The Kia Carnival already stood out within the minivan section by not driving like a minivan. The 2025 Carnival refresh makes it not seem like a minivan, both. I went to the mountains east of San Diego to take a look at the adjustments to this people-mover and to check out its new hybrid system, which guarantees 50% higher gas economic system than the V6.
Most automakers contemplate the minivan section lifeless, or no less than near it, even when we expect they’re nice journey wagons. They’re promoting principally to the identical individuals who purchased a van the final time they went by means of a dealership, or no less than that’s what Kia is telling us.
Kia’s clients, although, are totally different. They’re youthful — the model’s youngest of any mannequin — whereas two-thirds are new to the model, and greater than half are new to the van section. It’s Kia’s quickest-moving mannequin, and it sells just about all of them to actual folks as a substitute of fleets.
This implies you’ll see this van in younger and hip parking buildings, not your native rental chain’s lot. That’s a giant deal for any automaker, and it’s particularly essential in a section that’s positively not thought-about younger or hip. So Kia has leaned in on that buyer for the refresh.
In brief: The 2025 Kia Carnival will get extra SUV-like appears with out ruining the package deal. Small tech upgrades enhance the person expertise, whereas a well-tested hybrid system provides it gas economic system and refinement the outdated V6 may by no means dream of.
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Engine
1.6L turbocharged I4 Hybrid -
Horsepower
242 hp -
Torque
271 lb.-ft. -
Mileage
EPA est. 34/31 -
Cargo capability
40.2 cu.-ft. (145.1 max) -
MSRP
$40,500
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Easy hybrid energy -
Large house -
Cozy experience -
Reasonably priced worth
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It is nonetheless a minivan -
No AWD out there -
MPG lags competitors -
Have to take away seats for flat ground
2025 Kia Carnival Assessment
For 2025, Kia has given the Carnival appears impressed by its Telluride SUV sibling on the entrance and the rear. The adjustments are small, with new lights, bumpers, and the tailgate masking nearly all of it. However the total impact is huge. Immediately the van doesn’t seem like a van anymore.
Kia occurred to deliver alongside the outdated mannequin as a chase automobile for execs and PR workers. In the identical shade, parked alongside the brand new fashions, the distinction was night time and day. This front-wheel-drive van appears as rugged as nearly any crossover, even when it’s barely much less succesful while you depart the pavement.
I say barely, as a result of a part of the Carnival’s SUV appears come from experience peak. With 6.8 inches of floor clearance, it has greater than some other minivan gives as normal (the Sienna Woodland trim will get 0.1 inches extra) and simply an inch or so lower than a Telluride. It’s not going to bash down trails, but it surely’s completely able to getting down that dust highway to your favourite campsite or trailhead.
This Van Is Made for Hauling
While you’re preparing for the path, the Carnival has precisely what you need from a minivan: Large quantities of house for folks and cargo.
It has 40.2 cubic toes of cargo room with all three rows of seats in use. Fold the third row and take away the center seats, and also you get 145.1 cubic toes and a flat ground from the hatch to the entrance seats.
That’s considerably more room with its seats in use than Chrysler, Toyota, or Honda, and greater than all however probably the most huge three-row SUVs. Stow the third row (all of those vans can disguise these seats within the ground) and take away the center seats, and it’s on par with Chrysler and Honda.
However it crushes the one different typical hybrid within the class, the Toyota Sienna, which maxes out at simply 101 cubes as a result of its center seats don’t come out.
There are some caveats to the Carnival’s house. Fold the seats flat as a substitute of placing the third row underneath the ground and the second row within the storage, and the house is nowhere near flat. It’ll do for cargo, however not for tenting.
The second-row seats aren’t precisely a breeze to take away, both, however they’re much simpler to get out than Honda’s awkward and hulking 80-pound items. Unusually, reinstalling them was extremely easy, and I managed to do it accidentally on two makes an attempt.
Lounge Seats Commerce Max Cargo for Max Consolation
Kia’s fancy-pants VIP lounge seats are superb. They recline, they’ve leg rests, and so they have warmth and air flow. These can all be activated by means of your voice, by the way in which. You may even choose to get them with a pair of large (and costly) tv screens. What you may’t do is fold them flat or take away them.
Since they’re solely an choice on the highest SX Premium mannequin, it’s in all probability not a difficulty. However understanding you may’t pop them out for the swankiest camp chairs ever is one thing it’s best to know earlier than you permit the supplier.
V6 Lives, however New Hybrid Is the Higher Alternative
A 3.5L V6 making 287 horsepower is the usual engine. It could tow 3,500 kilos and will get an estimated 21 mpg mixed. This is similar engine we already know from the prior-year fashions.
