This is a deep dive on the Hyundai Ioniq 6. Price, power, design, driving dynamics, range,
tech, charging speed. Starting right after I talk to this officer about ignoring the
no trespassing signs.
We all remember when this was the very symbol for cheap and cheerful. If that budget brand
perception wasnt vanquished from your brain five years ago, Ioniq 6 should make it clear
Hyundai is a world class automaker. As a group it s now the world s third largest vehicle
manufacturer. The 6 isn t just an Ioniq 5 with bionic dolphin design, it has some new
tech under it s swoopy skin. I m in Phoenix, AZ for the press launch.
Hyundai doesnt build cookie cutter cars, they don t build the designs to look all the same.
We re not looking for a family of identical looking vehicles, the designers really want
to start with a customer, what the customer s lifestyle and values are.
There s quite a price spread we re wheeled when it comes to the Ioniq 6 go with a base
model rear wheel drive with a standard range package is 53 kWh and the sticker price is
$42,700. This happens to be a top trim, Limited model. With the long range pack which is 77.4
kWh and dual motor all-wheel-drive this one goes for $57,500. Not a bad deal when you
consider a lot of people think this looks like 1 million bucks maybe two.
The 6 doesn t qualify for federal tax credits, check with your state. Let s start with design
since it s polarizing. Hyundai persistently calls this a streamliner, not a sedan. In
person, it s a striking piece of future-retro sculpture with echoes of the original Mercedes
CLS. This touch of Porsche 911 Turbo adds functional aerodynamics. (BITE?) The coefficient
of drag is as low as .22 among the best in the biz. There are active grille shutters
up front. Look past the curves, swoops and arcs and there are hundreds if not thousands
of squares that Hyundai calls pixels. And from different angles they morph shape. Talk
about hip to be square, the four here telegraph different functions when switching modes and
when going from drive to reverse. They can indicate state of charge too. And four dots
represent the letter H in Morse Code. The shape of the 6 won t be everyone s cup of
tea, but the details are impressive and clearly the design team had a lot of fun with it.
Like the Ioniq 5 I m lukewarm on the flush door handles. All 6s get a two-tone treatment.
Why call this paint Transmission Blue when it s grey? Well, in bright sunlight there
re flecks of cobalt. Neat stuff.
Ioniq 6 rides on the same E-GMP platform as Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Genesis GV60. New refinements
extend range. The SE with the big battery is EPA rated at 361 miles. The pack has 7%
higher density, there are more efficient motors and the inverter add 5% efficiency. The $3,500
AWD system can fully disengage the front motor.
Basically, a complete disconnect of the front wheels to the motor relationship so any kind
of parasitic drag is eliminated, in effect the range increase is 6%
The AWD Limited I m driving makes 320 horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque to move this 4,600
pound vehicle. Ioniq 5 owners will recognize the graphics which are configurable. No head
up display, dang. The Limited has adjustable performance tones. The single speed transmission
is controlled here, freeing up space on the console. Drive modes are easy to select, they
clearly change the car s dynamics BTW. Recuperation drag can be reduced here, and increased here.
I like the charge port near the driver s door, personal preference.
Electric vehicle 101 the rear drive single motor version will get you more range. This
dual motor will give you more power but still 270 miles of rated range. That is not bad.
The 6 silently rushes to 60 in under 5 seconds. Easy.
If you want to go faster, maybe they ll be an Ioniq 6N. Hyundai hasn t said anything
but that s just got to happen
And Hyundai s sister brand Kia has the EV6 GT so, have to figure some of the work has
been done already. As it stands, this is no slouch. A good balance of athletics and luxury.
This is kind of fun to chuck into a corner, You know low center of gravity, with the batteries
in the floor and all. The Ioniq 6 has it s suspension calibrated a little bit more for
sport, the Ioniq 5 if you remember is really tuned more for comfort.
Like any EV, the heft is felt pushing hard into corners. Steering weight changes with
the drive mode, there s some road feel, not gobs. With a rated range of 270 miles (or
as high as 361 with rear drive) the 6 could be a travel machine.
