2024 Hyundai i30 Sedan Hybrid: Australian first drive

The affordable end of the hybrid vehicle spectrum is dominated by Toyota. With so many of the Big T’s rivals focusing in on the SUV buyer – and the larger profit margins – the options for a small, affordable, hybrid car are few and far between. Until now.

It’s not the first time the brand has offered a hybrid small car locally – the powertrain was once an option on the Hyundai Ioniq between 2018 and 2022.

But Hyundai is back with a hybrid option to tackle the Toyota Corolla Sedan Hybrid and it bolsters the brand’s range of electrified vehicles. We attended the launch to find out whether it’s a worthy adversary.

Hyundai updated the i30 Sedan late last year with a facelift that brought a subtly revised exterior design, new lighting signatures, and improved safety technology.

This hybrid variant follows months later at a slightly higher price point, but issues the same changes seen on other i30 Sedan variants in the range. Compared to a like-for-like petrol i30 Sedan, the i30 Sedan Hybrid costs $4000 more.

At launch, the Hybrid is only offered on a single model grade – the entry-level i30 Sedan Hybrid with no variant name. Two other, better specified Elite and Premium variants will join the line-up soon, though buyers can’t specify the Hybrid powertrain on the flagship N Line trim grade.

The 2024 Hyundai i30 Sedan costs $33,000 before on-road costs, or translates to a $35,990 drive-away price nationwide.

The i30 Sedan Hybrid rolls into the facelifted range with its striking LED lights which are joined together by a Robocop-esque strip, it gets a set of 16-inch alloy wheels, and you can still see angular crease lines in its side profile.

I’ve always loved the side profile design on the i30 Sedan, and I’m glad it’s remained the same on the facelifted car. Around the rear end of the car is a Hybrid badge – the only way trainspotters will be able to pick a fuel-sipping hybrid over a regular i30 Sedan.

Importantly, it undercuts the cheapest Toyota Corolla Hybrid Sedan on price in most Australian jurisdictions with that drive-away deal.

When shopping for a hybrid sedan, there’s also the Honda Civic Hybrid option, though buyers will need deep pockets because it’s about $20,000 more expensive than Hyundai and Toyota options.

But back to the i30 Sedan Hybrid, it’s powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine that, together with an electric motor, sends 104kW/265Nm to the front wheels. This powertrain is shared with the Kia Niro Hybrid.

The Hyundai’s 3.9 litres per 100 kilometres claimed fuel economy matches the Toyota’s, and the car only needs 91-octane fuel.

For that $33,000 price, the entry-level hybrid variant includes items such as an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, cloth seats, dual-zone climate control, wireless phone charging, reverse-view camera, rain-sensing wipers, and front and rear parking sensors.

On initial look, the front-row interior space appears more premium than the i30 Sedan Hybrid’s price suggests. I’m a big fan of the stitch lines through the door cards and the metallic-looking accents for the dashboard and door handles catch the eye.

However, it’s not the best feeling cabin due to hard plastics used around the centre console and instrument binnacle. The hard plastics of the centre console grab handle are too rigid and could have benefitted from soft-touch materials, like that supplied on the dashboard.

The seats offer a great amount of lower back support. They’re just cloth so nothing special, but I can tell it’s hard-wearing fabric and will stand the test of time.

Storage-wise, there are dual cupholders that can be configured in deep or shallow format (depending on the size of your drink bottles), while the car stocks a wireless charging spot beneath the dashboard. The centre console and glovebox are both decently sized for stowing away valuables.

There are now also USB-C charging facilities in the front and second rows. A single USB-A port remains, plus a 12V outlet.

In the second row, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of space on offer behind my own driving position. It’d be even better if you aren’t 194cm tall like I am. But there is great foot and leg room, and my head even has a sliver of space, despite the sloping roof line of the sedan.

There are two USB-C ports to charge devices, a single map pocket, air vents, a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders, and grab handles to keep stable when going around bends.

At the rearmost of the car, the boot cannot be manually opened with a button on the bumper. Instead, owners must use the key to unlock access to a 474-litre space.

It’s great to see that the hybrid variant loses no capacity compared to the petrol, but it does get a space-saver instead of a full-size spare.

The 8.0-inch touchscreen is a similar size to what you’ll find in rivals (like the Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport) and the underlying software is dead easy to use.

There’s a set of buttons below the screen to quick-jump between menus and functions, and the air-conditioning controls thankfully get their own panel below that.

The system comes with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connectivity (wireless in this entry-level variant), which is what I like to use with the car.

But unfortunately, the entry-level hybrid variant doesn’t come with Hyundai’s Bluelink connected services that allows customers to control certain car functions from a smartphone app. Nor does it come with digital radio.

In front of the driver there’s a 4.2-inch display to show hybrid powertrain information, though I wish it were bigger like you’d get in the more expensive versions.

That said, Hyundai’s been smart about its integration because it’s set between two big ‘dumb’ displays that present engine speed info and a speedometer. It makes it seem much bigger than it actually is.

The Hyundai i30 hatch was last tested by ANCAP in 2017 and was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating. However, this test did not extend to this i30 Sedan variant and its four-door body – only hatch variants are five-star rated, with an ANCAP rating set to expire in December 2024.

As such, the i30 Sedan does not get an ANCAP safety rating.

I asked Hyundai at the launch whether it was keen to have the i30 Sedan safety-rated by ANCAP, though brand representatives said they won’t be putting the car forward unless the test is initiated by ANCAP itself.

Small-sized alternative cars such as the Mazda 3 and Kia Cerato were awarded five-star ANCAP ratings in 2019, whereas the Toyota Corolla Sedan was awarded a five-star result in 2018.

