Since their respective debuts in 2018, the Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride platform twins have become easy choices on the American market. They’re three-row SUVs with tasteful interiors, impressive driver-assistance technology, and comfortable rides. But they’re also coming up on seven years since that debut, which means it’s time for a change.
For Hyundai, that change comes in the form of the 2026 Palisade: the next era for the SUV, with its first hybrid powertrain, bigger dimensions, and a new off-road trim.
Spacer
The new Palisade is boxy, big, and elegant. It trades the old Palisade’s more 2010s-style rounded design for a cleaner, more minimalist side profile and interior. (The grille is the busiest part of the vehicle; it’s full of rectangles, lights, and heavier black accents. I think it looks the least busy and most stately with a dark exterior paint color.) Inside the 2026 Palisade, there’s a long, panoramic driver-instrument cluster and infotainment display; a bunch of capacitive buttons; and a steering wheel that trades the Hyundai “H” for four dots, which stand for “H” in Morse code.
But the biggest change for the new Palisade is the addition of the hybrid powertrain, which is exactly what this genre of vehicle needs. Hyundai estimates the internal-combustion powertrain — a 3.5-liter V6 — will have 287 horsepower, 260 lb.-ft. of torque and a 5,000-pound towing capacity, while the goal for the 2.5-liter, turbocharged hybrid powertrain is 329 horsepower, 339 pound-feet, a 4,000-pound towing capacity, and more than 600 miles of range.
That last number is the most important. Hybrids are a great solution for people who don’t want to go fully electric in modern America; where I live in central Texas, it can be hard to come by fast, reliable charging stations on road trips. The first time I did a road trip in a loaner Kia Sorento and experienced its cushy hybrid with a 600-mile range, peace washed over me. I felt like I could drive forever, because I almost could (before I needed to stop for gas, that is).
In addition to the hybrid powertrain, the 2026 Palisade gets a new trim option: the XRT Pro, which gets an electronic rear limited-slip differential; a higher ground clearance by an inch; 18-inch wheels and all-terrain tires; all-wheel drive; mud, sand, and snow driving modes; functional orange recovery hooks on the front and rear; a tow hitch; and more.
The upgrades don’t sound like they’ll make the Palisade XRT Pro into a hardcore trail-tackler, but they do look and feel the part, and that’s all most buyers need. Americans love feeling off-road capable but staying on the pavement.
Other cool features on the 2026 Palisade include a suite of driver-assistance features, as well as a wireless charging pad with a fan. The charging fan is my favorite part of the whole car, since I’ve never owned a phone that can sit on a vehicle’s wireless charger without overheating. Maybe that’s because I’m an iPhone user.
Anyway, the 2026 Palisade’s looks and performance upgrades aren’t surprising. The SUV was already good, but even good vehicles are due for an overhaul once enough time passes.
In the Palisade’s case, this overhaul looks and feels like a solid one.
Story images: Hyundai
Top graphic image: Matt Hardigree
Side and rear is OK.Front’s too much KIA and does not work with the rest of the car. The interior: an nice execution of a completely mediocre, uninspiring, cookie-cutter design.
Overall: Do not want.
So many cars get updates that look worse than the previous refresh which looks worse than the original design itself.
Though many of their recent cars look amazing, lately, I think the Hyundai/Kia design team are losing the plot.
To me, the styling of the rear works (slightly) better than the front. The front end is less minimalist and more brutalist, IMO. I laughed at your line about Americans liking to drive something that could maybe go off road but never do. Since you live in Texas, I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase “All hat, no cattle.” Seems apt.
Usually when I see “electronic limited-slip differential” in a crossover or similar (I can’t speak for in sportier-car-land) it’s actually an open differential with traction control. Is that the case here?
Thank god it’s bigger. I hope it’s also heavier. Progress!
Hyundai designs are working on me. I love this dumb space brick.
Good, maybe the Grand Highlander Hybrid market will loosen up a bit with a competitor. Think this is too ugly for me.
Polarizing styling aside, can we talk about the press images showing it off in blue, green, and bronze?! I can get down with this. Also, that interior looks like a nice place to be stuck in traffic. It’s a lot of monotone light grey, but I’ll take that over a sea of black any day of the week.
I hate the headlights and the taillights but I appreciate consistent design language. The interior especially all those buttons? Superb!
The Genesis twin blade looked sharp when it first came out, now this has five in front, and six in back. It’s the razor wars all over again.
I always got a mild kick out of how the first two generation Ford Fusions had the same number of grill blades as their Gillette namesake.