I ll tell you this car would be a great cruiser. It s quiet it s comfortable. The only noise
really here is a little bit of wind off the A pillars and it s very subtle.
Set a destination in the navi and charging stations plus their status are mapped out.
And it preconditions the pack when a station is selected.
Everybody wants to know range and 70 miles as near as I can tell I m getting that maybe
even a little bit better but you have to remember conditions are ideal. I ve been averaging
about 60 miles an hour and temperatures are in the mid 70s.
I m hoping to snag one soon for a thorough range test.
Back off the regen all the way and this will coast for miles. Dial it all the way in for
one pedal driving. There you go didn t even touch the brake pedal.
The E-GMP architecture promises quick charging on the road.
Charging with 800 V takes 18 minutes from 10 to 80%, it s very impressive. 800V is the
latest system, the other legacy system which actually are majority right now at 400 V also
quite fast and this vehicle will determine which one it s getting power from. And for
your home charger, if you have a Level 2 system, seven hours is great.
And like Ioniq 5, it has vehicle to load ability
With this accessory, which goes right in the in the charge port here, you can pull electricity
out of the battery. With the Limited, there s an outlet inside the vehicle here. It s
the same as a wall socket in your home. If you re going camping for a few days, you can
set the discharging limit so you ll have enough power left so you don t drain down your battery
so you can drive home.
At our lunch stop, this one with the 18-inch wheels that improve Ioniq 6 s range was powering
this refrigerated cart serving mocktails.
The interior is fashion forward too. Many materials are made sustainably, the carpet
uses recycled fishing nets, last year s Diet Coke bottle might be along for the ride. Maybe
a silk purse can be made out of a sow s ear, these surfaces are luxury car grade. Check
this out, it s translucent, a touch that s new to me. Window and lock controls are here.
In other markets, these winglets get screens, rear view camera systems aren t approved in
the US yet, we stick with mirrors. Look, more pixels. No buttons on the doors, effectively
this ridge is one long grab handle. And there s LED lighting at the bottom of it. In daylight,
it s not all that noticeable but at night it s a show that impresses. Choose your hue,
different colors can be assigned to zones. In other words it can be as tasteful or as
gaudy as you like.
All but the base model seats are covered in H-Tex, the synthetic stuff. Limited s chairs
are not overly adjustable but they re comfy, heated and vented. The wheel is leather and
heated. This is the largest sunroof available, and the 8-speaker Bose sound system is serviceable,
a car this striking deserves better. If you ve been in an Ioniq 5, the user interface
will look familiar. There are some upgrades like the charger routing with battery preconditioning
and Ioniq 6 is the first E-GMP car to get full OTA update ability. Didn t have time
to explore the quality of the voice commands. There are the hard controls you would want
for easy access. All but the base standard range 6 get a heat pump FYI. With all this
style, tech and Qi phone charging, you ll still be plugging in to use Android Auto and
Apple CarPlay. I ve heard 5 different reasons why it s not wireless. None reasonable.
I m 5 foot nine inches and even with the sloping roofline getting in isn t too hard for me.
Headroom, it s about average but the leg and foot room are very generous, better than Polestar
2 and Tesla Model 3. Cushions are high enough so that thigh support is good and door openings
are big enough so that car seats go in and out no problem. There s storage in the doors
here and up here. Pockets on both seat backs. Yes. No separate climate zone though, I can
charge my phones up. No heated seats back here, and not available, kind of surprising.
The floor is completely flat which improves foot room. You can get three adults back here
and you know a trio would be OK, just so long as they re not too big or tall in the torso.
If it s a long trip, yeah, keep it to two.
The suite of active safety tech or ADAS has been improved. For example
And we ve added corner radar front and rear, so that the vehicle in cases of actuating
the forward collision avoidance sensors, that the vehicle can actually steer away from trouble.
And it can know whether there s a car in the space it needs to steer towards.
