The Hyundai Ioniq 6 is a sleek electric saloon with class-leading charge times and an impressive range
I’M guessing you’ve seen Hyundai’s pitch-side advertising at the World Cup.
They’ve got animations of Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 nudging footballs along the touchline and munching the word Hyundai as they go.
Reminds me of Pac-Man. But then so do the cars.
Every Ioniq model has pixel lights inspired by Eighties video games. Very cool.
Now check out the steering wheel. It has four square dots in place of the usual H logo which glow red, green or white depending on whether you’ve selected Sport, Eco or Normal mode. Also very cool.
When Hyundai launched the all-electric Ioniq family almost two years ago, it promised “no more boring clones”.
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Ioniq 5 is an angular hatch, 6 an arc-shaped saloon and 7 a big, boxy SUV coming in 2024.
Nothing copy and paste here, then, except for those pixel lights and the cutting-edge battery tech under the skin.
We’ve just tried Ioniq 6 as part of judging for the 2023 World Car of the Year awards.
The excellent Ioniq 5 won it this year.
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So the burning question is: Could Hyundai do the double and win back-to-back world crowns?
They’ve got as much chance as Mbappe and France.
In many ways, 6 is better than 5.
That low-drag, pebble-shaped body allows it to cut through the air and travel further, as much as 370 miles for the single-motor rear-wheel drive version.
This twin-motor AWD model will do up to 320 miles.
Peter Crouch would love the limo-like leg room in the back.
Seriously impressive. Not at the expense of boot space, either, which is 400 litres.
And I must say, Ioniq 6 looks way better in real life than the pictures suggest. Ioniq 5 is fashionable.
This won’t date as quickly.
Other observations. Nice big drink holders. Nice chunky footrest.
Lots of storage below the centre console for bits and bobs.
It’s almost as if the cabin was designed by someone who leads an actual life.
Many of the materials are eco-friendly, if that’s important to you.
And you’ll want for nothing in terms of tech and little luxuries.
Key facts: Hyundai Ioniq 6 First Edition
Price: £54,995
Battery: 77kWh
Power: 325hp
0-62mph: 5.1 secs
Top speed: 115mph
Range: 320 miles
CO2: 0g/km
Out: January
Mind you, you shouldn’t when the 77kWh First Edition costs £55k.
Expect prices to drop to around £45k for the smaller 58kWh battery with rear-wheel drive.
Similar to Ioniq 5.
As with all electric cars, progress is rapid.
Like Pac-Man after chomping a cherry.
One minute you are here and the next, you are way over there.
But it’s the 800v charging tech that puts Hyundai (and Kia and Genesis) way ahead of the rest.
You can top up to 80 per cent in just 20 minutes.
Another cool feature is car-to-car charging, should another EV run out of juice.
Then there’s car-to-device charging for powering a laptop, microwave, air pump, or whatever.
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Hang on, that’s a hat-trick.
Back of the net.
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