2027 Kia Telluride Hybrid Stars in Second Act

• Redesigned 2027 Kia Telluride keeps up its winning ways, especially as a hybrid.
• X-Pro models venture off-road with confidence, but only come with the turbo-4.
• Second-gen Telluride is bigger, roomier, more powerful, and more efficient.

For its second act, the 2027 Kia Telluride had one crucial benchmark to target: the first-generation Kia Telluride.

Launched for the 2020 model year, Kia’s largest vehicle became an instant and surprise hit, thanks to its Land Rover-like style and everyday value. In addition to winning accolades across the automotive spectrum, it earned Kelley Blue Book’s midsize SUV Best Buy Award for six consecutive years, missing out only on the 2026 model year because Kia skipped it to accelerate the 2027 launch.

The Telluride’s popularity continues to grow. Annual sales and 3-row SUV market share more than doubled in 2025 compared to its first full year of sales in 2019.

With such success, Kia could have milked the past and been conservative in restyling its flagship. Instead, the new Telluride is longer, larger, taller, roomier, and for the first time, it can be had with a hybrid powertrain.

The hybrid keeps the 2027 Telluride in a starring role amid a cast of worthy 3-row SUVs. It’s more powerful and more efficient than the outgoing V6, and more well-sorted than the new base 2.5-liter turbo-4 powertrain.

The turbo-4 can be had in nine trims, and it’s the only engine available on the two off-road X-Pro grades. The better-equipped Hybrid comes in EX and SX trims with front-wheel drive (FWD) or available all-wheel drive (AWD) for $2,000 more, just as it is with trims of gas models where AWD isn’t included. The Hybrid also comes in X-Line SX, SX Prestige, and X-Line SX Prestige, where AWD is standard.

Even though it costs about $2,700 more than a similarly equipped gas-only model, the 2027 Telluride Hybrid is not only quieter, more efficient, and more powerful, it’s also more responsive and predictive than the laggy turbo-4. 

	Engine	Transmission	Horsepower/Torque	MPG Combined (AWD)
2025 Telluride	3.8-liter V6	8-speed auto	291 hp/262 lb-ft	22 mpg (20 mpg)
2027 Telluride	2.5-liter turbo-4	8-speed auto	274 hp/311 lb-ft	22 mpg (20 mpg)
2027 Telluride Hybrid	2.5-liter turbo-4 and two electric motors	6-speed	329 hp/339 lb-ft	33-35 mpg (31 mpg)

Telluride Hybrid Review

The new Telluride Hybrid blends a 2.5-liter turbo-4 with a 2-motor hybrid system. The smaller motor serves as a generator. The larger propulsion motor mounted at the 6-speed automatic transmission also handles regen braking. There are no regenerative brake settings, however, nor EV or Hybrid modes. All you have to do is drive. This set-it-and-forget-it approach is key to the Telluride Hybrid’s character.  

The basic drive modes, Eco, Sport, and My Drive, alter throttle response and tighten up the steering feel. Covering more than 150 miles in our test loop, the battery never really depleted. But our driving style resulted in the Telluride SX Prestige AWD falling a few mpg short of its 31 mpg combined EPA estimate.

In addition to being more efficient than the outgoing V6, the hybrid powertrain is more powerful, with 329 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque — 38 hp and 77 lb-ft improvements. It’s strong and responsive, with the 6-speed transmission keeping the revs up when you want it and down when you want to cruise. The cabin is quiet thanks in part to thoughtful touches in exterior design, such as side mirrors with aerodynamic elements and power-retractable door handles that increase aerodynamics and reduce wind noise.

A new rack-mounted power steering system provides good on-center steering, and the chunky hexagonal steering wheel also found in the EV9 has good resistance that can be dialed down in the touchscreen. The connection to the road feels distant, but that’s typical for the class.

Kia also uses the hybrid motors for greater stability through a kind of torque vectoring it calls e-handling. An e-ride function limits pitch and lift at the axles for better balance. It was hard to tell those forces at work during our drive, though the large SUV felt mostly planted and more composed than its turbo-4 counterpart.

Model	Drivetrain	Price
EX	FWD/AWD	$48,035/$50,035
SX	FWD	$53,035
X-Line SX	AWD	$56,035
SX-Prestige	AWD	$58,135
X-Line SX-Prestige	AWD	$59,135

Telluride 2.5-liter Turbo-4 Review

Departing from the related Hyundai Palisade and its retuned V6, Kia employs a 2.5-liter turbo-4 rated at 274 hp and 311 lb-ft of torque, and pairs it with an 8-speed automatic transmission with front-wheel drive (FWD) or available all-wheel drive (AWD). Peak torque comes on at just 1,700 rpm, but in our X-Pro tester we didn’t feel that expected surge of power. Instead, in Sport mode, with the pedal mashed, it took a beat for the engine to respond, blipping the tach to 5,000 rpm, but then it took another beat to get moving.

