2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid MPG: Better on the Highway Than the City!

2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid MPG

Thanks for joining us in our 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid MPG test! If you read our test of the 2022 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid MPG, we talked about how Hyundai surprisingly chooses to opt not to use CVT transmissions for their hybrid cars and the same goes for the test vehicle we used for our test of the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid fuel economy. Equipped with a 6-speed automatic, Hyundai’s approach to having a traditional automatic transmission rather than a CVT in a hybrid vehicle is welcomed by many automotive enthusiasts for their bold decision to stray from the norm. Something else surprising about our 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid MPG test vehicle that many hybrid cars don’t have is an optional solar roof! The theory is if you leave your Sonata Hybrid parked outside in direct sunlight, the hybrid battery will charge while it sits and while it drives down the road. Hyundai claims the Sonata Hybrid will drive almost two miles a day from just solar power! This also equates to almost 700 miles a year. Fancy and innovative! Another car we know to use this sort of technology is the Toyota Prius Prime. It’s some pretty neat tech!

For the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid fuel economy test, the EPA claims the Sonata Hybrid MPG to come out to 54 MPG on the highway for the Blue trim and 51 MPG for all other Sonata Hybrid trims due to increased weight from additional technology, the solar panel on the roof, and different wheels and tires. This result is interesting because usually for hybrid cars the EPA gets higher city MPG claims due to the electric motor doing most of its assistance at low speeds, but on the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, they get higher highway claims. For our test, we wanted to see how the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid gas mileage would differ during real-world highway driving rather than incorporating around 40% of city driving like the EPA does for its highway test.

Our test results found the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid gas mileage to come to 48 MPG on the highway! This is possibly lower than the 51 claimed by the EPA due to their city driving where hybrids excel but altogether a very impressive number from a family sedan with a drag coefficient of 0.24 that has such good lane-centering technology. If you were to drive on a full tank of 13.2 gallons of fuel, you can expect the Sonata Hybrid to cruise 630 miles; definitely a competent highway cruiser. Would you consider a hybrid car packed with an automatic transmission and technology like this to be your daily driver? Check out our test of the 2022 Toyota Camry hybrid MPG to see how these two compare!

Watch the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Fuel Economy Test:

How We Test the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Gas Mileage:

Daily Motor‘s real-world highway fuel economy test of the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid MPG consists of over 100 miles of consistent highway driving. We fill this Hyundai hybrid using the “three-click method,” meaning running the gas pump on super fast flow until it clicks, waiting ten seconds, running low flow until it clicks again, waiting another ten seconds, then running low flow one last time. The lowest octane fuel accepted by the vehicle’s manufacturer is used. We then drive 50 miles on public highway in one direction and then back in the opposite direction, attempting not to draft or drive aggressively. We set the cruise control at GPS-indicated 73 MPH in an attempt to achieve a moving average speed of 70 MPH over the entire test. Upon return to the gas station, we refill at the same gas pump as the initial fill using the same method. Miles per gallon is determined by dividing total miles traveled by fuel consumed. In cases where our observed figure differs greatly from the vehicle’s indicated figure and/or EPA’s estimate, we may recommend a number in between or plan to retest the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid gas mileage. Thanks for reading our test of the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid fuel economy on the highway!

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