The 2022 Hyundai Tucson Offers More Cargo Space Than a Popular Midsize SUV
Alex Healey
· 3 min read
Hyundai
has had a mixed year. A major recall affected one of its most popular models, but a promising foray into EVs, and award-winning technological advances
, point to a bright future. The South Korean automaker has also received accolades for its 2022 lineup, and especially the redesigned Hyundai Tucson
.Most critics have focused on the Tucson’s stylish exterior and material quality, but another impressive feature is the abundance of cargo space.
The 2022 Hyundai Tucson boasts more space than any other compact SUV, and thanks to some really smart design, it even has more cargo room than some midsize SUVs.
The 2022 Hyundai Tucson boasts a lot of cargo space
U.S. News and World Report
explains that the 2022 Hyundai Tucson has one of the largest cargo capacities ever seen in the compact SUV class.The new model boasts 38.7 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats, and with the seats folded down, it expands to a staggering 74.8 cubic feet. Thanks to a very efficient design, the cargo area is unusually wide, and an automatic power liftgate helps with loading and unloading.
You might assume that the redesigned Tucson has been stripped of additional features in order to create all this extra space, but you’d be mistaken. The seats are comfortable, both front and back, and the infotainment system is considered one of the best on the market.
To put the 2022 Hyundai Tucson’s cargo space into context, let’s compare it to a popular midsize SUV, the 2021 Mazda CX-9.
The CX-9 is no slouch. It has been one of Mazda’s bestsellers over the last 12 months, and
U.S. News
ranks it third out of 20, in its list of ‘Best Midsize SUVs for 2021 & 2022.’Still, this popular midsize SUV only offers 14.4 cubic feet of space in the trunk, 38.2 cubic feet behind the second row, and with all rear seats flattened, 71.2 cubic feet.
This isn’t terrible, it’s about average for a midsize SUV, but it is less than the compact Tucson.
The Mazda CX-9 does have more seats than the Hyundai, with space for up to seven people, but reviews warn that the last row is uncomfortably tight for adults.
Large exteriors can be deceiving
Back in the day it was safe to assume that the larger the vehicle, the more cargo space it offered. But thanks to improved interior design, compact models like the 2022 Hyundai Tucson are disrupting the status quo.
As further proof, consider the 2021 VW Atlas. It is a midsize SUV, but has
more cargo space than most large SUVs
, even the monster-sized Honda Pilot! You wouldn’t know it by looking at the two vehicles side by side.Additionally, some large models are designed primarily for passenger comfort, and give very little consideration to cargo space. The infamous
Mercedes-Benz Metris
minivan for example, only had 38 cubic feet of cargo space, less than a Honda CR-V.These days, if having a lot of cargo space is important to you, make sure you read reviews, rather than just relying on exterior size as an indicator.
