Compare the2022 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and Sportage Hybrid have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe Hybrid has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Sportage Hybrid’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Santa Fe Hybrid. But it costs extra on the Sportage Hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them and moves the vehicle back into its lane. Only the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige has a rear cross-path warning system.

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the Sportage Hybrid have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Santa Fe Hybrid its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 77 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sportage Hybrid has not been tested, yet.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s corrosion warranty is 2 years and unlimited miles longer than the Sportage Hybrid’s (7/unlimited vs. 5/100,000).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe Hybrid for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Sportage Hybrid.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 9 places higher in reliability than Kia.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sportage Hybrid (17.7 vs. 13.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige’s 60 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited has standard 19-inch wheels. The Sportage Hybrid’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe Hybrid is 1.2 inches wider in the front and 1.3 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Sportage Hybrid.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe Hybrid’s turning circle is 1.2 feet tighter than the Sportage Hybrid’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.6 feet).

The Santa Fe Hybrid has 1.6 inches more front headroom, 2.7 inches more front legroom, 2.7 inches more front hip room, 1.6 inches more front shoulder room, 2.9 inches more rear hip room and 2.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Sportage Hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sportage Hybrid uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s front power windows open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Sportage Hybrid’s standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens automatically. The Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige’s rear windows don’t close automatically.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield. The Sportage Hybrid’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Santa Fe Hybrid to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Sportage Hybrid doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Kia charges extra for heated mirrors on the Sportage Hybrid.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the Sportage Hybrid. The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Sportage Hybrid.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Sportage Hybrid EX/SX-Prestige offers wireless charging.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Sportage Hybrid doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Kia Sportage by 19% during the 2021 model year.