Like all car buyers, families are becoming progressively more interested in electric vehicles. But there aren't that many battery-powered three-row options out there yet if you aren't in the Rivian R1S price range. And there's the small matter of road trips; stopping to charge with multiple children to entertain is not ideal.
A three-row hybrid can be a great alternative for families who want to mitigate their carbon footprint but still find a practical vehicle that meets their needs. Several popular crossovers now offer hybrid options. And if you aren't put off buying a minivan, that segment offers a couple of hybrid alternatives too.
The Best Hybrid Family Cars
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Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Toyota
The Highlander is one of America's best-selling vehicles. And this is the third generation that Toyota has offered it as a hybrid. It's down about 60 horsepower from the V6 version. But it's around six mpg more efficient. Is the Highlander Hybrid a big, three-row, more conventionally-styled Prius? Pretty much. But tell us what's wrong with that?
Ford offers a hybrid as one of its three engine options on the Explorer. Whether you should choose it depends on your use case. It does deliver a significant advantage to the four-cylinder — 23 mpg vs. 20 mpg with all-wheel drive — in city driving. But the four-cylinder is actually more efficient in highway driving. If you take a lot of road trips, you may not notice the advantage.
Body Style: 3-Row Crossover
Hybrid Type: Conventional
EPA Fuel Economy: 23 mpg city, 26 mpg highway (w/AWD)
Kia offers several flavors of Sorento. One of them is a hybrid. The Sorento Hybrid may not be the Telluride you wanted. However, it's nearly twice as efficient in city driving earning 36 mpg — which it matched in our testing. And the dealer markups may be a bit less bonkers.
The XC90 Recharge will make way for its all-electric replacement, the EX90, eventually. But despite getting up there in years, it's still among the most comfortable and luxurious crossovers out there. And thanks to a mid-cycle upgrade to its T8 engine in 2022, the XC90 Recharge now packs 455 hp, more than 500 lb-ft of torque and a nearly doubled EV range of 36 miles.
Body Style: 3-Row Crossover
Hybrid Type: Plug-in
EPA Fuel Economy: 36 miles EV range, 26 mpg combined gas
The Sienna was our choice for best minivan, winning out against some stiff competition. It's not the sharpest, most exhilarating vehicle to drive. And it comes up short on cargo space compared to other vans. But it's the only minivan that pairs its standard hybrid engine with AWD. And there's even a cool Woodland trim to get you some extra ground clearance.
Chrysler offers a plug-in hybrid version of its minivan, the Pacifica, which received a mid-cycle refresh for 2021. It can travel 32 miles on battery power alone. The Pacifica only offers AWD with the non-hybrid model, unfortunately. But Chrysler's Stow N'Go comes standard on the hybrid for the third row.
Body Style: Minivan
Hybrid Type: Plug-in
EPA Fuel Economy: 32 miles EV range. 30 mpg combined gas
The Toyota Sequoia is all-new for the 2023 model year. Unlike the other vehicles on this list, it's a body-on-frame SUV, built on Toyota's TNGA-F truck platform that underpins the Tundra and Lexus LX 600. And its new standard 3.5-liter V6 hybrid motor is geared more for performance, pushing out 437 horsepower and a mammoth 583 lb-ft of torque.
