When I test-drove the Hyundai Santa Fe and Tucson hybrids, I was immediately smitten. The power and drivetrain were smooth, effortless, and incredibly efficient. The Kia versions were great, too—I was particularly attracted to the Carnival hybrid minivan after putting my toddlers in one. But, there was one thing my mechanic husband and I were both wary of: the larger SUVs, like the Kia Sorento and Carnival, and including the Hyundai Santa Fe, had an engine with an output that felt way too small for a vehicle of its size: a 1.6-liter turbo four that makes just 227 horsepower. Sure, you’ve got the electric motor to help with acceleration and torque, but it made me worry about the longevity of those cars. The power balance didn’t feel right. Then, Hyundai Motor Group developed the new hybrid system, which debuted with the redesigned and overhauled Palisade. A large, 3-row SUV that came with (and thankfully still has) a torquey 287-horsepower-producing V6. Now, it can come with a 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes for a combined 329 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque, noticeably more than the V6’s 270 lb-ft. The extra power and torque numbers make themselves known right away, and I can’t wait to see if that engine will eventually go into HMG’s larger SUVs. Finally, the weight-to-power ratio felt balanced. But how can it hold up once it’s full of people? Wonderfully. Here’s how my week with it went.Everything I loved about the gas-only version, with just a bit moreLike most hybrid versions of popular SUVs, if you parked the gas-only version next to the hybrid version, they’re identical. The exterior design, color options, interior design, layout, and colors are mirrored. If you weren’t allowed to see the rear tail gate, where there’s one small “hybrid” badge on it, it would be impossible to tell the two apart. So, the passenger space, cargo space, outward visibility, comfort, technology, et cetera, are just as good as the gas-only version, which is great, because the gas-only version was very, very good. It fit my two toddlers, their car seats, and the associated gear, along with my mother and sister-in-law, without complaint. It’s a nearly perfect family car—the only thing that kept me from giving it a 5-star rating is the fact that the V6 got about 17-18 mpg around town, and I was lucky to get 20 mpg on the highway. You can get marginally better numbers with front-wheel drive, though. That’s where the hybrid version comes in. Instead of those low, thirsty figures, I was getting about 25 mpg around town, and over 30 mpg on the highway. And that was with all-wheel drive. You’d get even better figures if you opted for front-wheel drive, Hyundai says—up to 35 mpg on the highway and 34 combined, and a higher maximum range. My AWD tester had a range of 570 miles on a full tank, while the front-wheel-drive variant has a range of about 619 miles on a full tank. Aside from going much further, Hyundai claimed that the new hybrid system solved the acceleration issues that came with the V6, and I can say from experience that’s resoundingly true. Let’s not mince words here, she’s no thoroughbred off the line, but it’s much faster than I expected from a 6,000 lb 3-row SUV. More mileage and it’s faster off the line? Who could argue with that?My family loved the family-friendly featuresTo reiterate, the Hyundai Palisade hybrid has the same wonderful features as the gas-only version that made it such a wonderful family car. It was one of the few new cars where it was very quick and easy to install my toddlers’ car seats; they loved the large sunshades that covered the entire window, the sunroof that opened up the interior and brought in more natural light (as well as prevented and/or eased car sickness), the rear climate control settings, acres of legroom, and clever storage spaces. Oh, and a plethora of cupholders everywhere you look. It’s been designed and engineered to fit into a chaotic family lifestyle, and it shows. The only thing I’d say is that white leather is a bold, bold choice if you have little ones. Thankfully, though, you have other choices, like black, brown, and gray. In the two lower trims, you get black cloth. Thankfully, my youngest daughter’s spilled chocolate milk wasn’t hard to clean off the leather, but I could see it becoming stained by dirty shoes or sports gear in a very short time. Otherwise, the second and third rows were full of accommodations for every seat, such as a USB-C charging port, a dedicated A/C vent, and a cupholder to keep everyone comfortable for the long haul.One thing to keep in mind, though...The second and third rows can fold at the press of a button from the trunk. Which is great, but my husband and I both noticed that the second-row seats would fold, even with my daughters’ car seats installed, and it took a substantial amount of force to keep them from folding. Even if you tapped the button to reverse the fold, it took a staggering amount of time and force to stop the seats. This could be incredibly dangerous if you needed them to stop folding right away, for example, if a child or pet crawled onto the seat while it was folding, or if the button was accidentally pushed. So, if you’re seriously considering a Palisade, both gas-only or hybrid in the Limited or Calligraphy trims, keep children away from those buttons, and make sure they’re not near the seats while they’re folding. It’s not crazy expensive, either, compared