The hybrid system can also be acquainted. It’s the identical 1.6L turbo-four as discovered within the Sportage and Sorento hybrids (plus a number of Hyundai fashions), and it has a six-speed typical automated transmission.
To assist transfer the bulkier Carnival, Kia makes use of the 74-horse electrical motor from the PHEV fashions of these autos, not the usual hybrid motor. The distinction that issues is that this motor makes extra energy and torque.
Complete output from the hybrid system is 242 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque, up from the 227 horses and 258 pound-feet of Kia’s different huge hybrids. It could tow 2,500 kilos, and the EPA estimates it would get 34 mpg metropolis, 31 freeway, and 33 mixed.
Why Does This Drive Higher Than Any Different Van?
The query then is, is that this tough-looking hybrid minivan any good? The quick reply is sure. It appears much less like a van than earlier than, and it continues to not drive like one.
Kia’s group available was tight-lipped concerning the distinction between the Carnival and different vans beneath, but it surely’s one thing vital. Carnival has the upright really feel, tall seating place, and glorious outward view of an SUV, but it surely doesn’t have the bus-like steering wheel angle frequent to those autos.
Steering that feels extra car-like than van-like makes driving it extra nice. It’s not pretending to be a sports activities automotive, and it’s not pretending it will possibly hammer down logging roads, and that lets the engineers make the chassis softer and thus extra comfy. Precisely what you and your passengers really need.
Easy, Quiet, and Rattle-Free Cabin
It’s a clean experience within the entrance, and it’s equally clean in case you’re sitting within the again rows. It doesn’t launch third-row passengers over bumps like vans used to, which is all the time a hazard while you’re sitting behind the rear tires.
The Carnival doesn’t have any van seat rattle, both. The cabin was impressively quiet, even on the brutal concrete highways endemic to Southern California. The boxy cabin and tall roof of a minivan can bounce noise irritatingly across the house, however Kia has tamed that impact.
Kia has put this hybrid system in sufficient autos that the wrinkles have lengthy been ironed out. It’s not as grunty because the V6, but it surely delivers sufficient energy for many wants, and it delivers it easily and quietly.
For those who want max towing, or regularly haul a full load of stuff within the again, then the V6 will in all probability stay the higher selection. Other than one manifestly dangerous gear change, the hybrid system disappeared into the background. Which, other than gas economic system, is without doubt one of the finest components of hybrid methods.
Gas Economic system Delivers on Hybrid Promise
About that gas economic system, we noticed between 25 and 35 mpg indicated on the assorted segments of the drive route. With these decrease numbers coming from lengthy climbs into the mountains, ending up at nicely over 5,000 toes, the Carnival hybrid was impressively environment friendly. Although, we have now to level out that the EPA determine can’t meet Toyota’s 36/36/36 mpg determine.
Kia stated that it has used the hybrid system to alter experience and dealing with. It could scale back pitch fore and aft by including and eradicating motor energy over bumps and do an identical trick to assist stabilize emergency maneuvers. It’s not the type of system you may really feel. In fact, Kia says which means it’s working because it ought to.
Upgraded Inside & A great deal of Useful Van Tech
The van’s refreshed inside — you may get it in navy blue now — has what appears like the identical screens for the sprint and infotainment, however the {hardware} and software program behind them are new. It’s smoother and faster to function, says Kia. A primary drive like this doesn’t depart hours to play with it, however the options we did check out all labored nicely.
It comes with the minivan tech you need, like wi-fi CarPlay and Android Auto, half a dozen USB-C ports, and a pair of household-style AC energy retailers. It additionally has a digicam to allow you to see your passengers and a PA system to speak to them, and that’s normal for all however the base LX trims.
Kia Carnival Pricing
Pricing for the 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid begins at $40,500. That’s $2,000 greater than the equal trim with the V6, and $4,000 greater than the entry-spec LX that’s provided solely with the gasoline engine.
EX provides an influence passenger seat, hands-free hatch, and shades for each again roads and is available in at $42,700. SX consists of two energy sunroofs, a digital key, a surround-view digicam, and Kia’s hands-on Freeway Driving Help system for $47,600.
The highest of the road is the $52,600 SX Status that comes with a head-up show, Bose audio, and leather-based seating. It additionally gives the choice of VIP lounge seats for the center row and helps lower sound ranges with laminated second-row glass. That’s a steep climb for not many extras, making the usual SX in all probability the one to get.
2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid Assessment: Abstract
For 2025, Kia has made the already-impressive Carnival better-looking and extra fuel-efficient. It stays a intelligent, capacious, and sensible strategy to transfer a great deal of gear and other people. And now it does it with out sacrificing on type — or on gas economic system, due to that new hybrid system.
The one factor lacking to make this package deal good could be all-wheel drive, a characteristic the Toyota Sienna gives. For those who don’t have that want for further traction, the Carnival is prepared in your van life.