia Carnival as a passenger, you'll know that
09:50it is a very amenable space. So, this seat is now set to the position I was just sitting in,
09:56which I had plenty of knee room, foot room, and headroom. Here, I've still got clearance between
10:01the fronts of my legs and also a bit of clearance underneath as well, and headroom, yeah, it's
10:08actually pretty good. A six-footer can fit back here, I mean my head is just touching the ceiling,
10:13but I love the fact that I've got some really great features in here, let me show you. So,
10:16you've got a light, you've got a vent with directional capability, you've also got these
10:21shades in the very back row as well, there's multiple cup holders, USB-C ports, and like I
10:27said, there's three seats across the back. It might be a little bit squishy to fit three big adults
10:33like me in the back, but I've been in the back row of a fully loaded Carnival before with eight
10:38adults on board, and it was perfectly comfortable, and that is the thing about this car,
10:44it is exceptionally comfortable. It's the most practical car you can get if you need to move a
10:49lot of people, that's why it's called a people mover, and still, you get a massive boot too,
10:54don't forget that. The Kia Carnival Hybrid comes with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine,
11:03and it has a six-speed automatic transmission, and it's front-wheel drive only, and that might
11:07rule it out for you, depends on your needs, but this powertrain, which is familiar from other
11:13Hyundai and Kia group products, now has a bit more power because it's got a more powerful electric
11:18motor, and the electric motor is actually integrated into the transmission, so it means that
11:22when you're driving in EV mode, you can feel gear shifts, which is kind of weird, but kind of cool
11:27as well, I reckon. Now, it's also got towing capacity that you might want to consider,
11:31see the numbers on your screen now, and see if you think you could make that work for your needs.
11:36Alright, let's go for a drive, shall we? See what it's like, and I'll also tell you about
11:39the fuel consumption soon too. Hear that? The sound of serenity, or the sound of a speaker
11:49on the outside of the car, which gets louder when you're in reverse, which is actually very,
11:54very handy. The idea with that speaker is because this car can run in fully electric mode,
12:02if you are driving fully electric, it's relatively silent, and that little speaker will warn people
12:08that you're there. It's good tech, I reckon. Yes, the EV driving situation in this car is
12:15something you need to think about, because it will drive in EV mode quite a lot, and it'll switch
12:20between petrol and electric depending on the situation that you're in, depending on what the
12:25battery's charge state is like, and it will also sort of switch between the two more regularly than
12:32you probably expect, including on the highway. You can be driving along at 110 k's an hour,
12:36fully electric, which might be surprising, and just like that, it switched over to petrol or hybrid mode
12:42when I was going up that hill. As I go down here, it'll probably switch back to EV and be relatively
12:49silent again. Yep, and there's a little light on the dashboard there that tells you when you're
12:54driving in EV if you can't tell, and also, I'll also mention that you've got paddle shifters here,
12:59and they can adjust the level of regen braking that you have applied to the brakes. So, regen
13:05brakes, if you're not aware, they help you add a bit more charge back to your battery pack
13:10in the form of kinetic energy that would have potentially otherwise been lost. So, you can drive
13:16this car to a degree on the single pedal, so just using the accelerator, you can not touch the brakes
13:22in some situations, but it's not like single pedal driving in a full EV, it's just to a degree.
13:29And hey, I have to say that I do like the way this car drives more generally. I like the brake
13:35pedal feel, it's actually pretty honest. Sometimes it's not in hybrid cars that have regen brakes,
13:41but this is a pretty nice feeling brake, very responsive and safe feeling, and that's probably
13:47what you want in a vehicle of this size with this intent. And also, I have to say that the
13:52powertrain is definitely punchy enough. Like, when you do put your foot down,
13:58it boogies, it goes along, and that's exactly what it should do. It should be
14:03relatively effortless. And look, there are some other things that do require a bit of effort,
14:08namely the safety systems in this car, which are pretty frustrating. So, I'm going to turn
14:14off the speed sign recognition system because it annoys me. You can have it so that it's
14:20assistance, so it'll beep and actually keep you at the speed limit when you're using cruise
14:26control or whatever, or you can just have it as a display on the screen that tells you what the
14:30speed limit is. I don't know why it has to default to be on with a bing every time the car sees or
14:38thinks it sees a new speed limit sign, because sometimes it can get it wrong too,
14:42and that's a little bit annoying. Now, as I mentioned, you can actually feel gear shifts
14:47in EV mode in this car, which is kind of peculiar, and you can hear the electric motor whining away
14:53a little bit, but it's not too loud, and that's the other thing about this car. The refinement
14:57levels are fantastic. It is a big, comfy car, and you can talk to the people in the very back row
15:03quite easily as well. This powertrain, I think, is a good fit for this application.
