Compare the2025 Hyundai Santa Fe HybridVS 2025 Ford Explorer

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and Explorer 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 Explorer’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.

With its standard Forward Collision Avoidance Assist, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Ford Explorer, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

Both the Santa Fe Hybrid and the Explorer have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Santa Fe Hybrid comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Explorer’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe Hybrid 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Ford covers the Explorer. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Explorer ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe Hybrid’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Explorer’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe Hybrid for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Ford doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Explorer.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Ford vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 17 more problems per 100 vehicles, Ford is ranked 9th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Ford With 41 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Hyundai higher than Ford.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Ford vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 11 places higher in reliability than Ford.

On the EPA test cycle the Santa Fe Hybrid gets better mileage than the Explorer:

Regenerative brakes improve the Santa Fe Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Explorer doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Explorer requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Santa Fe Hybrid has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Explorer. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid higher (6 out of 10) than the Ford Explorer (5 to 6). This means the Santa Fe Hybrid produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Explorer every 15,000 miles.

The Santa Fe Hybrid stops shorter than the Explorer:

The Santa Fe SEL Hybrid’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Explorer’s standard 65 series tires.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the Explorer Active 4WD pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Explorer 4WD (27.5 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 28 seconds @ .63 average G’s).

The Santa Fe Hybrid is 8.5 inches shorter than the Explorer, making the Santa Fe Hybrid easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

As tested by Car and Driver while under full throttle, the interior of the Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid AWD is quieter than the Explorer ST 4WD (73 vs. 77 dB).

The Santa Fe Hybrid has .4 inches more front headroom, 1.4 inches more front legroom, .1 inches more rear headroom, 2.5 inches more rear legroom and 1.8 inches more third row hip room than the Explorer.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Santa Fe Hybrid’s middle and third row seats recline. The Explorer’s third row seats don’t recline.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Santa Fe Hybrid’s liftgate can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Explorer doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Santa Fe Hybrid uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Explorer 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 Calligraphy has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Explorer doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Calligraphy’s front and rear power windows all 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 Explorer’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

When the Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Explorer’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

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 for two separate devices. Wireless charging costs extra on the Explorer and isn’t available on the Explorer Active, and only charges one device.

The Santa Fe Hybrid Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Explorer doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Santa Fe Hybrid first among midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Explorer isn’t in the top three.