to the competitionBecause the segment of full-size, 3-row hybrid, all-wheel drive SUVs is growing, there isn’t much competition for the Hyundai Palisade hybrid—at least not yet. As of right now, it mainly competes with the Toyota Grand Highlander hybrid. It technically competes with the Kia Sorento and Santa Fe hybrids. Still, in my opinion, because they’re smaller and don’t have the third row space as the Palisade, I don’t count them as competitors. The Grand Highlander hybrid, though, is a much closer match. It’s similar in size, space, and horsepower. However, the Grand Highlander hybrid is much more efficient, and if you go with the Hybrid Max option, it can come with more horsepower. But not by much. At its base, the Hyundai Palisade hybrid makes more horsepower from the same-sized engine as the Grand Highlander—the Toyota only makes 245 horsepower from a hybrid 2.5-liter engine, while the Hyundai makes 329. But the Toyota is cheaper here, by about $1,090. Now, if you get the Hybrid Max option, the horsepower goes up to 362 horsepower—but it costs about $54,040. My Palisade Hybrid tester had an MSRP of about $56,780, thanks to all the add-ons. So, it’s a very even, very fair fight. I will say, though, that even with all-wheel drive, you get a lot more mileage from the Toyota. All this is to say that aside from the Grand Highlander, which puts up a brutal fight, there isn’t much real competition for it.The third row is one of the best in the industryIf you’ve read any of my other reviews on 3-row SUVs, you’d know I’m incredibly particular about a car’s third row. After all, if you’re paying a premium for it, it should be comfortable enough for adults, right? The Palisade hybrid, like the gas-only version, is incredibly cozy back there. It’s up there with EV SUVs, which have more room because they don’t have traditional drivetrain components under the floorboards. Even with traditional parts, the Palisade hybrid had enough space for my husband and me, and we’re on the taller end. I’m about 5’8”, and he’s 6’1”. While I was at the first drive event in Austin, I sat in the third row on the way back to the hotel from the restaurant and enjoyed it. I had my own large window, plenty of elbow room, and more room for my knees than I was anticipating. When I asked the gentleman sitting in front of me if he could spare a few inches of legroom, he easily slid his seat forward and still had ample legroom. Mind you, I’d only asked if he could move forward to see if he could do it, and do it comfortably. I didn’t need more space. There was a decent amount of cargo space behind the third row, too. Looking back there, fitting a few suitcases, a grocery haul, or even a single stroller wouldn’t be an issue whatsoever. Obviously, you get much more space when the third row is folded, and that’s easy to do from buttons on the side of the trunk. You can fold the second row from there, too. The passenger space for the second and third row is thoughtful, usable, and very intuitive. As a parent with busy, crazy kids, I really appreciate that.The technology was the same, with one fun, nerdy featureSurprise, surprise, the hybrid gets all the same gadgets and gizmos as the gas-only version. With the exception, of course, of the hybrid information display that shows you whether or not you’re in EV mode, hybrid mode, or power mode, and a tachometer that tells you when your braking or coasting is regenerating power back into the EV battery. My favorite feature, though—and this is nerdy—is the fact that the tachometer drops to zero when the Palisade goes into EV mode. There’s a light at the bottom that says “EV,” but I liked that you could see when the car would transition from using the gas engine to the EV battery. It made a fun game of predicting when the car would go into EV mode. Otherwise, it had everything that made it easy (and nice to drive), like adaptive cruise control, which came especially in handy when I had to rescue dropped toys, water bottles, or snacks to keep the drive civil. I also really liked that, when it came to the lane assist feature, you can turn that off with a simple, easy-to-decipher button on the steering wheel. Personally, I found the lane keep assist very aggressive, and it wasn’t the most accurate I’ve used. I only ever used it if I absolutely needed to take my hands off the wheel for 2-3 seconds. In any other scenario, I used the adaptive cruise control without lane-keep assist.It was what you’d expect from a modern Hyundai: easy to use, navigate, and figure out. Any drive was a lot more enjoyable because I didn’t have to dig through layer after layer of menus to find the setting I needed or adjust what I needed to adjust. Even the sound settings were easy to find. Having all of the driver and HVAC controls on a panel just under the screen made driving with whiny, tired, and cranky kids a lot less stressful, that’s for sure.Final thoughts: A great, family-sized SUV with awesome mileageNo wonder the new Hyundai Palisade hybrid has won so many awards. It gives American families something they’ve been asking for: a full-sized, fully functional, comfortable, spacious, and efficient hybrid 3-row SUV that won’t necessarily break the bank. My family has no complaints about it, aside from the fact that they didn’t have one. I’m always wary about the first model years of new engines and transmissions, but I have very, very high hopes for the Palisade and its fancy new hybrid setup.