15:08It probably could do with all-wheel drive, and it probably could do with being offered on more
15:13variants in the lineup, and in fact, I think that's the real thing that will hold it back
15:17initially, because it is expensive to buy a hybrid version of the Carnival right now, but
15:24hopefully that is addressed, because I think it would be a nice addition to some of the more
15:29affordable versions of this car. So, it is a very, very large vehicle, but it doesn't feel that big
15:35to drive, because it's got relatively direct and accurate steering, so that means that it's pretty
15:42predictable, pretty easy to manage this car in corners, whether you're going at speed, whether
15:47you're going on a twistier road like I'm on now, or whether you're just negotiating roundabouts or
15:51parking moves, you will notice that the steering is responsive and predictable, and you will be
15:57able to manage the size of this car, because it is a big car. Don't go thinking that it's not.
16:01It's sizable, and it will basically take a bit of learning in terms of the dimensions. If you're
16:08stepping up from something far smaller, just keep that in mind. But, it does have technology that
16:14helps you basically get more comfortable with the size of this car, because it's got the surround
16:19view camera system, which does make a big difference when you're parking, and it surprises me that Kia
16:25didn't decide to add surround view cameras to all grades of this car when they brought it out, but
16:31that's the way it is. But if you're buying the GT line, you do get one, and also you get the blind
16:36spot view monitor, which is a little camera display that shows up here. When you put your
16:40indicator on, it'll show you what's in your blind spot on that side or that side, depending on which
16:44way you are indicating, and it's a really great bit of technology in my opinion. And look, the other
16:51element of the drive experience that really impresses me is the ride comfort. It's a big
16:56vehicle. It's got a long wheelbase and a lot of weight to contend with, but it still feels pretty
17:02well sorted on the road, and it doesn't necessarily get uncomfortable easily,
17:08which is great, because you wouldn't want that in a people mover.
17:15So, it's a hybrid, and hybrids in most people's minds equate to good fuel consumption figures,
17:21low fuel consumption figures. And hey, look, the official combined cycle fuel use number
17:26for the Carnival Hybrid is on your screen now, and if you can achieve that, especially with all
17:31eight seats occupied and a boot full of stuff, you'll be bloody laughing, I reckon. But be
17:36realistic, I would say, just like all other fuel consumption figures on the official combined cycle,
17:43it might be a little bit unachievable. Look, you'll see what I've seen on your screen right
17:49now, and that was across a mix of different driving scenarios, with people on board, without,
17:53and open road, urban, the whole gamut of stuff that you might do with your own Carnival as well.
17:59So, I think that that's decent, but not necessarily mind-blowing, and in fact, I've seen
18:03less driving the diesel versions of the Kia Carnival, and that's why I keep coming back
18:08to the fact that I think the diesel might actually be the best option if you are considering a Kia
18:13Carnival. And if you're wondering, it still has a very big fuel tank capacity, and it can run
18:20on regular unleaded, but I would always recommend, if you can afford it, stepping up to putting 95
18:26RON in, at least. The Kia Carnival does have a maximum 5-star ANCAP safety rating, and it does
18:35come with heaps of standard safety technology, especially if you're choosing a GT line grade
18:40like this one. Things like autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist and junction
18:45detection. There's also lane keeping assistance with active lane keeping. There's adaptive cruise
18:50control with stop and go, and traffic jam assistance as well. There's blind spot monitoring,
18:55rear cross traffic alert and a rear auto braking system as well for this grade. Plus, this one also
19:01comes with a surround view camera system and a blind spot view monitor system as well. All of
19:07that tech is fantastic, and it's not available on all grades. And when it comes to airbag coverage,
19:13there's dual front, driver's knee, front side, full length curtain, including third row coverage,
19:18proper third row airbag coverage as well, which is great to see in a family vehicle like this.
19:22So it gets the tick!
19:27Kia Australia offers a seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty for its model range,
19:31including this car, and there's a capped price servicing plan available as well.
19:36But there's something you really need to know. Not only is the service interval requirement for
19:41this vehicle quite tight, it's 12 months and 10,000 kilometres, it's also bloody expensive
19:48to maintain this vehicle. If you look at the number on your screen, that's the average cost
19:53per service. So if you service your car twice a year because you do 20,000 kilometres a year,
19:59it's going to cost you more than a grand per year just to keep this car on the road from
20:03a maintenance perspective. That is not cheap, and it's not fantastic I have to say. And when
20:08it comes to roadside assistance, at least you get that included as well.
20:11There's definitely some appeal to the Kia Carnival Hybrid, and once they add a few more variants to
20:16the more affordable range, I think that it will be much more appealing. Right now, it's very
20:22expensive to get into this car, and the maintenance costs are also a real consideration. So, would you
20:28choose this? Would you go for the diesel? That's what I would do personally. If I was buying a Kia
20:33Carnival, I would walk in and get a diesel because I reckon it's a better fit personally.
20:37But, I'd love to know your thoughts. Hit me up in the comments, and if there's any other cars you'd
20:41like me to review that I haven't done already, make sure you let me know and I'll see if I can
20:45do it for you. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.
21:07you