Oh. My. God. My mind is completely blown right now.
LMAO!
Flex 2.0.
Waves at you in 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe.
I don’t hate. A lot of the current Hyundai/Kia designs are too busy for me, and while this is definitely stills busy I find it to be more cohesive than a lot of their stuff. It maintains traditional SUV body lines and looks more expensive than it is, which is what I assume they’re going for.
It’s also great that there’s finally a hybrid. The Palluride twins with the current NA V6 are gas hogs as far as crossovers go and I’ve always thought that family haulers are a pretty ideal application for hybridization. No one is driving a Palisade or Pilot hard or to have fun. They’re people movers, so I don’t see anything but upside to making them all hybrids.
Anyway I don’t mind it and will add it to our shopping list for my wife’s next car…although I don’t think she’s going to be talked out of a CX90.
I kind of like it. It’s what I imagine a Ford Flex would look like today if they still made them.
I loved my telluride but was always disappointed with the fuel economy and even more surprised that my fx4 expedition max consistently gets within 2 mpg of what I got in the telluride. I always thought a hybrid would be great
Also, the charging infrastructure is getting better around central Texas (at least around Waco). There are Buc-ee’s every 12 minutes on 35 now with about eleventy billion superchargers and Mercedes chargers at them, Collin’s street bakery in Bellmead, abbot travel center and there is another one I saw between Waco and temple recently. Allegedly, target in Waco is supposed to be one of the first to get superchargers too
I hope they improved the interior materials and removed some of the gadgety features of the previous generation. My wife and I really thought we were going to like the Palisade since every review raves about them. But we were very unimpressed by the interior materials and several useless extra features. The mpg was also a big negative.
Nobody needs an intercom in a vehicle this size, I didn’t need the salesman talking about it 5 times.
It’s definitely a look. Their target demo will probably eat it up. It’s typical Hyundai amalgamation of a bunch of designs put together.
Another swing and a miss from the Hyundai styling department. Which is a shame because the first gen ones were legitimately good looking. I think they’ve gotten worse with every refresh.
Also, any points they get for cooling the wireless charger they lose by having capacitive buttons for the heated seats. Why would you make a control that can’t be used with winter gloves on, when that is exactly the time people will want to use it? Which again is a shame because the rest of the controls look shockingly reasonable. You were so close Hyundai.
Ain’t all those Buc-ee’s putting in chargers now?
I lived in Beaumont for a few years. There was a Buc-ee’s in Baytown, one in Katy but once you got west of Luling on I-10, nada. Probably other charging stations somewhere. It’s a big state, and when I left a couple of years ago, not very EV friendly.
The dramatic running lights and taillights are really cool. Shame about the busy face otherwise though – guess you gotta shell out for the fancy Caligraphy trim just for a decent grille.
The hybrid seems like it roughly splits the difference between the Toyota’s regular hybrid and HybridMax – not quite as much power or capability as the MAX, but Hyundai estimates it will reach over 30 mpg highway, which only the standard Toyota hybrid does.
You know what was really off-road capable? Conestoga wagons. And they rolled on 2-series tires made of metal, with wooden wheels. Pretty ironic.
The OG of donks, at least until you died of dysentery or got attacked by the Comanche or whatever.
Can you get the hybrid with the XRT Pro trim?
Any word on a plug-in hybrid version? We can’t comment on future product…
From the press releases on the media site not currently, XRT pro is only available with the 3.5L V6
I am making the bold prediction that when the Telluride hybrid comes out, Kia will sell a lot of them.
While I like the general styling, It’s a little unfortunate the front grille immediately reminds me of the Nissan Kicks. Sorry Hyundai.
The face only a robot mother could love!
I know about fugly as I own two Outlanders but my God did they have to go full server rack with the front end on this thing?
And have the fixed the “blue smoke emitting” exhaust that occurs at 75k miles? I see way too many Palisades and Tellurides with blue smoke puffing out of the exhaust already with these things. I mean the oldest units are from 2018 so I guess conceivably some of these could have 200k miles on them by now but I doubt it.
Nice interiors though.
The QI charger with a fan is pretty indicative of the little touches Hyundai/Kia like to throw in that nobody else seems to have thought of yet. Capacitive controls are a let-down but it’s just down to development time (long) versus the time it takes for everybody to realize how much capacitive controls suck (short). I bet the refresh in a few years ditches them. Style-wise the brushed(ish) silver trim on a dark color definitely looks like the way to go. It’s handsome and a bit stately. The XRT Pro looks a bit try-hard though.