IONIQ Hybrid: 00:15
IONIQ Hybrid interior: 00:51
IONIQ Electric: 02:39
IONIQ Electric interior: 03:30
2017 Hyundai Ioniq Debuts, All Three Versions of It
Hybrid, plug-in, or EV, the Ioniq is all three.
As the debate over the relative merits of different hybrid technologies and pure-electric powertrains continue to simmer if not quite rage, Hyundai offers a compellingly simple solution: sell them all.
We already knew that the company was planning to offer three powertrain choices for its Ioniq: hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and pure electric. Now, with its official unveiling at the Geneva auto show, we can bring you fuller details of this Prius-targeting compact notchback.
Both the Ioniq hybrid and the Ioniq plug-in use Hyundai’s new Kappa 1.6-liter four-cylinder direct-injected engine. This produces 104 horsepower and 109 lb-ft of torque and has been tuned, predictably, for maximum economy. Those models also have an electric motor and a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which was chosen, the company says, to avoid the rubber-band sensation of a continuously variable automatic.
Then things start to diverge, with the plug-in being more than just a hybrid with a plug. The hybrid’s permanent-magnet synchronous AC motor makes 43 horsepower and draws juice from a lithium-ion-polymer battery pack rated at 1.6 kWh and located under the rear seats. The plug-in may share the same 1.6-liter engine and dual-clutch gearbox, but it gets a meatier, 60-hp electric motor wired to a bigger, 8.9-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Hyundai says it’s targeting more than 25 miles of range on electric power.
The Ioniq electric ditches the whole internal-combustion powertrain in favor of a single, 120-hp motor that drives the front wheels through a single-speed direct-drive gear. It gets a 28.0-kWh battery, which is estimated to be good for 110 miles of range. A 100-kW fast charger can recharge the battery to 80 percent of its maximum capacity in about 20 minutes, but it also will be possible to charge it from a household socket, albeit much more slowly.
Other details are limited at present—we don’t have performance numbers or weight claims—but we do know that the Ioniq sits on a new “eco” platform that will also underpin the Kia Niro hybrid later this year. Weight is kept down by the use of high-strength steel and aluminum, and the Ioniq’s shape has been designed for aerodynamic efficiency. The three versions are distinguished by different front-end treatments, the Ioniq EV doing without an open grille on the basis that there’s no engine radiator in need of cooling air. It also has different rear lights to distinguish it from its old-fashioned fossil-gargling siblings. The EV also gets a copper-colored character line and interior detailing in the same hue to, as the official release puts it, “create the impression that electricity is flowing through the whole car’s interior.” That sounds painful.
The cabin is otherwise quite conventional, with the hybrid and the plug-in getting console-mounted shifters and the electric model offering push buttons to select gears. The cars on the stand in Geneva featured a large central touchscreen in the dashboard with the promise of integration with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. There’s also a reconfigurable TFT instrument cluster and an inductive charging pad for compatible smartphones.
Hyundai has made no secret of the fact it wants to get to where Toyota is as quickly as possible, and the Ioniq is aimed squarely at a part of the market that the Japanese giant has owned ever since the Prius debuted. Hyundai is committed to producing 12 hybrids, six plug-in hybrids, two EVs, and two hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles by 2020, with the Ioniq in its three guises leading the way. On first impressions, it looks set to be the Prius’s toughest challenger when it goes on sale later this year.
UPDATE 3/24/2016: At the New York auto show, we learned that the hybrid and electric models will arrive in U.S. dealerships in late 2016, with the plug-in hybrid to follow in spring 2017. In addition, we've updated this story to reflect U.S.-spec figures for the PHEV and EV models’ electric ranges and the latter’s charging
