The 2025 Kia Carnival Hybrid: A Cool Minivan? You Bet!

If you’re not a minivan person but you need the space and convenience of one, you’ll love the Kia Carnival, especially the hybrid version.

As soon as you see it at a Kia dealership, you’ll appreciate that it looks more like an SUV with sliding side doors. What’s even better is for 2025 there is a hybrid version of the Carnival, so those family road trips are even more fuel efficient.

Yes, Fuel Efficiency Can Be Cool

The Carnival Hybrid comes with a 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder engine and an electric motor. These combine to generate 242 horsepower. Now, this is slightly less horsepower than the gas-powered Carnival’s V-6, which puts out 287 horsepower, but you’ll get to keep driving right past those gas stations instead of having to stop and fill up.

The hybrid version of the Carnival also has some systems that accelerate and decelerate the motor to improve how it handles. Kia calls them E-Ride and E-handling and they work along with the driver-assist safety features.

The Kids Will Love the Technology

What’s a family vehicle these days without the tech that kids want to have with them at all times? We’ll start with the standard 12-inch touchscreen that sits in the front dash. It comes loaded with Kia’s latest infotainment system with Connected Car Navigation Cockpit. The wireless version of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto makes it easy to connect phones and access contacts and playlists.

No matter how many people you have riding in the Carnival Hybrid, they will be able to plug in their phones. This minivan has almost two per passenger, and you don’t have to bump up to a higher trim level to get them. Your rear-seat passengers can stay entertained no matter how long of a trip you take with the available dual-screen rear-seat entertainment system.

Let’s Get Comfortable

As soon as you take a seat in the Carnival Hybrid at your local Kia dealership, you’ll see why this is such a cool minivan. The front seat passengers can even stay cool with the ventilated front seats. If you’re hanging out in the back, the available power-adjustable and reclining lounge seats allow passengers to get as comfortable as they would on their living room couch, and you can even get heated and ventilated seats for your second-row passengers.

Voice Activated Controls

Did you forget to put in your directions in the navigation when you left the Kia dealership? No worries, the Kia Carnival Hybrid’s operating system now has voice controls. Just ask for what you need, and you will receive. It can even hear your rear seat passengers so they can talk to the system instead of asking the driver to do it. Just say, “Hey Kia, change the station,” or one of the kids in the back can say, “Hey Kia, get directions to Starbucks.” You can keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.