A couple years ago, Stephanie Wallcraft and I put the then-new Kia Carnival up against the tried and tested Toyota Sienna. If I’m being completely honest, it wasn’t really a competition; the Sienna easily took home the trophy, while the Carnival fell short in several areas. However, the 2025 Kia Carnival might just have what it takes to really give the Toyota Sienna a run for its money — and the Sienna really is quite a bit more money.
The Kia Carnival has been pretty popular since its Canadian debut in model-year 2022. It’s all over local roads and I completely understand the draw: it’s got a decent starting price, especially when considering it’s well below the average new car price in Canada. In fact, Lorraine Sommerfeld recently pointed out it’s an outlying popular choice among Millennials — despite most lists being overpopulated with SUVs. We recently spoke with one such Millennial who loves his 2023 Kia Carnival and enjoys the spacious interior during weekly routines of shuttling his three young children to hockey, gymnastics, and everywhere else that goes with the territory of owning a family hauler.
For 2025, the biggest news for the Carnival is the hybrid powertrain offering. Note the Sienna is only offered as a hybrid, but it comes at a pretty hefty price that can rise to over $60,000 for the top trim. So, because pricing is such a huge factor when it comes to a family vehicle — or any vehicle, for that matter — let’s start there; and then we’ll get to the specifics like the available powertrains, the drive, the interior, and everything else minivan-related, even though Kia refers to it as a “Life Utility Vehicle” — I don’t LUV that.
How much is the 2025 Kia Carnival in Canada?
The Kia Carnival minivan has cracked the $40,000 threshold for the first time in Canada, with the 2025-model-year base models starting at $40,495; the new hybrid variant adds a premium of more than $6,000 to that MSRP. But to be fair, in both cases, you’re getting quite a lot of people-hauler for your money.
Let’s get straight to the good stuff, the new stuff: the hybrids. Offered in LX+, EX and SX+ trims, Canadian 2025 Kia Carnival hybrid pricing will start at $46,545 plus $2,050 destination fee. If you want to change up the exterior design with your hybrid, you’ll have to bump up the EX’s price of $49,445. For a fully loaded top-trim SX+ hybrid Carnival, you’re looking at a spend of $56,445, but keep in mind if that’s your pick, you won’t have this hybrid offered as an eight-seater; the hybrid SX+ is strictly a seven-seater with captain’s chairs in the second row. The SX+ hybrid unit driven for this review has a bench seat because it’s an American production model that won’t be offered in Canada, but other than the different seating, it’s fairly similar to the one we’ll get on this side of the border.
Non-hybrid (gas-engine only) Kia Carnival Canadian pricing for 2025
- LX: $40,495
- LX+: $43,995 (adds heated seats and power doors)
- EX: $46,895
- EX+: $48,895
- SX: $51,895
- SX+: $53,895
*Note: all models will see an additional $2,050 destination fee tacked on to those above prices.
All 2025 Kia Carnival models are currently available to order at Kia dealerships in Canada, but the hybrids won’t be rolling into Canadian driveways until early 2025.
Sister company Hyundai offers a hybrid Santa Fe in its redesigned lineup for less than the non-hybrids, so I was really hoping that might be the same for the Carnival. Notably however, you can’t get the top-trim Santa Fe as a hybrid; David Zhang, national manager of product planning, noted the contrasting strategy for Kia’s Carnival was to make the hybrid powertrain available across the lineup, offering it to customers who want the lower trims or the fully-loaded package.
Some standard features in the 2025 Kia Carnival lineup include:
- Removable second-row seats
- 60-40 third-row split folding seats
- LED headlights
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Adaptive cruise control
- Lane following and lane-keep assists
- Trailer pre-wiring (Note: maximum towing for ICE Carnivals is 3,500 pounds and 3,000 pounds for the hybrid variants)
- 12.3” infotainment screen
- Kia Connect, OTA (over-the-air) capabilities
- Rearview backup camera (all vehicles are required by law to fit a backup camera)
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity
For a bit over $40,000 for a brand-new minivan, you’d get quite the list of standard features. As someone who owns a used 2014 Honda Odyssey that lacks much of the above but still gets the family hauling done, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal! Still, it leaves out some features that are more than important to some, especially since we live in a cold climate (and not San Diego, California, which is where this first drive of the hybrid Carnival took place). Bumping up $3,500 will get you heated front seats and a heated steering wheel — how important are those specific features to you? Also, how important are power sliding doors? You’ll need to bump up for that added power, but personally, that bump up is a hit I’d be willing to take. You’ll also get roof rails, a power driver seat, and cargo net.
