2022 Kia Telluride

— many of them parents — expect a lot from a family car. It needs to please a lot of people (big and small) as well as carry a lot of stuff, and this year’s winner delivers. from cargo room and passenger comfort to car-seat fitment and family-friendly features, the 2022 Kia Telluride brings it all home — and does it with an eye on value.

Launched for the 2020 model year, the Telluride three-row SUV is available with seven or eight seats. The sole powertrain is a 291-horsepower, 3.8-liter V-6 and an eight-speed automatic transmission that work well together with front- or all-wheel drive. The Telluride is stable and composed for long-trip-comfortable road manners. If that trip involves pulling extra toys, the Telluride’s 5,000-pound maximum towing capacity should come in handy.

For 2022, the Telluride got a few upgrades to keep it fresh and further its appeal. Kia updated the grille and redesigned the badging, and lower trim levels gain additional standard features including a larger 10.25-inch touchscreen and advanced safety tech, with safety being one area where the Telluride already shines.

The Telluride earned top crashworthiness ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and standard features include automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, lane keep assist, lane-centering steering, blind spot detection with braking and steering intervention, and rear cross-traffic alert and intervention. Parents will likely appreciate two other standard safety features: the Rear Occupant Alert system, which uses sensors to warn drivers of passengers left behind, and the Safe Exit Assist system for the rear seats, which uses rear-facing radar to detect oncoming traffic and prevent a rear door from opening if an approaching vehicle or bicycle is detected.

The Telluride also did well in our Car Seat Check thanks to ample room and easy enough Latch anchors in the second and third rows. Getting to the third row is also easy with a one-button slide feature on the second-row chairs. The third row itself isn’t a bad seat either, with adult-friendly space.

All of that plus the SUV’s focus on value — the 2022 Kia Telluride is one of the most affordable options in a crowded field — impressed Cars.com’s editorial staff enough to earn it the 2022 Family Car of the Year award.