Even without an official ANCAP score, the Hyundai i30 Sedan ticks off many of the boxes that buyers look for, in terms of safety, inside a small car.

The new additions for the i30 Sedan in 2024 include parking sensors for the front and rear (on all variants), new LED MFR headlights, and updated autonomous emergency braking (with pedestrian, motorbike, and cyclist detection).

It also now gets tyre pressure monitoring from the base model grade and up.

Because the hybrid system is most likely to be active at low speeds, the i30 Sedan Hybrid plays a beep sound when in reverse gear to alert pedestrians.

Across the board, the i30 Sedan’s safety technology is helpful in daily life, aside from one feature – the speed sign recognition. My gripes are echoed by the wider Drive editorial team, in which the system will falsely alert to a wrong speed limit. For example, you could be travelling along at 60km/h approaching a school zone and the system will flash up a 40km/h warning and begin beeping incessantly for you to slow down – despite not being within the time confines of school-zone speed limits.

It’s frustrating to have to turn this system off every time you get in the car, as it automatically turns itself back on between engine cycles.

Australian-delivered Hyundais are covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. It goes hand-in-hand with a generous roadside assistance program that is renewed every 12 months as long as the vehicle is serviced with Hyundai. This goes on for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Services are recommended every 12 months or 15,000km (whichever is sooner) and each visit is price-capped out to five years (or 75,000km).

Three years costs $1130 and five years costs $2150. This is substantially more expensive than the Toyota Corolla Hybrid that costs $1225 over a five-year period.

I wasn’t able to get an insurance quote for the hybrid variant of the 2024 Hyundai i30 Sedan considering it’s so fresh to market.

However, the similarly priced 2024 Hyundai i30 Sedan Elite’s insurance cost amounted to $1439 for comprehensive cover from a leading insurer, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

As a point of comparison, the 2024 Toyota Corolla Sedan Ascent Sport Hybrid was quoted at $1438 using the exact same variables.

I drove a regular petrol-powered Hyundai i30 Sedan recently and was impressed with that car’s outright efficiency – 6.1L/100km.

However, the hybrid variant promised to do even better with a claimed consumption of 3.9L/100km. This is identical to the quoted economy of Toyota’s Corolla Sedan Hybrid.

In the real world I saw numbers of around 4.9L/100km from the i30 Sedan Hybrid. My testing was primarily done on the highway where the battery has less opportunity to recuperate energy, so this could explain the higher-than-expected fuel use.

The Hyundai’s fuel tank only needs 91-octane petrol.

Jump inside, insert the mechanical key, twist the i30 Sedan Hybrid into life and you’ll be surprised by a lack of engine flare as the car signals it’s ready to go. It feels odd to turn the key and not hear an engine fire up, but such is life in the entry-level i30 Sedan Hybrid.

More expensive variants in the range will have push-button start, but it’ll come at a higher cost.

In any sense, the quiet nature of the i30 Sedan Hybrid continues throughout the drive. It’s serenely hushed trundling around town and through neighbourhoods, and its power outputs make the car feel at home whether it’s in suburbia or out on the highway.

With 104kW/265Nm sent through the front wheels, no one looks to a small, hybrid sedan for performance capability. But out in the real world, there’s plenty of oomph for freeway overtakes and the i30 Sedan Hybrid gets up to speed limits easily.

It holds onto electric propulsion for what feels like longer compared to a Toyota hybrid, and when the hand-off to petrol power occurs it’s a seamless transition. There’s no jolt between the two systems, albeit with slightly more engine noise on combustion power.

The electric part of the powertrain comprises a 32kW/170Nm motor fed by a 240V 1.32kWh battery. The car does a good job at replenishing its own battery using brake force regeneration or using an onboard petrol generator.

If demanding too much of the hybrid system, the battery will deplete and you’re left with lacklustre outputs (from the petrol engine) going uphill, for example.

Whereas the entry-level petrol i30 Sedans have continuously variable automatic transmissions (which are typically seen in hybrids), Hyundai’s i30 Sedan Hybrid uses a six-speed dual-clutch automatic.

It’s here that there are slight hesitations and lulls felt between gear changes, especially evident when the car’s running on electric power alone. The transmission is also slow to shift between drive and reverse, which means you might roll forwards when rushing to select reverse gear.

Ride comfort is a highlight whether rolling over speed humps or barrelling over road imperfections at high speed. There’s a lovely, flowing quality to the drive experience whereby the suspension isn’t overwhelmed by bumps in the road.

I spent plenty of time on the highway with the i30 Sedan Hybrid and enjoyed the subdued road and wind noise. It’s a quiet and comfortable cabin whatever its surroundings.

Whereas the regular Hyundai i30 Sedan is able to tow up to 1100kg (braked) and 610kg (unbraked), the hybrid version is not rated to tow at all.

Just a few weeks ago, I drove a regular i30 Sedan and remarked at just how comfortable and frugal that car was. But this new hybrid variant offers all that and more.

The real-world fuel economy is even better than the fuel-sipping regular i30 Sedan, and it’s arguably nicer to drive on the road too.

Considering it’s priced competitively with the Toyota Corolla Hybrid Sedan, I can see Hyundai stealing away more than a few buyers for this accomplished small car. In any sense, I think it’s high time for a comparison between the two.

While this review focused on the entry-level variant with its fuss-free cabin and minimal features, buyers who look for the finer things in life will be impressed by the forthcoming Elite and Premium variants.

Hyundai says 200 i30 Sedan Hybrids have arrived in Australia so far in 2024 and another 400 will land in Australia through February.

If you want to stay updated with everything that’s happened to this car since we tested it, you’ll find all the latest i30 news here.