The EX gets a couple more additions like rain-sensing wipers, wireless phone charger, a power front passenger seat, and multi-zone climate control. I’ve lived without all those before, and can continue to soldier on without it if it means saving a few thousand bucks — even if my front passenger will have to live with manually adjusting the seat. The EX+ will also add a bit more, but probably most notably in a family vehicle will be the passenger view camera; it’s a cool party trick but quite frankly, sometimes parents prefer not to know what’s happening back there.
Top SX and SX+ top trims are pretty fully loaded: leather seats, ventilated front seats, Bose premium audio system, head-up display, and a 360-degree surround-view cameras. The SX+ gets you those gimmicky — not judging if you love them — captain’s chairs in the second row that are heated or ventilated, as well as power reclining with a leg rest, or “VIP Lounge Seating” as Kia calls it.
What powers the 2025 Kia Carnival?
The ICE Carnivals are still powered by a 3.5L V6 engine mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. It boasts 288 horsepower (two less than the 2024 MY) and 260 lb-ft of torque (two more than the 2024 MY). Blink Nap and you’ll miss it, the Carnival can accelerate to 100 km/h in 8.4 seconds. If you think that’s fast, wait until you hear the hybrid’s numbers — although, I digress — a minivan obviously doesn’t need anything more than the above to get the job done. The hybrids are powered by a 1.6L turbocharged engine paired with a 54-kW motor and six-speed automatic transmission. It’s good for a combined output of 242 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque.
In Canada, we like to think all-wheel-drive (AWD) is a plus, and don’t get me wrong, of course it is. But is it necessary? With proper winter tires, absolutely not — but competitors Toyota and Chrysler offer AWD options for their minivans. All Kia Carnival models are front-wheel-drive.
2025 Kia Carnival fuel consumption
The ICE Kia Carnivals are rated at a combined average of 11.1 L/100 km; NRCan city economy is listed at 12.9 L/100 km and highway at 8.8 L/100 km. The previous model year was rated at a combined 10.6 L/100 km, which isn’t a significant difference, but on a sort of unrelated note, my 2014 Honda Odyssey gets better mileage than this 2025 Kia Carnival — what’s up with that, Kia?
The hybrid Carnival has much better fuel economy — duh — but it’s still a bit off the pace of the Toyota Sienna’s average of 6.6 L/100 km. Kia’s hybrids should average 7.2 L/100 km: 6.9 L/100 km in the city and 7.6 L/100 km on the highway.
How does it drive?
During the first drive of the hybrid Kia Carnival, on the twistiest turns and curves I think I’ve ever driven, the Carnival was a true champ. It doesn’t handle the curves as gracefully as something smaller would, but it’s not smaller — it’s a minivan, for crying out loud. It’s rather smooth and quiet at that, unless you’re outside of the car where you’ll hear all sorts of noises as the car starts up and drives off.
Passing takes a bit of effort. If you’re really trying to hustle, stepping hard on the gas will give you a grunt that means it’s getting there, but it’s a bit of a struggle to get up to speed quickly. But hey, if you don’t want to hear the grunts, drown it out with some music, similar to tuning out the sound of a complaining kid.
Hyundai-Kia’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) work really well and should be a boon for families who often take long, tiring road trips. The lane keep and adaptive cruise control features are good to try on local roads and highway alike: they work somewhat differently on both, and you may have a preference of when — or when not — to use either.
On the twistiest of twisty roads, the lane keep feature seemed a little overwhelmed. In the middle of tighter twists at higher speeds it can give up on trying to stay in the curve, meaning it’s important to hold tight to the wheel even when it is helping you out.
