2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 First Test: Does The Model 3 Finally Have A Worthy Rival?

MotorTrend

The Ioniq 6 is the first serious competitor to Tesla's Model 3 since it was released in 2017. Based on the same chassis as its baby brother

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 This is the IONIQ 6.

00:10 Striking, affordable, efficient.

00:14 Hyundai's shot across Tesla's bow.

00:17 You may remember its baby brother,

00:19 the sort of an SUV, but really more of a hatchback,

00:22 IONIQ 5, our Motor Trend SUV of the year,

00:26 the first EV to win the award.

00:29 We like that car.

00:30 We like this one too.

00:32 Like the IONIQ 5 on which it's based,

00:34 this car can be purchased with the choice of two battery

00:37 packs, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive, one or two motors.

00:41 Unlike the IONIQ 5, however, this car

00:44 is slipperier than a soap salesman,

00:46 in an aerodynamic sense, I mean, with a drag

00:49 coefficient of just 0.22.

00:52 And that, crucially, means more range.

00:56 That's the name of the game with the IONIQ 6.

00:59 It's not the quickest, it's not the most luxurious,

01:02 and it's not the most stylish.

01:04 What it is, is the first EV to come along and legitimately

01:10 challenge Tesla.

01:11 Tesla has enjoyed a dynastic reign

01:25 over the market for the past decade.

01:27 Now, though, the pack is catching up.

01:30 The new front runner, the Koreans.

01:32 The Bolsheviks are at the door, Mr. Musk.

01:38 And the IONIQ 6 is the car Hyundai hopes

01:44 is going to turn doubters into believers.

01:46 This one uses their top shelf 77.4 kilowatt hour battery

01:51 and dual motors, developing 320 horsepower and 446 pound-feet

01:56 of torque.

01:56 Thanks to a rear-biased all-wheel drive system,

02:06 this dual motor version of the IONIQ 6

02:09 rockets from 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds.

02:13 Wow.

02:13 And that's an interesting point, actually,

02:18 the performance of this car.

02:20 Whilst it's not quick by EV standards,

02:24 it's still pretty quick.

02:25 I mean, newsflash, all EVs are quick.

02:28 And yes, being a sedan with a drag coefficient of 0.22,

02:32 it certainly looks sporty.

02:34 Indeed, Hyundai themselves say that this

02:36 is a car which is more driver-focused than the IONIQ 5.

02:40 However, this isn't a sports sedan.

02:44 What it is, is a very boring car.

02:47 And I mean that in a good way.

02:50 The fact that it's an EV isn't prohibitive.

02:52 What Hyundai have done fantastically well

02:55 with the IONIQ 6 is made a product which, quite honestly,

02:59 you forget is an EV.

03:01 Until, that is, you're doing 80 miles an hour,

03:04 and you decide, I'm going to put my foot down

03:06 and see what happens.

03:08 And at 80, it just keeps going.

03:10 90, 95, that's 100.

03:12 And remember, this is not a sports sedan.

03:15 That's 100. And remember, this is not a quick car.

03:18 But they really have gone after the efficiency.

03:23 And that, I think, is the masterstroke of this car.

03:26 That's what they've got so right.

03:28 Yes, it has the party trick, it has the 4.4 seconds to 60,

03:32 but more than that, it has range.

03:36 Which means that even after all of this

03:38 reckless high-speed driving,

03:40 I still have more than enough juice to get back to LA.

03:45 No need to start panic searching for charges in the IONIQ 6.

03:49 I love the retro design of the IONIQ 5.

03:58 So when it came to the IONIQ 6, I sort of didn't get it.

04:02 In photographs, at least, it looks ungainly.

04:04 It's way too long, with loads going on

04:07 at the back and the front,

04:08 and not a lot going on in this middle section.

04:12 But when I picked this car up

04:14 and got close to it for the first time,

04:16 I completely fell for it.

04:19 This limited trim is the highest IONIQ 6 grade available,

04:23 and as such, it appoints the vehicle with extra goodies

04:26 that make it feel more special.

04:28 Upgrades include standard power folding side mirrors,

04:31 powered front passenger seats, ventilated front seats,

04:34 a heated steering wheel,

04:35 and eight-speaker Bose Premium Audio.

04:38 This car has the optional $1,000 Gravity Gold paint,

04:41 which is very nice.