Digital Key 2 allows owners to text a key to friends and family. It supports Samsung
Android phones, and now Apple iOS and Watch. So you don t need the key, but hey, even the
physical one looks cool. And while other automakers are moving to subscriptions for using digital
functions like using the app to check charge rate and precondition the cabin before driving
off, many of the BlueLink features will be free for the life of the car, some transfer
to a new owner. Hyundai execs say the company is looking at selling new features like new
performance sounds. That s reasonable.
The sleek, silhouette of the Ioniq 6 makes it look like a useful hatchback. It s not
it s a true sedan, so it s not gonna be as handy as the Ioniq 5.
The narrow opening isn t as useful as Polestar 2 s hatch. There s room for the tire repair
kit and a mobile charge cord. No spare. No straps or pockets to keep things from rolling
around either. Remote releases are good, either push the seatback down with the long thing
you re loading or walk around the back door to drop them. While Model 3 and Polestar 2
are shorter in overall length, both offer more storage in the boot. Polestar by around
3 cubic feet, the Tesla a significant 8. The Hyundai offers up a smallish 11.2 cubes which
is good for 4 carryon suitcases. And Elon s car has front storage. This does not...
really. Hyundai engineers wanted a more spacious open cabin. And the 6 s interior is roomier,
especially for those long of leg. Time for Red Light Green Light.
Green Light- The slippery Streamliner shape belongs in the permanent collection of MoMA
or the Pompidou. The spacious cabin is fashion forward too, all but the base SE get the lovely
ambient lighting. The long-range rear-drive is rated at 361 miles and is priced at around
$46,600. The improved 800V E-GMP charging architecture holds the promise of easier road
trips.
Yellow Light- DC fast charging depends on finding high powered terminals that are working.
A car this dramatic deserves a panoramic glass roof, heads up display and top shelf sound.
Rear seating is roomy in most regards, but tall friends wanting a toasty butt must ride
in front.
Red Light- A vehicle this advanced should have wireless Android Auto and CarPlay, though
Tesla doesn t offer ANY iteration. The aero efficiency means asking friends to borrow
their pickup or SUV. No federal tax credit and I can t even imagine the markup over retail.
Walkers in this very nice neighborhood I was kicked out while shooting this car, gushed
bout the styling (SU?) And I m always happy to see automakers take a chance and make good
on a daring design. It s about as close to the Prophesy concept car as a production vehicle
can get considering governmental requirements and regulations for safety. Plus people need
to be able to sit in it too.
If you re shopping for an electric car and the Ioniq 6 is not on your list this definitely
should be test driven. It s quite different from the Ioniq 5. It s comfortable it s quiet.
It s got loads of tech. It looks great. It s kind of a game changer.
Hyundai isn t just competitive these days, it s become a leader in the automotive space.
A lot of automakers will be looking over their shoulders at the Ioniq 6, even if it s just
to gaze at the streamliner design.
Interesting that Hyundai brough this out instead of a 3-row crossover like Kia is doing with
EV9. SUVs are what people want these days. Considering the limited supply of chips and
batteries, I suppose it s a moot point. Hyundai can t keep up with demand. Besides it has
a 3-row SUV EV waiting in the wings.
It s important to hammer home that charging speed depends on so many factors and that
it s not important to everyone. If you seldom, if ever, road trip and you juice up at home,
it s less of a benefit. Tesla continues to have the best charging infrastructure. But
as it opens up the Supercharger network to everyone, that s less of an issue.
Before I go, let s talk design one last time I guess that people out there will not like
the robot Flipper look and you know people like what they like, right? Personally I think
this is a brilliant design, especially when you start drilling down into the details and
one thing that I ve learned over all these years is that you really need to see a car
in person before you judge. There have been plenty of times when I ve seen a car in a
photographs and thought oh my god what a hot mess that is. And then seen it in person and
completely understood what the stylists were doing. So do that before you judge that s
OK? It s pretty cool in person. Thanks for watching. Remember to subscribe to my channel
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Venmo. That s driven on Tom Voelk.