The head-up display displays a ton of great information when using the driving assistance features, all clearly laid out. It seems cluttered at first glance, but it’s quite efficient. It includes the directions straight from the navigation, but also shows your vehicle in the lane and the cars beside and in front of you, each of which looks like a little mattress floating by. On the highway, once the speed limit is set for adaptive cruise control, it not only slows down as it approaches the car in front, but also slows down in a curve, dropping a couple mph and coming back up to speed once it’s in a straight line again.
I spent most of the drive in Eco and had absolutely no issues ever wanting more power (other than for speeding up in a hurry) from this three-row vehicle. In Eco and Smart modes, you can also adjust the amount of regenerative braking you want by using the paddle shifters.
What else is new with the Kia Carnival for 2025?
Exterior changes for the 2025 Kia Carnival
As someone who doesn’t have the eagle eye for minor changes when it comes to the moderately-refreshed exterior of vehicles, the exterior looks more or less the same as the outgoing model. However, Kia notes a “bolder and grander exterior design” and maybe you noticed that. I’ve always thought the Carnival looked more like an SUV than minivan, but Kia says there’s a Dark Edition that features darker colours in places like the radiator grille, side door garnishes, and newly designed alloy wheels.
Interior changes and updates to the 2025 Kia Carnival
While all exterior and interior dimensions remain the same as the outgoing model, there are also a few interior updates — one that I’m not too fond of but have seen in other newer Kias.
You may notice those media controls below the 12.3 inch infotainment screen and vents, which are simple to operate. However, those same controls switch to operating the climate when you touch the button to the left of it. I don’t want an extra button and added distraction just to change the climate settings. Most of us can surely agree that a volume knob (yes, the Carnival has that, but read on for more about that) and actual climate control buttons that are consistently visible are what we want. That said, there is one saving grace: you can choose a default panel, meaning the climate controls are always visible. If you click the media button, it will flip over to those functions, but within a few seconds, it’ll revert back to the climate controls. The downside: this means what was once the volume knob is now the temperature setting knob. In other words, get used to using the buttons on your steering wheel or voice command.
Speaking of voice command, there’s now multi-zone voice recognition that can distinguish where the commander is sitting. So, if the second row passenger requests the window to open, the window in the second row should open. I wasn’t seated in the rear to test it out, but that sounds like something that could quickly annoy a parent as their child commands the car to do things. Additionally, while speaking to someone outside of the car, the minivan must’ve picked up on something I said, as it asked me to repeat the command. But even weirder, while I’ll admit I’m not the greatest singer, the Carnival paused Spotify mid-song because apparently my singing voice sounds like a possible command.
One thing I like about the Kia’s infotainment setup is that even though the curved display includes 12.3 inches for the gauge cluster and another connected 12.3 inches for the infotainment, the two screens are divided. And I’m only pointing this out after recently driving the 2025 Buick Enclave and realizing how much I didn’t like the continuous screen as part of it is blocked by the steering wheel.
One thing I noted when previously testing the seven-seater Kia Carnival was the lack of space in between the Captain’s chairs as well as a missing button to quickly fold those seats down. Assuming someone buying a minivan needs quick access to that third row — and will possibly have car seats latched into those second row seats — the above complaints were and still are a huge miss for me. But I guess a couple things can be left alone until there’s a second generation, maybe (though the problem will solve itself eventually; your kids will grow out of car seats)? Also note that the second-row bench seat is a bit heavy and difficult to move, which isn’t necessarily a deal breaker — but there are definitely easier second rows.
Of course, being a minivan, there’s tons of legroom and cargo space (1,139L with all seats up, maximum of 4,110L), all of which are unchanged for the 2025 model year.
Final thoughts
If any minivan is going to change the game, it’s the Kia Carnival. As a minivan lover, I’m so glad Kia is offering something different than the rest and modernizing the OG minivan in a way that Millennials are more open to — more SUV-shaped, and less of the stereotypical “soccer mom” minivan. Think of the Kia Carnival as more of a “hockey mom” minivan now.
I think the biggest disappointment, but rather understandably in the broad scheme of automotive pricing, is that the base price is now over $40,000 (for reference, the 2022 model year started at $34,795). But adding the hybrid powertrain into its minivan mix (and before Honda, might I add) is a smart move for Kia and I LUV that. I’d definitely recommend the hybrid Carnival to anyone in the market for a minivan, or even if you’re not looking for a minivan, check it out — you never know!
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