Oh boy, talk about beauty being an eye of the beholder thing. This new Hyundai Ioniq 6 is a conversation starter, and not because it’s electric, although that stirs opinion sharing too.
No, the dramatic rounded roofline and pixel LED lights front and rear set it off from its sibling, the crossover-like Ioniq 5 in a big way. Some say this sedan looks like a VW Bug had a run-in with a Porsche 911. It’s somewhat startling, but then I always knew this week which car was mine in the parking lot.
I found the Ioniq 6’s dynamic look exciting and bathed in a rich dark metallic red (Ultimate Red, no extra charge) the Ioniq 6 Limited was at the least a curiosity to all who saw it. But that’s just its curb appeal factor.
This is mechanically much the same as the much lauded Ioniq 5 that debuted more than a year ago and won all sorts of awards. Ioniq 6 too has already won Car and Driver’s electric vehicle of the year award.
What all this means is that the Ioniq 6 is fast, handles well, and features AWD to make it attractive to us northern tier states occupants.
The Hyundai stows its battery packs under the cockpit in the chassis to create a low center of gravity and gives the car a somewhat heavy feel in turns, although it’s easy to control. The car just has a bit of push in turn.
Yet its power is phenomenal. The twin electric motors powering the front and rear wheels to create 320 horsepower with an impressive torque rating of 446 pound-feet, same as the Ioniq 5. That’s crazy rocket fast when getting on a freeway, especially if you tap the Drive Mode button on the steering wheel to engage Sport mode. Whoa Nellie!
Normal and Eco are the other drive mode choices with each extending battery range an extra 10-11 miles, or 20 miles extra from Sport to Eco.
Range for this AWD model is pretty much an industry norm of 270 miles and the Ioniq is set up for quick charging at public fast chargers. So going from 10% to an 80% charge will take just 18 minutes if you can find a 350 kW charger. Good luck!
Us old timers with measly standard 110-volt outlets in our garages struggle to get much charge unless we were to spend $1,000 or more to upgrade to 240-volt power outlets. I plugged in for a bit more than 24 hours before returning the Hyundai to its loan officers and got 11% charge. An overnight charge earlier had netted 5%, or the equivalent of about 15 miles.
If you upgrade to a 240-volt charger the Ioniq 6 will fully charge in 7.5 hours. That’s reasonable.
Still, the range is on par with a Tesla Model 3, its main competition, as a couple of the Ioniq 6 models offer 361 miles of range in rear-drive mode and with long-range batteries. The most affordable model with that range is the SE RWD Long-Range model starting at $46,615, but it only offers 225 horsepower. Still, it’s a choice, range or power.
The Ride is mostly fine with the Ioniq 6, but I was surprised it was not as luxurious in feel as the Ioniq 5, which has a 2-inch longer wheelbase. Still, with a long 116.1-inch wheelbase I figured this would feel ultra-smooth. Again, it was ok, but delivered more jiggles and thumps than its crossover sister.
This also exhibits more electric whine than the tested Ioniq 5 had during deceleration or coasting. Tire noise on the highway seemed a bit louder too. It could be the 20-inch tires tread pattern.
Ioniq 6’s interior is just as techy as the 5, in fact sharing some of the buttons and switches, a common auto world practice. I like the clean lines and look with the most spectacular feature being Hyundai’s awesome long door panel pulls with streaks of blue light along the panels. That ambient light and easy to grab (anywhere) design is extremely convenient and functional. Looks great too!
As in the Ioniq 5 there are dual 12-inch screens housed cleanly in one long panel and everything there is easy to see and use. The touchscreen makes sense and is simple to adjust.
Below that are the haptic climate control buttons, again simply arranged and easy to get at, just sometimes needing more than one touch to engage.
The one drawback is that like so many other makes, Hyundai embeds its heated front seats and steering wheel buttons in the touchscreen so one must tap a haptic button first to find them. I found adjusting the heated seats awkward while driving as a simple tap or two didn’t always lower the seat temp. And on bumpy roads your hand can easily miss these touchy buttons and instead turn on seat cooling, rarely needed during Wisconsin in winter.
