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00:00I'm Frank Marcus with Motor Trend, and I'm here getting a look at the new 2025 Kia Carnival
00:18minivan.
00:19Now, we got a pretty good feel for this vehicle when we spent a year crisscrossing the U.S.
00:24in a 2022 Carnival.
00:26That gave us a lot of things to love and a few suggestions for improvement.
00:29Now, just a couple years later, Kia has implemented a lot of the suggestions that we had.
00:35One of our big ones was for a better fuel economy, and to do that, we've now got the
00:39option of a hybrid powertrain.
00:41What Kia did is they took the Sorento's 1.6 liter turbo hybrid, swapped out the electric
00:47motor for a more powerful one, so that now we've upped the power from 227 horsepower
00:53and 258 pound-feet in the Sorento to 242 horsepower and 271 pound-feet in the Carnival.
01:00Now, that means that the new Carnival hybrid makes 11 pound-feet more torque than the standard
01:063.5 liter V6, but 45 fewer horsepower, which means the six-cylinder might be the best choice
01:13if you're regularly towing a camper or a boat on vacations.
01:17The V6 is the base engine for the LX model, and all the trim levels above that, LXS, EX,
01:24SX, and SX Prestige, the hybrid model costs $2,000 extra, so it's a pretty good value.
01:30We don't have the fuel economy numbers yet, but they're targeting 32 MPG.
01:35That's a little bit shy of the Toyota Sienna hybrid's 36 MPG city, highway, and combined.
01:41Now, we always loved the way the Carnival looked, and yet only two years later, they've
01:45changed completely, the front and rear.
01:48We're going to this star map look and a bolder, wider look of the grill and so forth, so all
01:54this is all new.
01:55It's all LED on all models.
01:58The rear is also new LED star map look, although LED is only on the upper levels in the back.
02:07We can go inside.
02:12We always loved the interior of our long-term Carnival, but they've upgraded this as well.
02:17You could always get a two 12.3-inch screens on the outgoing model, but now they're shared
02:23inside of this single curved piece of glass, so it looks a lot more upscale.
02:27It looks like a Mercedes or something like that.
02:29Base models still get analog here.
02:31The cup holders are bigger.
02:33You get this lovely Genesis-style shift knob with the hybrids.
02:36I think the V6 still gets a normal shifter.
02:40This is an Essex Prestige model covered in this new navy over misty gray color scheme
02:45with cut and sewn materials.
02:47Very upscale.
02:48Also, you get this ambient lighting on the top of the line one.
02:52We had to add that to our Carnival ourselves.
02:55There are eight USB-C charging ports to keep everyone's devices charged, and you can now
03:00use your smartphone as a key.
03:03Also new for the Carnival are some highway drive assist features from the EV6.
03:07Lane centering, automatic lane change, and a whole slew of safety acronyms.
03:14Still available in the back seat are these lounge chairs on the Essex Prestige.
03:18At least they're not a forced option anymore.
03:20You have the eight passenger if you prefer.
03:22We also have 14-inch screens, I think about the biggest in the minivan class.
03:26I'm just relieved that you can still opt for an eight passenger version of the Essex Prestige.
03:32Everything we loved about the OG Carnival is still available here.
03:35First-in-class eight passenger seating, big cargo area, terrific looks, a surprisingly
03:40rich content mix.
03:42Yes, you still can't get all-wheel drive, and yes, the price has gone up, maybe $2,000
03:47to $4,000 depending on the trim level you pick.
03:51But at $37,895 to start and only $53,995 fully loaded, it still undercuts the Toyota Sienna
03:58Hybrid.
03:59I'm Frank Marcus with Motor Trend.