This pronounced lag at a stop was less pronounced at speed, but still present. Playing with the paddle shifters to downshift didn’t counter the lack of immediate response, so aggressive moves from a stop should veer to the planned instead of the impulsive. 

Telluride X-Pro Off-Road Review

Off-roading X-Pro models only come with the turbo-4 engine, and standard AWD. This is no longer just a cosmetic package. Ground clearance rises from 8.4 inches on the first-gen X-Pro to 9.1 inches. The 18-inch all-terrain tires are wider (from 245/60R18 to 255/60R18), an electronic limited-slip differential routes torque away from a spinning wheel to the ones with grip, and the suspension has another stroke for better rebound control. X-Pro trims come standard with a tow hitch, and a plate with the GPS coordinates of Telluride, Colorado, aka God’s Country. Every turbo-4 Telluride can tow up to 5,000 pounds, 500 more than the hybrid Telluride. 

We traversed a dusty path then forded a rocky creek with about 10 inches of water, lumbered up steeply rutted inclines and down 20-degree pitches, angled around a 35-degree turn with surprising agility, articulated some whoops where one wheel stuck out in the air, then two, and drove on an embankment of about 25 degrees, according to the excellent graphics in the touchscreen and instrument cluster. 

Kia keeps it simple on users, too, programming all the throttle mapping changes and hill descent control through the three terrain mode settings — Snow, Mud, Sand. There’s no center locking differential button to press, no hill descent control to activate, and once in the Terrain mode field, even the excellent front axle views pop up in the touchscreen beside the bird’s-eye projection. The split-screen surround-view camera system activates when you dip below 6 mph, then fades to black when above that speed for safety reasons. You can also press the camera button to open up other views, such as the projection from the side mirrors to see what’s on either side of the front wheels, which is great for negotiating tight turns or narrow stretches.

This was much more than a soft-road course, and more technical than what most X-Pro drivers would dare on an access road or out to the hunting grounds or down by the ideal watercraft drop-in. Good thing our test model had a dealer-installed front skid plate. We were also relieved we didn’t have to use any of the four frame-mounted recovery hooks protruding from the front and rear bumpers.

What’s New for the 2027 Kia Telluride

The second-generation Kia Telluride wears a boxier, broader skin on its square shoulders. The grille spreads all the way across the face into vertical orange running lights. Down the smooth sides are flush door handles that retract out on approach like the Kia EV9 and, like the side mirrors, are designed to optimize aerodynamics. Rounded wheel arches and pronounced rocker panels frame 18-, 20-, or 21-inch wheels, and at the top of each wheel arch is a garnish, like a keystone in an arch.

SPECS	Length (increase)	Wheelbase	Width	Height	Cargo (behind 3rd row)
2019-2025 Telluride	196.9 in	114.2 in	78.3 in	69.3 in (w roof rails)	21.0 cubic feet
2027 Telluride	199.2 (+2.3)	116.9 (+2.7)	78.3 (0.0)	69.9 (+0.6)	22.3 (+1.3)

The biggest changes happen inside. Twin digital 12.3-inch displays (on SX trims and above) star in a new cockpit optimized for space. Kia ditched the mechanical gear shifter in the console for an electronic one housed on the steering column, same as in the EV9. You’re sensing a theme?

Unlike the top trims of the related Hyundai Palisade, with its distinctive dash design that evokes a leather-padded 1970s entertainment center, the Telluride shares many interior design features with other top-end Kia models.

The console is still framed by two handles, but it now opens up with a recess underneath and a clever storage drawer for second-row passengers. It also enables a dual wireless device charger as standard. Deep door pockets and USB-C ports everywhere provide a place for drinks and phones for the modern family.

One of the most noteworthy features of the new interior is the plentiful legroom and massive headroom in all three rows. Even though both the hybrid and gas-only Telluride have a small 4-inch hump rising up under the second row of seats to the rear, pinching toeroom a bit in the third row, there’s room for six adults. The Telluride Hybrid only seats seven and only the LX and EX trims seat up to eight passengers.  

Climbing into the third row is relatively easy, even if it’s accompanied by dad grunts. Top trims have power sliding captain’s chairs in the second row, but the manual ones are quicker and easier: press the button on the seat top and it springs forward and tilts. Getting out is just as easy. Most kids should be able to do it themselves.

The third row might be one of the best in class. At 5-foot-8, I had a full fist of headroom. Despite limited toeroom, my legs and knees fit fine, and the large rear quarter windows let in plenty of natural light. That should limit motion sickness. Standard cupholders and USB ports back there complete the road trip comfort package.

The redesigned Telluride builds off what made the first generation so successful. Kia’s cashing in on that success with a starting price of $40,735 (including $1,545 destination fee) for the base LX, which is about $3,000 more than the 2025 Telluride. The EX costs $45,335, and stepping up to the EX Hybrid makes it $48,035. The Hybrid tops out at $59,135. Despite the eye-watering prices, the 2027 Telluride is still a value, especially as a hybrid.