04:42 And it also has the 20-inch wheels,

04:45 which again, are very nice,

04:46 but they scrub so much of the range from the car

04:49 that honestly, you'd have to be crazy to spec 'em.

04:52 How much, I hear you ask?

04:54 A lot.

04:55 This all-wheel drive model could have 316 miles of range

04:59 were it to be on the 18s,

05:01 but as it's on the 20s,

05:02 that figure drops below the Magic 300

05:06 all the way to 270.

05:11 The cheaper single-engine,

05:12 rear-wheel drive, long-range model

05:14 is almost certainly the IONIQ 6 to have.

05:18 With a EPA-verified range of 361 miles,

05:23 that is three miles more than the Tesla Model 3.

05:28 Back to this interior for a sec.

05:30 I really do love it in here.

05:32 The IONIQ 6 is borderline luxurious.

05:35 The cabin is super quiet, even at freeway speeds,

05:38 keeping tire and wind noise to an absolute minimum.

05:42 The seats are wildly comfortable

05:45 and the ride quality is firm,

05:47 but supple enough to dismiss most

05:49 any road imperfection you come across.

05:51 In our Motor Trend testing,

05:57 the IONIQ 6 did a quarter mile in 13.2 seconds

06:02 at a trap speed of 103 miles per hour.

06:05 And like I said earlier,

06:06 a zero to 60 time of 4.4 seconds.

06:09 Plenty, plenty fast enough for a family sedan.

06:13 And like I said, like I keep saying,

06:15 that's not what this car is about.

06:17 So the fact that it still posts pretty terrific numbers

06:20 should just be a bonus in addition to great range.

06:24 This car kind of does a bit of everything

06:28 and does it very well.

06:29 Yeah, the brakes, the brakes are not,

06:33 I mean, they were, but they're not confidence-inspiring.

06:36 You don't know when to lean on them.

06:38 The steering's pretty nice.

06:39 I quite like how heavy the steering is.

06:42 Sport mode, it does, oh, there go the wheels,

06:44 there go the tires, oh!

06:47 You really can still be allowed in this car

06:49 if you want to be.

06:50 Remarkable, what a car.

06:51 Feels very planted.

06:54 It's lovely to have a lower center of gravity.

06:57 Wow, listen to that noise.

06:59 What a cacophony of great sound.

07:03 This may be the first EV

07:05 where the sound design is engaging enough

07:09 to not make me miss the absence

07:13 of an internal combustion engine.

07:14 As you'd expect, it's got all manner

07:17 of very clever torque vectoring

07:19 and smart ways that it applies the brakes

07:22 so that when you're entering a corner spiritedly,

07:25 it can work to get you around the corner as safely

07:27 and crucially as efficiently as possible.

07:30 Woo-hoo!

07:34 Oh, God, there's a lot, quite significant G-forces

07:38 when you really push a car like this.

07:40 About to say hello to my breakfast.

07:42 Wow, this car grips.

07:45 You know, for a not sporty car,

07:48 it feels pretty damn sporty to me.

08:01 Compared to the Tesla, well, personal feelings aside,

08:05 the IONIQ 6 is just a better vehicle.

08:08 It drives better, it rides better, it looks better.

08:12 It's a clean sweep.

08:13 Crucially, for me, it still feels like a car.

08:18 It's tactile, it's familiar.

08:20 In this new era of electric motoring,

08:22 I don't think there's anything wrong

08:23 with yearning for a few things

08:25 which remind us where we're coming from.

08:28 The interior, the switch gear, the infotainment,

08:31 nothing is different for the sake of being different.

08:35 There are no silly gimmicky names of fart mode.

08:40 Even the exterior styling is out there,

08:43 but it's not too much.

08:45 Honestly, if you told me this was a Citroen concept car

08:49 from the mid '90s, I'd believe you.

08:52 This car is remarkably unremarkable,

08:55 but that is sort of the point.

08:57 Once you get past the initial buzzword-filled talking points

09:00 which come from any EV, the instant torque,

09:02 the regen braking, it really is just like

09:05 any other normal car,

09:07 albeit one made to a very high specification.

09:11 This is a modestly priced EV that I actually want to drive.

09:16 There's a first.

09:19 (car engine roaring)

09:23 (car engine roaring)

09:26 (thudding)

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