From the slopes to the soccer field, the Hyundai Palisade offers a luxe ride
By S Isaac Bouchard
EACH GENERATION has a defining family vehicle; think Vista Cruiser and Country Squire wagons in the ’60s and ’70s. Along came the minivan in the ’80s—a better way to haul everything, but the antithesis of cool. Early SUVs like the Cherokee and Explorer delivered on the adventurous vibe, but they didn’t offer the room inside or the refinement people really craved. A perfect solution often sticks, as in the case of the crossover era—a high-riding minivan alternative that has almost the same cargo capacity but maxes out the cool factor.
Of today’s models, the clear leader is the 2026 Hyundai Palisade, especially in its hybrid form. The look is bold, with frosted lighting elements that artfully tie into the sloping roof pillars and chamfered body panels that signal upward mobility. And if the Palisade’s style isn’t for you, the ’27 Kia Telluride is its mechanical twin.
Hyundai’s top trim level, Calligraphy, elevates the interior far above Honda, Mazda, Toyota, and even Lexus. Material quality is excellent, and the mid-mod aesthetic, with rounded corners, contrasting colors, matte wood-look trim, and the copious use of textiles and soft-touch plastics, is sybaritic. The Palisade’s standard configuration is three rows, with the center being a bench. Upper models have luxurious, power captain’s chairs with heating and ventilation. The upside is reduced sibling squabbling for those privileged to sit in these middle seats. However, the motors are slow to move these heavy chairs, meaning Bond-esque ejecting of the kids isn’t in the cards.
The third row is actually comfortable, and there are vents and USB ports seemingly everywhere. Hyundai’s tech is amongst the best, with easy-to-fathom menus, clear screens that respond quickly, and plenty of good ol’-fashioned buttons and knobs to poke and twist for commonly adjusted settings like audio and HVAC.
The Palisade veers heavily to the luxurious end of the driving dynamic spectrum as well. Ride quality is sumptuous, with better control of how the wheels recover from sharp impacts like potholes and broken pavement than competitors, near-silent progress at high speeds, and a refinement to the powertrain that eludes most others in the class. No, it doesn’t carve corners like a Mazda CX-90, but who does that with the family onboard anyway? What the Hyundai does do is coddle and cosset.
It’s also fast and efficient. The hybrid system has a big battery and powerful electric motors, ably abetting the 2.5-liter, turbocharged gasoline engine. Combined with a smooth-shifting 6-speed transmission, it hits the benchmark 60 mph from a start in 6.6 seconds, faster than most, and is unaffected by altitude, unlike the non-hybrid version, whose V6 engine loses steam at a mile high. The Palisade gets great fuel economy ratings from the EPA, and in the real world, it’s easy to average almost 30 mpg in daily use, astonishing for something this big. And it never needs to be plugged in.
One caveat is that the hybrid is rated to tow only 4,000 pounds, well below some others in the class. But in almost all other respects, the Hyundai resets the bar for what a modern midsize crossover can and should do.
2026 HYUNDAI PALISADE
HYBRID CALLIGRAPHY
EPA Ratings: 29/30/29 mpg
Horsepower/torque: 329 hp/339 lb-ft
0–60 mph: 6.6sec
Price as tested: $60,625
Rating: 5 Stars
S Isaac Bouchard, owner of Bespoke Autos in Lakewood, has been an auto broker for 35 years and writing about cars for 22 years.
