2025 Calligraphy Hybrid, great for long hauls on the Interstate.

I just finished an 11-state, 3,750-mile tour in my 2025 Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid. 3,743 miles; 65 hours with an average of 28.0 MPG. The vast majority of miles was Interstate at a constant 75-80 mph. Also, 4-5 hours of city and construction stop-and-go driving. I learned some things about the self-driving features, even though I had read the manual. (1) The manual talks about the self-driving features really kicking in when you use their maps. I prefer Apple maps so thought I was out of luck. But, when you are on major roads, the NAV icon kicks in anyway and the self-driving really shines. Without the NAV, you may have experienced the car suddenly deciding to follow a yellow strip off for an exit at 70mph. But with the NAV icon the car knows it is just an exit and stays on the road. (2) I hated the constant “nagging” the car gave me while driving on many roads, but on the major highways, that was reduced in a big way. I can’t explain the difference but it just seemed like, once the NAV icon comes on, the car knows more about the road and so does not nag as much. (3) The car really shines in stop-and-go traffic, inching slowly forward, stopping, inching slowly forward, while staying centered in the lane, all on its own. This makes congested traffic much easier to handle. I know that this car is not advertised as self-driving (more for liability issues), but it a very comfortable Interstate driver. Of course, you should still pay attention. I hit something on the road that blew a tire (another post). The driving features have nothing to help with avoiding small crap on the road.