Rear seats are not heated, which seems an oversight.
Hyundai seats are supportive and comfortable front and rear with headroom a bit limited in back with the sloping roof design. Average size adults will fit fine and the rear seats split and fold to boost cargo space. That’s good because the trunk space is just 11 cubic feet.
Overhead is a large, although not what I’d call panoramic sunroof, which opens and includes a power sunshade. There’s also a wireless charger at the front of the center console and a Bose stereo is standard with large in-door speakers with handsome covers.
This red model had black leather seats and a black soft material dash with a blue light streak as trim and satin silver finish on the vents, part of the dash, and all control knobs and buttons.
A bit odd are the three large stalks that extend off the manual tilt/telescope steering wheel’s column. The lower one on the right is the gear shift, but instead of moving it up or down one must turn a knob on the end to reach Drive or Reverse. That felt funky, but one likely would adapt over time. You engage Park by pressing a button on the stalk’s end, or just by pressing the ignition button to turn off the vehicle.
Safety features are what you’d expect with blind-spot, cross-traffic, lane-keeping, parking assists and front-collision avoidance systems, plus smart cruise. No add-ons are necessary.
A few other points to consider. The power window buttons are on the center console (I think Saturn first did this) instead of the door panels to leave those looking so elegant. And as with most vehicles today there’s a huge A-pillar and side mirror combination that creates a blind spot to the side.
The charge port also is awkwardly located on the far right rear quarter panel, so not as convenient to use as front or left side in most garages.
And while the key fob unlocks the doors as you approach the car and allows you to stand behind the power trunk and have it open after 3 seconds, it also tended to lock the car after about 20 seconds as I was setting up the charging or unplugging it and necessitated then pressing the unlock button on the fob, odd since I was adjacent to the car the entire time!
Hyundai says one can also enable your phone to act as the car key, or give access to a friend. Likewise, there’s a reverse charging feature with the Limited that would allow a driver to power up small appliances, say TV, radio or lamp, when camping or tailgating. Of course, that eats into your overall electric charge, yet in a minor way.
Finally, there is price. And the base rear-drive SE model with 240 miles of range and just 149 horsepower lists at $42,715, a modest number for an electric car. But most will move up the food chain for more power or range. That begins at the SE RWD Long-Range mentioned above for $46,615 including delivery.
Several more trims with varying power and range end up at this top-level Limited with AWD listing at $57,215 including delivery. The tester added only floor mats for $210 and a final price of $57,425. While some electrics are eligible for a federal tax credit, the Ioniq 6 is not as it’s still made in South Korea.
FAST STATS: 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Limited Long-Range
Hits: Dramatic rounded roof styling, techy interior, excellent acceleration + 3 drive modes, easy handling, and AWD. Clean stylish dash, big dual screens, heated/cooled and supportive front seats, opening sunroof and shade, solid safety systems, Bose stereo, wireless phone charger. Awesome door panels w/long door pulls and ambient lighting in panels.
Misses: Heavy feel in turns, some jiggle in ride, noticeable electric whine, charge plug-in far right rear, extremely slow charging at standard 110-volt outlet, no heated rear seats, seat and wheel heat controlled via screen, big A-pillar/side mirror blind spot, costly.
Made in: Asan, So. Korea
Power: 2 electric motors w/77.4 kWh batteries, 320 hp/446 torque
Charge time: 7.5 hours @ 240v
Transmission: direct drive
Weight: 4,222 lbs.
Wheelbase: 116.1 in.
Length: 191.1 in.
Cargo: 11.0 cu.ft.
MPGe: 111/94
Range: 270 mi
Base Price: $57,215 (includes delivery)
Invoice: $57,215
Major Option:
Carpeted floor mats, $210
Test vehicle: $57,425
