The seventh generation of the Sonata was introduced in 2014 and, a year later, the Korean carmaker introduced the plug-in hybrid version at the 2015 North American International Motor Show.
In the quest for offering low-emission vehicles, Hyundai developed a plug-in hybrid system, which was successfully applied on the Sonata. It offered a decent full-electric range for in-city driving and decent overall power to cope well with highway traffic.

The new swept lines made the car look like it had a liquid body, and it was hit with a strong, frontal wind. The raked windshield started the curved line of the greenhouse—the ascending side-line ended-up on the rear taillights. On top of the trunk, a small lip was installed on some versions. In the back, the Sonata PHEV showed no tailpipe under the bumper to improve the image of an environmentally-friendly vehicle.

Inside, there was room for five adults, but the rear mid passenger had to sit on top of a bulky center tunnel even though the car was front-wheel drive and it didn’t have an all-wheel-drive version. The instrument cluster was a mix between round dials and a TFT display.

The powertrain offered a 50 kW electric motor and a 2.0-liter gasoline direct-injected engine. Hyundai paired the assembly to a standard 6-speed manual gearbox that sent the power to the front wheels. Its 9.8 kWh battery pack helped the vehicle deliver up to 93 MPG (2.5 l/100 km) fuel-efficiency.