2025 Hyundai Tucson plug-in hybrid sports standard AWD, “Green Zone” mode

• Hyundai’s Tucson PHEV crossover SUV refreshes its interior
• New Baby and Green Zone drive modes file down powertrain edges
• Up to 33 miles of EPA-rated range possible

The 2025 Hyundai Tucson crossover SUV tackles its midlife crisis with a series of updates that include standard all-wheel drive in PHEV editions, and new infotainment screens.

With the latest update of a design that bowed in 2022, the Tucson doesn’t offer a striking new look outside. It sports a cleaner front end with a new grille design and simpler LED daytime running lights, as well as a revised rear end with a more pronounced skid plate.

The interior spends most of the renovation budget: Hyundai’s replaced a dull center stack with a horizontally themed design like that from the Ioniq 6 electric sedan, and converted the former tombstone-style infotainment touchscreen into a sweeping band of displays also like that in its electric-car lineup. The wide infotainment touchscreen now floats under a single piece of glass along with the digital gauge cluster. USB-C ports fit in a nacelle under revamped climate controls—knobs and buttons, not touch-and-swipe functions buried in layers of interface. A relocated shift lever creates room for a wireless smartphone charger. 

With that infotainment system, Hyundai now bundles wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay on every Tucson PHEV, while a head-up display joins the options list. Over-the-air updates can now be received on the new SUV. 

The plug-in hybrid drivetrain hasn’t changed, in and of itself, but it now only comes with all-wheel drive, a 72-kw electric motor, and the larger 13.8-kwh battery that enables decent EV driving range. The EPA’s latest ratings for this configuration show an electric-only range of 33 miles, an 80-MPGe overall rating, and 35 mpg once the battery’s exhausted. It’s rated at 268 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. An onboard 7.2-kw charger helps it rejuice in less than two hours on a Level 2 charging setup.

Hyundai has coded two new drive modes for the PHEV Tucson for the new model year. Baby mode damps initial acceleration to prevent jostling inside the cabin. Green Zone is said to eke out more range from the plug-in powertrain. It’s also uprated the Tucson Plug-In Hybrid’s brakes with driver-controlled regenerative braking.

Among other powertrains, Hyundai has axed the former 180-hp 1.6-liter turbo-4. The base 187-hp 2.5-liter 4-cylinder soldiers on—as does the popular Hybrid model, which sports the 1.6-liter turbo-4 paired with a small 1.49-kwh lithium-ion battery and a 47.7-kw electric motor for 231 hp and 258 lb-ft, and EPA ratings of 38/38/38 mpg.

The 2025 Tucson PHEV hasn’t been priced yet, but it’s expected to show up at dealers soon.