Hyundai’s biggest seller is the Tucson compact SUV, and it’s not even close. At the end of last year, Hyundai sold more than 230,000 of them in the U.S. In second place was the Hyundai Elantra compact sedan with nearly 150,000 sales. On top of that, Tucson sales boomed over 2025, with nearly 30,000 more sales compared to 2024. So far this year (through April), sales are still strong, but just about even to 2025. To try and keep the momentum, it’s spicing up each end of the Tucson line with a more stylish hybrid option, and some more affordable ones.
2026 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid AWD NightHyundai
Embrace The Darkness
Up at the top of the Tucson Hybrid range is the Night trim level. It’s effectively the same as the Limited trim, but gets black accents all over the place. Those include a black grille, black lower bumper trim, black window trim, black mirror caps, and black wheels. Those wheels also measure 19 inches in diameter. Inside, Hyundai also changed the headliner to be, what else, black. The paint color options are similarly monochrome. You can pick from Ash Black, Creamy White Pearl, and Ecotronic Gray.
2026 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid AWD NightHyundai
The Tucson Hybrid Night’s starting MSRP is $42,575, and with destination it comes to $44,175. That puts it at $500 more than the Limited trim to reduce the number of exterior colors available and paint a bunch of parts black. Still, it does result in a rather menacing look for the basic Tucson Hybrid.
2026 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid AWD NightHyundai
Only Pay For The Drive Wheels You Need
While the Night trim adds some style, we’d say the most interesting additions to the Tucson lineup the new SE and SEL trim levels, and it’s because of what they take away. They now come with front-wheel drive as standard, instead of all-wheel drive. That might seem like a downgrade, but these front-drive versions get a significant discount.
2026 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid AWD NightHyundai
The SE’s MSRP starts at $30,950, and with the $1,600 destination charge, it comes to $32,550. The current all-wheel-drive version starts at $34,050, so opting for front-wheel drive will save you $1,500 right off the bat. As for the SEL version, it starts at $32,400, or $34,000 with the destination charge, with the front-wheel-drive powertrain. The all-wheel-drive version is, again, $1,500 more at $35,500.
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It’s also important to note that the engine and transmission don’t change. It has the same turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder hybrid making 231 horsepower and 271 pound-feet of torque, plus the same six-speed automatic transmission. So you won’t lose anything but the driven rear wheels.
Additionally, the front-drive Tucson Hybrid may end up being more efficient than the all-wheel-drive version. Hyundai hasn’t given fuel economy numbers yet, but its cousin, the Sportage Hybrid, goes from 41 mpg combined (down 1 mpg from 2026) for the front-drive version, down to 35 mpg combined with all-wheel-drive. Depending on trim, the all-wheel-drive Tucson Hybrid gets either 38 mpg combined, or 36.
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Hyundai says that the Night models should be on dealer lots now. It didn’t give specific availability for the front-drive SE and SEL models, but if they’re not available just yet, they should be showing up in the next few months, especially as they’re 2026 models.
